North London line
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The North London line (NLL) is a
Although much of it originated as part of the North London Railway, the current route is the result of a series of amalgamations, closures and reopenings, and has a mix of third-rail and overhead electrical power supply. It remains heavily used by freight services in addition to the main London Overground (LO) service.[1] Between Richmond and Gunnersbury, London Underground's District line shares tracks with London Overground services; the entire route is owned and maintained by Network Rail.
TfL took over the line in 2007 and introduced new stock as well as putting the line on the Tube map. It closed for four months in 2010 between
From autumn 2024 the North London line and the West London section of the London Overground will be named the Mildmay line (to honour the Mildmay Mission Hospital which treated victims of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s) and will be coloured blue on the Tube map.[3]
History
Formation
The North London line between Richmond and North Woolwich derived from five connecting sections which were opened over 25 years from 1846:
- The easternmost section opened as the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway in 1846/7 between Stratford and North Woolwich. The later construction of the Royal Victoria Dock necessitated a swing-bridge on the original route south of Canning Town which was rerouted in 1850 via Custom House and the Connaught Tunnel. The original route was retained as the Silvertown Tramway, a local freight line connected at both ends to the new main line.
- The main central section opened from 1850 to 1852 as the East & West India Docks & Birmingham Junction Railway (renamed the North London Railway (NLR) in 1853). This gave a link from the Euston main line near Primrose Hill to the docks at Poplar via Bow.
- In the west, the Willesden Junction to a junction with the Hounslow Loop Line near Kew Bridge.
- The last link in the east was opened between the NLR near Victoria Parkand Stratford in 1854.
- To obviate NLR trains running on the busy Euston main line, the Hampstead Junction Railway was opened from the NLR at Camden Road to Willesden via Hampstead Heath in 1860.
- To give the NLR direct access to the Broad Street was opened from Dalston Junctionin 1865.
- The final part of the route was the opening of a link from South Acton to Richmond by the London & South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1869.
Developments
The line from Broad Street to Kew Bridge and Richmond was electrified by the LNWR in 1916 on the fourth-rail DC system.
In 1944, passenger services on the NLR Poplar branch ceased. Freight traffic continued on the branch to the docks on the Isle of Dogs until 1980. The trackbed of the southern part of the branch, from Poplar to Bow, was used for the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) branch to Stratford.
The service was listed for closure in the 1963 Beeching Report, with losses claimed as being £69,000 per year (equivalent to £1,022,000 in 2019). It was saved after a huge campaign. The line was Grant Aided under the Transport Act 1968 and came under threat when the Conservative Government of 1970–71 proposed to reduce Grant Aid funding. That threat, eventually lifted, led to the founding of a new campaign group, the North London Line Committee, which tried to work with British Rail management to promote the service.
In 1979, the North Woolwich to Stratford service was extended to Camden Road as the Crosstown Linkline service, using the same Cravens-built diesel multiple unit trains. There were no intermediate stations until, in 1980, Hackney Wick was opened, near the site of the former Victoria Park station and Hackney Central was re-opened; then Homerton re-opened in 1985 (the two latter stations had closed in 1944). New platforms were built at West Ham for interchange with the adjacent Underground station.
The part of the line between the West London and East Coast Main Lines was proposed in the mid-1990s to be used for
Rolling stock
The line was originally operated by steam-hauled trains which were replaced after electrification by London and North Western Railway EMUs built from 1914 and augmented by later EMUs built in the 1930s by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. These had all been replaced by the early 1960s with dedicated short-wheelbase trains (shared with the Watford DC line) built by the Southern Region at Eastleigh (using underframes built at Ashford) from 1957 which were later designated by British Railways as Class 501. These were succeeded by Southern Region Class 416 EMU for a short period, these units being allocated to Selhurst depot in south London. Class 416 trains were in turn succeeded by Class 313 EMUs, which worked the route until 2010 when London Overground introduced Class 378 Capitalstar four-car dual-voltage electric trains compatible with both 750 V DC third-rail and 25 kV AC overhead power sources,[5] and all of these units were by 2017 operating in 5-car formations to address the additional demand on the route.
