Later this month, work will start on providing step-free access at Leyton in East London, at the eastern end of the Central line.

The work will include the construction of a new, larger ticket hall with extra ticket gates, two lifts, two new staircases, and an overbridge, and will be carried out by TWBN, a joint venture between Taylor Woodrow and BAM Nuttall.

Main construction work is due to start on Monday, 17th February 2025 and is scheduled to be finished by spring 2027.

The station will remain open throughout the work except for a few closures at weekends about halfway through the project.

The work is being funded jointly by Transport for London, Waltham Forest Council, and the Government, which has invested over £13 million to help make the station fully step-free and expand the ticket hall to ensure smoother, easier and more accessible journeys.

With over a third of London’s Underground stations already having step-free access, it is hoped that redeveloping the station will encourage more people to use public transport and support major housing developments in the area.

Several sustainability measures are also being implemented during the work, including external paving to improve drainage, using the station’s electricity supply instead of more polluting generators, and reusing excavation materials to minimise the amount of waste that needs to be transported off-site.

The contractors are also investigating whether a new, ultra-low carbon concrete can be used during the construction.

Transport for London has a commitment to increase the number of stations with step-free access to help build a better, fairer, and more accessible London.

In December 2023, £43.1m was allocated for upgrading Colindale and Leyton Tube stations for both to have step-free for the first time.

Work at Colindale required the station to be closed for six months, and was partially reopened in December 2024.

“The upgrade of Leyton Tube station is set to transform the journeys of thousands of our customers, making the station more accessible and welcoming and ensuring it’s fit to serve this rapidly growing community for many decades to come. This is the next step in making more of the Tube accessible work is continuing to upgrade more stations across the network. Leyton station will remain open throughout the works, except for a small number of weekend closures which we will ensure we communicate to our customers well in advance. We will be doing everything we can to keep disruption for our customers and local residents to a minimum while this vital upgrade is ongoing.”

Alex Williams, Chief Customer and Strategy Officer at Transport for London