Northern City Line

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)

Northern City Line
Legend East Coast Main Line Finsbury Park Drayton Park To King's Cross North London Line Highbury & Islington Victoria Line Essex Road Old Street Thameslink (closed March 2009) Moorgate Lothbury (Extension authorised but construction abandoned)

v • d • e Finsbury Park to Highbury & Islington
Legend East Coast Main Line Finsbury Park Junctions with Canonbury Curve and Northern City Line towards King's Cross Bridge to Emirates Stadium Drayton Park Highbury & Islington Canonbury Curve Victoria line Northern City Line North London Line

The Northern City Line is a railway line from Moorgate to Finsbury Park in London, once part of the Great Northern Electrics line. It should not be confused with the City branch of the Northern line, nor with the North London Line.

The line was formerly part of London Underground, and during its history has been part of both the Metropolitan and Northern lines, although it is connected to neither. It is now part of the National Rail network and is owned by Network Rail. Passenger services along the line are operated as part of the First Capital Connect franchise.

The line is underground from Moorgate to just south of Drayton Park, and runs in a cutting from there until meeting the East Coast Main Line south of Finsbury Park. Trains on the line run north to Hertford North, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage or Letchworth Garden City, forming the inner suburban service of the First Capital Connect Great Northern Route.

Connections

The line serves the East Coast Main Line towards Welwyn Garden City and the Hertford Loop Line towards Stevenage (via Hertford North). However, the majority of the stations on the line provide connections with one or more Underground or alternative Network Rail lines:

• Finsbury Park – Piccadilly and Victoria lines
• Highbury & Islington – North London Line and Victoria line
• Old Street – Northern line
• Moorgate – Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan line and Northern lines

Rolling stock

The line is electrified — 25 kV overhead as far south as Drayton Park and 750 V third rail from there to Moorgate, due to the tube tunnels not having clearance for overhead electrification. Services are operated by Class 313 electric multiple units (EMUs), the only units certified for use on the line. These trains are built to standard length and width, but are lower than conventional trains to allow them to operate in the tube tunnels, as are Class 314, 315, 507 and 508 units built to the same standard design, although with variations in train length and the power supply they operate from. Also, in keeping with the UK regulations for trains operating in single track tunnels, they have emergency doors at each end of the train, and are also designed so that when operating on 750 V DC the two motor coaches are electrically separate as far as the traction supply goes, in that, unlike other contemporary units, there are no DC traction supply jumper cables between carriages. All stations are long enough to accept two, 3 car EMUs.^[1]

History

The line was originally named the Great Northern & City Railway, and was intended to allow mainline trains of the Great Northern Railway to run from Finsbury Park directly into the City of London at Moorgate. Accordingly, the tubes were made large enough to take a main-line train, unlike those of the other tube railways being built in London at the time. The internal diameter was 16 feet (4.9 m),^[2] compared with less than 12 feet (3.7 m) for the Central London Railway and smaller still for the original City & South London Railway tunnels. However, the Great Northern was lukewarm about the scheme, and the GN&CR had to settle for a northern terminus in tube underneath Finsbury Park station. The line opened in 1904. It was originally electrified with an unusual fourth-rail system featuring a conductor rail outside each running rail. This was altered to the standard LT arrangement at a later date.

The GN&CR was bought in 1913 by the Metropolitan Railway, which operated today's Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines and the ex-East London line. The Met made various plans to link it to some point on the Circle line or to the Waterloo & City line, but these never came to fruition.

After the Metropolitan was nationalised (along with the other underground lines) in 1933, the line was renamed the Northern City Line and became part of the Edgware-Morden Line (which became the Northern line in 1937) for operational purposes. As part of London Underground's "New Works" programme, plans were made to connect the Northern City Line to the surface at Finsbury Park, and then join suburban branches to Alexandra Palace, High Barnet and Edgware. The Highgate branch of the Edgware-Morden Line would be connected to this network north of Highgate. By the time the Second World War started, the Highgate link and electrification of the Barnet branch were well under way, but work on the Northern City link was postponed.

This "Northern Heights" plan was dropped after the war, and the Northern City Line remained isolated from the rest of the network. Services were cut back from Finsbury Park to Drayton Park in 1964 to make room for the Victoria line to use the platforms at Finsbury Park (Low level). The former Piccadilly line platforms are now the northbound Piccadilly/Victoria line platforms, and the former Northern City Line platforms are the southbound Piccadilly and Victoria line ones (of course, today trains once more go from Drayton Park to Finsbury Park, but to the high level station). In 1970 the line was renamed Northern Line (Highbury Branch). The following year, an agreement was made to transfer the line to British Rail and connect it (as was intended by its original promoters) to the main line at Finsbury Park. By running commuter trains to Moorgate instead of King's Cross, congestion at King's Cross was relieved.

The last London Underground services ran in October 1975, and British Rail services commenced in August 1976, replacing services run into Broad Street via the North London Line. These BR services used the name "Great Northern Electrics". The track is now owned by Network Rail. Services, provided on the line by First Capital Connect, run to Welwyn Garden City or are Hertford Loop Line services to Hertford North (some extending to Stevenage or Letchworth). The name "Northern City Line" has been revived to refer to the subsurface part of the route.

