Plans to reopen a former train station have taken another step forward after an "extremely positive" meeting between the council and rail authorities.

Funding for bringing back into use Lea Bridge Station, in Walthamstow, was secured last year.

The transport hub closed in 1985 and campaigners have been calling for the derelict site to be reopened for decades.

Network Rail's Strategic Business Plan, published earlier this month, confirmed the station was on its list of programme works for the period 2014 to 2019.

Cllr Chris Robbins, leader of the council, said a recent meeting with Network Rail to discuss the plans had been "extremely positive".

He said: "The level of commitment from Network Rail was very encouraging and with the funding in place we can now forge ahead with our plan to reopen the station.

“We’ve worked very hard to make sure we have scoped out this project properly and have the hard and fast plans required to take the project forward.

"Our job now is to get the station built and open for local people to use.


“We know that a significant transport link like this can provide a real boost to an area – particularly one that has already had expressions of interest from developers looking to regenerate this part of the borough.”

A council strategy document published last year earmarked the area as a possible site for 2,500 new homes.

In 2011 Network Rail first proposed a new 15-minute service between Brimsdown, Tottenham Hale and Stratford, which will go through Lea Bridge.

Current journey time estimates from Lea Bridge to Stratford and Tottenham Hale are 43 minutes and 34 minutes respectively.

But the new station will cut that down to just 12 minutes.

Network Rail's finalised plans for the 2014-2019 period are due to be published in March 2014.