Closures
In 1986,
In December 2006, as with the Poplar branch (see above), the line between Stratford and North Woolwich was permanently closed to make a way for a future DLR extension from
Poor performance before the TfL takeover
Despite favourable performance figures,[6] the North London line used to be regarded by frequent travellers as offering a poor[7] and unreliable[8] service with extremely congested trains which were often cancelled shortly before they were due to arrive. A 2006 London Assembly report described the current service as "shabby, unreliable, unsafe and overcrowded", proposing the transfer of the service to Transport for London (TfL) as a solution to improve the quality of the service[9] due to upgrade plans[10] which coincided with the extension of the East London line.[11]
TfL
The North London line, as part of
TfL closed the line in February 2010 between
Former services
In addition to the primary
In 2000,
The AC electrification of the eastern part of the North London line uses the previously unelectrified northern pair of tracks, which were also partially singled at the same time. Between
Route
Track
Most of the line runs in a curve across north London. Only
During the February–May 2010 blockade, the
Traction current supply
Originally, the line was electrified in 1914–15 using the fourth rail +420 V / -210 V system, as used by London Underground. This was changed in the 1970s to +630 V / 0 V; the trains (then
Connections
The line crosses, or comes into contact with, a very large number of other railway lines, especially lines radiating from central London. This does provide opportunities to move between different sectors of suburban London without having to enter the central zone.
Interchanges shown on the tube map
- at Richmond, to and from South Western Railwayservices including the Kingston loop line.
- at Gunnersbury, connecting NLL services north of the station to District lineservices east of the station.
- at Watford DC Line and West London line.
- at Thameslinkstations, each situated a short walk either side of the NLL station.
- at Gospel Oak to Barking Line of London Overground.
- at Great Northern Line.
- at Canonbury, with the East London line.
- at Greater Angliaservices to and from Liverpool Street.
- at Liverpool Street, the Jubilee line, and Docklands Light Railway.
Other interchanges
- at Brondesbury, 220 m south of Kilburn on the Jubilee line
- at Finchley Road & Frognal, about 400 m north of Finchley Road on the Metropolitan and Jubilee lines
- at Camden Road, about 400 m north-east of Camden Town on the Northern line
- at Caledonian Road & Barnsbury, 670 m north of Caledonian Road on the Piccadilly line
- at South Acton, 1 km south-east of Acton Town on the Piccadilly and District lines.
Alternative stations – lines merge nearby
- Dalston Kingsland is 225 m north of Dalston Junction - the two lines converge at the next station west (Canonbury)
Former interchanges
- At North Woolwich, passengers could cross the Thames via the Woolwich foot tunnel or take the free ferry to Woolwich Arsenal station for connections on the North Kent line.
Current operations
This article needs to be updated.(January 2020) |
Service levels
Trains run seven days a week, from approximately 06:00 (09:00 Sundays) until 23:30. There are eight trains per hour between Stratford and Willesden Junction, four of which continue to Clapham Junction and four to Richmond.
The introduction[when?] of new four-car, air-conditioned trains, combined with improved signalling and passenger information, has dramatically overhauled the service, making it an effective alternative to travelling through central London for many orbital journeys.
East London line extension
From March 2011, the extended
Five-car operation
Transport for London extended platforms at some stations along the route to prepare the line for five-car operations in 2015, a project aimed at combating overcrowding on the line. The project was successfully completed and the first five-car trains started to run in summer 2015.
Renaming
In July 2023, TFL announced that it would be giving each of the six Overground services unique names by the end of 2024.[14][15] In February 2024, it was confirmed that the North London / West London section would be named the Mildmay line (to honour the Mildmay Hospital which treated victims of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s) and would be coloured blue on the updated network map.[3]
Proposed developments
Maiden Lane
Maiden Lane station may be reopened by Camden Council;[16] however, the Office of Rail Regulation has not included this in the current plans.[17]
Crossrail to Hounslow
Hounslow council has proposed that part of the North London line be used as a branch of Crossrail to Hounslow,[18] which would see Crossrail services serving Acton Central and South Acton. It was not included in the initial Crossrail bill but could form part of a later extension.
