Barnet could become better connected than ever, if ideas for “small changes” to London’s public transport from a travel watchdog are followed through.

A report released by London TravelWatch suggests the city’s existing infrastructure can be repurposed or regenerated in subtle ways to improve service for all travellers.

One of the key suggestions looked at the “significant potential” of an old rail route connecting Mill Hill East and Edgware underground stations, which currently sit on different branches of the Northern line.

This route could be revived to increase Northern line connectivity or repurposed into a specialised cycle route away from busy roads and pedestrians, according to two ideas in the report.

Mill Hill commuters could see improved train services as a results, with trains passing through more frequently as part of an improved, connected Northern line.

It would be a useful change in order to “increase the accessibility of development and regeneration areas of the former Mill Hill barracks site and areas of Colindale,” the report said.

Alongside other small individual tweaks, TravelWatch is hopeful the changes would help in “improving access to jobs and air quality, stimulating the economy, providing better connectivity between businesses, reducing inequality and improving access to healthcare and to open spaces.”

Chair of TravelWatch Stephen Locke said: “With the capital growing rapidly, transport services have a vital role to play, enabling new housing to be built and helping to create new employment opportunities.

“Our infrastructure report contains a number of small scale projects that could be started relatively quickly and can be completed in years rather than decades.

“At this stage, these are ideas, not costed proposals, but we hope they will provide a thoughtful contribution to the fast moving, and extremely important, debate on how London’s future needs can be met.”

Taking the suggestion a step further, they also said the newly-connected stations could be part of a longer route extending from Canary Wharf to Harrow-on-the-Hill.

Other small suggestions would see small changes to Barnet’s transport, including a new station at Junction Road, near Tufnell Park, allowing the borough easier connections to Walthamstow and Barking.

The report also suggests improved pedestrian walkways – such as over and underground bypasses – between retail parks such as the Friern Bridge retail park near Arnos Grove and Oyster ticket barriers being installed at Finchley Central station.

How do you like the sound of these suggestions? Which would you want to see worked on right away? Are they missing anything important? Let us know in the comments below.