From 2027, Angel Tube station will be exit-only on weekends, as refurbishments are made to its escalators.
The Northern line station has two banks of escalators — one of these featuring the longest escalators on the entire network — but they haven't undergone any major maintenance since being installed in 1992, something which TfL has squarely blamed on "the legacy of historic shortfalls in Government funding".
Such is the iffy state of these old escalators, one has been out of service since April 2026, leaving only two escalators currently operating on that bank. TfL fears that if another broke, this would have major implications for the station; at over 60 metres long, the escalators aren't viable for use as a staircase.
From 2 January 2027, Angel's escalators will undergo life-extending maintenance — but as every Londoner knows, such repairs take a long time. For the foreseeable future then, Angel will be exit-only every weekend and Bank Holiday.
The lack of forecast end date may have something to do with the fact that TfL is ultimately planning to replace the escalators altogether. Says Richard Jones, Director of Asset Performance Delivery for London Underground: "Their size means renewal or replacement is a challenging, expensive project and we are currently exploring all options possible to extend their working life.
"Making the station exit-only during specific periods will allow us to extend the working life of the escalators and give us more time to plan our next steps, with design work on replacing the escalators to begin this autumn."
Recent repairs on Kentish Town Underground's escalators — also on the Northern line — massively overran, lasting 18 months.
Angel Tube station will operate as normal on weekdays.
For an excellent documentary on Angel in its pre-escalator days, check out the Heart of the Angel on BBC iPlayer.