Old Oak Common Lane
Under the former government's plans for
North Acton
Another new station at North Acton is proposed for interchange with the Central line,[citation needed] but it might require the Central line station being moved to the east.
High Speed 2
The planned link between the proposed High Speed 2 line and the existing High Speed 1 line would have used the North London line alignment around Camden Road station, which might have reduced the existing or future capacity of the line. Its heavy investment in the line and the passenger growth on it has made Transport for London against the alignment's use as a link between the two High Speed lines.[20] That link has now been removed from the parliamentary bill.
Camden Highline
A new park utilising the former railway alignment between Camden Town and King's Cross was given planning permission in January 2023.[21][22]
Closed stations
Closed stations apart from those on the closed sections of the line are:
- Kensal Green & Harlesden
- Maiden Lane
- Mildmay Park
- Victoria Park
City Extension
On 1 November 1865 the NLR opened its City Extension, mostly on a viaduct from a triangular junction at Dalston to
- Dalston Junction
- Haggerston
- Shoreditch
- Broad Street
The extension closed on 30 June 1986, but although the track was lifted the viaduct remained in place. The route was re-opened in 2010 as part of the extended East London line, which, like the North London line, is operated by London Overground.
North Woolwich section
On 10 December 2006, the former
NLL stations closed were:
- West Ham
- Canning Town
- Custom House
- Silvertown
- North Woolwich
DLR and Jubilee line services are not affected at the first three of those stations.
The DLR line to Stratford International uses the former NLL low-level platforms at Stratford. NLL trains now terminate at new platforms on the north side of the high-level station.
References
- ^ "Route 6 – North London Line and Thameside: 2009 Route Plan" (PDF). Network Rail. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
- ^ a b "London Overground to close from Gospel Oak to Stratford as part of £326m upgrade to deliver longer, more frequent trains". TfL. 18 December 2009. Archived from the original on 25 April 2010. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
- ^ a b London Overground: New names for its six lines revealed, BBC News, 15 February 2024
- ^ "Memorandum by Inter-Capital and Regional Rail Ltd (RES 4)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons (Select Committee on Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs). 26 January 1999. p. Appendices Section 4.
- ^ Transport for London - £36m contract to bring extra rail carriages for London Overground
- ^ "Silverlink rises to second position in the national performance league". 18 September 2006. Retrieved 26 October 2007. Association of Train Operating Companies [1] Press Releases
- ^ Sharp, Rachel (24 October 2007). "TfL to take on rail network". Ealing Times. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
- ^ "Braced for rail strikes". Hackney Gazette. 26 October 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
- ^ London Assembly – Light at end of the tunnel for London's forgotten railway
- ^ Always Touch Out – London Overground & Orbirail
- ^ London's forgotten railway Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine (PDF)
- ^ Transport for London – East London Railway project
- ^ Dalston Junction to Highbury & Islington now Connected
- ^ "Naming London Overground lines". Transport for London. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ "London Overground lines to be given unique names". BBC News. 25 August 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ King's Cross Development plan (PDF)
- ^ "Sections 17/18 – Section 17 and 18 – new track access contracts : Office of Rail Regulation". Rail-reg.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
- ^ "A4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
- ^ No business case' to divert HS2 via Heathrow, say Mawhinney Page 6-7, Rail Magazine, Issue 649, 28 July to 10 August 2010
- ^ Transport Select Committee, 28 June 2011, House of Commons
- Londonist. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- ^ Kristine Klein (23 January 2023). "Rails to Trails: London approves planning for the first section of the Camden Highline". The Architect's Newspaper. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ Transport for London Archived 30 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine - Stratford International Extension
Bibliography
- Wayne Asher, Wayne (2015). A very Political Railway – the rescue of the North London Line. ISBN 978-1-85414-378-5
- White, H P (1971). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Volume 3 – Greater London. ISBN 0-7153-5337-3