All Aboard Camden Lock Underground?

Thanks to reader Conrad Ford today for his suggestion on a piece on the defunct South Kentish Town Underground Station (now an attractive “Cash Convertors”, see above.)

South Kentish Town was a Northern Line station which closed in a strike in 1924, never reopened due to lack of use. Mr Ford suggests that one idea receiving support from locals is to reopen it as ‘Camden Lock Underground Station’.

‘It’s just a couple of hundred metres from what will be the northern boundary of Camden Market as it expands over the next few years,’ he says. ‘Doing this would take pressure over the overburdened Camden Town Underground Station.’

TFL/Camden Council have not so far given any serious consideration to reopening it, but Mr Ford wonders whether this might be because no-one has ‘joined the dots’ that Camden Market extending significantly northwards creates a fresh opportunity.

‘I’ve recently been pushing Camden Council etc to look at the idea in more detail (and I know I’m not alone in doing that). In terms of renaming, so far I’ve only seen this idea mentioned in suggestions from members of the public, but it would make sense to rename it at the same time as reopening it, as this would get tourists to use it.’

Interested? He recommends reading this comprehensive review of Camden’s transport options , though it ‘predates the (very relevant) recent plans to extend the market northwards.’

The Kentishtowner is intrigued by such talk, but wonders if we really need the mighty Camden-Beast gobbling up (what is admittedly a rather bleak sector of) Kentish Town Road? Yes, it would open up the area to tourists, and attract more Londoners, but part of Kentish Town’s appeal is its laidback, neighbourhood quality; the way it simply shrugs at the madness of NW1 on its doorstep.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on all this?