Travellers using Hornsey railway station will benefit from a £500,000 refurbishment as part of a deal to build a new train depot in the area.

First Capital Connect (FCC) and Network Rail are working with Haringey Borough Council to fund improvements, including refurbishing the platform surfaces, both footbridges, the main entrance in Tottenham Lane, the ticket office and the booking hall.

The work will last 12 weeks and begin in the week commencing July 22.

The project was agreed as part of the construction of a depot for new trains at nearby Coronation Sidings. The council is contributing £100,000 towards it.

The new trains will provide direct services from Finsbury Park to London Bridge, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport and stations beyond.

Other funding includes £300,000 from Network Rail’s Renewal Fund and £100,000 from FCC’s maintenance budget.

FCC customer service director Keith Jipps said: “We are delivering a wide range of improvements at locations along our route as part of our Better Stations initiative.

"At Hornsey we have more than a million passengers passing through every year so we are delighted to be able to deliver this package of improvements. I am certain our customers will appreciate the difference.”

The work will mean the ticket office is closed for two weeks from August 12, but FCC says it intends to deploy staff with mobile machines to sell tickets to supplement the ticket machine.

Footbridge walkways, staircases and entrances will also be reduced in width at times during the project but will be reopened to their full width upon completion of the work.