Work has finally begun on a pedestrian link between two stations - 17 years after it was first supposed to be built.


Contractors have started on the new entrance for Queens Road Station in Edison Close, Walthamstow - which will be part of the planned walkway between the transport hub and Walthamstow Central.


Glenn Wallis, of the Barking-Gospel Oak Line User Group (BGOLUG), has also revealed that Waltham Forest Council has agreed to name the link "Ray Dudley Way", in honour of the late BGOLUG member who helped lead the fight for it to be built.


Campaigners have long been calling for the walkway to make access easier and shorten the journey between the two stations.


The Family Housing Association first pledged to build it back in 1996 in return for being planning permission for a development in nearby Exeter Road, but the work was never done.


A lengthy legal battle followed until Solum Regeneration promised in 2008 to build the structure as part of its tower block complex by Walthamstow Central.


Council officer Ian Ansell told a planning meeting that the "main positive" of the controversial development was that it would lead to the completion of the pedestrian link.


Permission for the walkway was then granted in 2011 but no work was carried out.


The council and Solum then promised it would be completed by the end of 2013.


A completion date or opening for the link has not yet been announced.