Previously the only entrance was alongside the eastbound platform, with access via an annoyingly narrow alley from Amhurst Road and Mare Street. The new entrance is alongside the westbound platform and connects to Graham Road utilising a scrap of land previously occupied by a carwash. It has a covered gateline with a green roof, a slew of cycle spaces and a kiosk occupied by an established Hackney Wick coffee vendor, thereby ticking all the sustainable boxes. It also has two ticket machines and an attentive member of staff, plus a quartet of black and white steam train photos as a lo-fi nod to the past.
What it isn't is step-free. It would have been lovely to have a ramp or a lift but there wasn't space for the former or money for the latter, just a double flight of orange-railed stairs. The westbound platform was already accessible via the existing entrance and a couple of lifts, so the new entrance is for the able-footed and pushchair-unencumbered only.
It's also unexpectedly invisible. You'd think from my first photograph that the entrance would really stand out, being sleek and orange, but because it's roundel-less it disappears from view as soon as you're a bit further down the road. Nobody shopping on Mare Street is going to spot it, they're going to carry on using the existing entrance round the corner until appropriately nudged.
Worse, inadequate signage means you probably won't spot it from inside the station either. Alight from an eastbound train and there are no signs on the platform to suggest that crossing the footbridge might be a good idea. Alight from the first three carriages of a westbound train and the only Way Out signs continue to direct you up and over the footbridge, ignoring the new exit at the rear. Only if you alight from the last two carriages might you spot a ← Graham Road sign, or indeed the exit itself if you're right at the back. I completely missed it when I arrived, and I won't be the last to make that mistake.
According to the accompanying press release the new exit provides "more direct access to the town centre", a debatable claim depending on whether you believe the town centre lies north or south of the railway. More laughably it claims that the new entrance provides "easier interchange to Hackney Downs station", whereas in fact it lets you in at the wrong end of the wrong platform at the wrong station, so it's at least a six minute hike via two platforms, a narrow footbridge and a 400m dog-leggedpassageway. They got the third bullet point right ("a catalyst for a safer, modern, more accessible and sustainable Hackney Central") but that's so bland it's undeniable.
Last week a new £3m entrance opened at Hackney Central Overground station. It's very swish. But it's a shame nobody spent a few extra pounds on some useful signs to confirm it exists.
