A new entrance to Hackney Central has been opened on the Highbury bound platform from Graham Road. This means that many passengers joining or alighting from trains now no longer need to use the footbridge to enter or exit from the station. The new entrance is not step free (there wasn’t really any room), but the entrance on the Stratford bound platform is, and the lifts and footbridge should now be less busy.
Passengers wanting to interchange with Hackney Downs still need to use the walkway from the Stratford bound platform, and again the reduced number of people using the footbridge will hopefully make that easier.
The press release from TfL did not make it clear whether there would be an OSI between the old and new entrances (like they did with the new entrance at Highbury & Islington), so for the moment it’s probably best to stay within the station if you’re changing between Downs and Central. When I visited during the week there was a problem with my touch out at the new entrance so I wasn’t able to see if it tried to join the journeys together. I have asked TfL for comment.
There is still an OSI between the two stations via the local streets, but I don’t think anyone still uses that.