Southgate & Wood Green MP Bambos Charalambous has received an assurance from the rail minister that ramp access options for Palmers Green station will be investigated.
On 24th January Bambos Charalambous MP posted the following message on Bluesky:
This afternoon, I met with the rail minister, Lord Hendy.
It was great to have an opportunity to discuss and explore the possibilities of improving #stepfree access at Palmers Green Station, where I know many constituents with access issues have been calling for change.
Bambos also wrote about the meeting with the minister in his weekly email newsletter to constituents:
I sat down with the Rail Minister, Lord Hendy, to discuss opportunities to improve step-free access at Palmers Green Station.
This is an issue that constituents have rightly raised with me. For residents with mobility challenges, older passengers, and those with additional access needs, step-free access is not a luxury but a necessity.
This meeting was a constructive conversation about how we can work together to make meaningful progress, and the alternative methods for improving accessibility at Palmers Green station. I will continue pressing for the improvements our constituency deserves so that everyone can travel safely and independently.
In response to a question from Palmers Green Community asking whether there had been any positive outcomes from the meeting, Bambos today posted an update on Bluesky:
It was a very positive and productive meeting. I have been assured that the Government will look into the possibility of improving access to the station via a side ramp.
The meeting was in response to an invitation by Lord Hendy to meet MPs representing consituencies where in January this year the government had "taken difficult but necessary decisions in relation to [...] five legacy [Access for All] projects" which had been previously announced by the Conservative government. The government statement announcing this, published on 15th January, said that at Palmers Green work was "indefinitely deferred as the benefits such upgrades would deliver to users of the station would not justify the significant disruption caused to other users of the Hertford Loop on the ECML [East Coast Main Line] and the significant costs to passengers and taxpayers".
The high costs and significant disruption referred to in the government statement would undoubtedly come into play if, as previously indicated, the solution implemented to improve accessibility was the installation of lifts to both platforms. The alternative discussed by Bambos and Lord Hendy - providing wheelchair-accessible ramps on either side of the station - would be considerably cheaper and far less disruptive. The question is whether or not this is feasible using the path down to the car park on the down (northbound) side and an existing path down to the up platform (accessed via a door between two shops on Aldermans Hill).
Links
Palmers Green station lifts: government takes 'difficult but necessary decision' to indefinitely defer project (Palmers Green Community 21 January 2026)