The Moorgate tube crash, the most serious railway accident on the London Underground system, occurred at Moorgate station on 28 February 1975, when a Highbury Branch train ran through the terminus at speed and crashed into the dead end of the tunnel beyond. The cause of the accident, which killed 43 people, was never determined.

The original generating station for the GN&CR was closed when the Metropolitan Railway took over, and became the studio of Gainsborough Pictures. After lying derelict for many years, it was a temporary venue for the Almeida Theatre, and has since been redeveloped as apartments.

Green Party proposal

The Green Party has proposed that the Northern City Line be connected to the Waterloo & City line to create a new cross-London route.^{[citation needed]} The core section of the route would be from Finsbury Park to Clapham Junction via Moorgate, Bank and Waterloo, with a new connection at Blackfriars. Through services could then run from Welwyn Garden City and Hertford North to destinations like Hounslow, Richmond, Shepperton, Kingston and Weybridge, thus enabling much better use of the capacity offered by this part of the network, particularly outside city commuting hours.^[3] However, the Waterloo & City was designed and built as a deep tube line; were this to be connected to the Northern City line this would mean either a reversion to using deep tube stock along the whole length (as when the NCL was part of the Northern line), or converting the Waterloo & City for main line sized rolling stock. The latter would be made more difficult still because of the tight curves, which would not suit conventional carriages. It would therefore probably mean boring completely new tunnels for much of the length.

See also

• Northern Heights plan

References

External links

• Underground Line Guide – Northern Line – comprehensive history of the Northern Line and its branches

v • d • e Northern line Stations High Barnet branch Archway · Camden Town · East Finchley · Finchley Central · High Barnet · Highgate · Kentish Town  · Mill Hill East · Totteridge and Whetstone · Tufnell Park · West Finchley · Woodside Park Edgware branch Belsize Park · Brent Cross · Burnt Oak · Camden Town · Chalk Farm · Colindale · Edgware · Golders Green · Hampstead · Hendon Central Charing Cross branch Camden Town · Charing Cross  · Embankment · Euston  · Goodge Street · Leicester Square · Mornington Crescent · Tottenham Court Road · Warren Street · Waterloo Bank branch Angel · Bank  · Borough · Camden Town · Elephant and Castle · Euston  · King's Cross St. Pancras  · London Bridge  · Moorgate  · Old Street Morden line Balham · Clapham Common · Clapham North · Clapham South · Colliers Wood · Kennington · Morden · Oval · South Wimbledon · Stockwell · Tooting Bec · Tooting Broadway Future Extension to Battersea Rolling stock Present stock 1995 Stock History Former companies City and South London Railway · Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway · Edgware, Highgate and London Railway · Underground Electric Railways Company Former lines Northern City Line Former stations City Road · King William Street · South Kentish Town Former rolling stock 1906 Stock · 1938 Stock · 1949 Stock · 1956 Stock · 1959 Stock · 1962 Stock · 1972 Stock · Standard Stock Abandoned plans Northern Heights plan · Alexandra Palace · Brockley Hill · Bushey Heath · Cranley Gardens · Crouch End · Elstree South · Mill Hill · Muswell Hill · North End · Stroud Green London Underground · Transport for London London Transport Portal

v • d • e Metropolitan line Stations Central London section Aldgate · Barbican · Euston Square · Farringdon  · Great Portland Street · King's Cross St. Pancras  · Liverpool Street  · Moorgate Core section Baker Street · Finchley Road · Harrow-on-the-Hill  · Northwick Park · Preston Road · Wembley Park Uxbridge branch Eastcote · Hillingdon · West Harrow · Ickenham · Rayners Lane · Ruislip · Ruislip Manor · Uxbridge Outer section & branches Amersham  · Chalfont & Latimer  · Chesham · Chorleywood  · Croxley · Moor Park · North Harrow · Northwood · Northwood Hills · Pinner · Rickmansworth  · Watford Rolling stock Present rolling stock A60 and A62 Stock History Former companies Brill Tramway · Metropolitan Railway · Metropolitan and St John's Wood Railway Closed stations Brill · Granborough Road · Lord's · Marlborough Road · Quainton Road · Swiss Cottage · Uxbridge Road · Verney Junction · Waddesdon · Waddesdon Road · Westcott · Winslow Road · Wood Siding · Wotton Former stations Aylesbury  · Great Missenden  · Kensington (Olympia)  · Stoke Mandeville  · Wendover Transferred lines Aylesbury Line · East London Line · Hammersmith & City line · Jubilee line · Great Northern & City Railway Former rolling stock CP Stock · CO Stock · F Stock · MV Stock · MW Stock · O Stock · P Stock · P1 Stock · R Stock · S Stock · T Stock · U Stock · V Stock · VT Stock · W Stock · Circle Stock · GN&C Stock · Main Line Stock · Shuttle Stock Former locomotives A Class · B Class · C Class · D Class · E Class · F Class · G Class · H Class · K Class · Met Electric Camelback · MetVick Electric BoBo · Metropolitan departmental · ex GWR · Metropolitan Railway Peckett Saddle Tank · Wotton Tramway Metro-Land Metro-land · Metro-land (TV) Future proposals Croxley Rail link Croxley Rail Link · Ascot Road · Croxley · Croxley Green · Watford High Street · Watford Junction · Watford Stadium · Watford West Future rolling stock S Stock Other West Hampstead interchange London Underground · Transport for London London Transport Portal