Camden Town is a
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
station on the
Northern line
The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...
. It is a major junction for the line, as it is where the Edgware and High Barnet branches merge from the north, and is also where they split to the south into the Bank and Charing Cross branches for the journey through Central London. It is particularly busy with visitors to the
Camden market
The Camden markets are a number of adjoining large retail markets, often collectively referred to as Camden Market or Camden Lock, located in the historic former Pickfords stables, in Camden Town, London. It is situated north of the Hampstead ...
s at weekends, and, until 2019, was exit-only on Sundays to prevent overcrowding.
![Camden Town Tube station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Camden_Town_Tube_station.jpg)
Northbound, the next stations are on the Edgware branch and on the High Barnet branch. Southbound, the next stations are on the Bank branch and on the Charing Cross branch. The station is in
Travelcard Zone 2
Fare zone 2 is an inner zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and, since 2007, on National Rail services.
Ba ...
.
History
Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway
![Camden Town stn tiling](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Camden_Town_stn_tiling.JPG)
The station was first proposed as part of the original route of the
Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR) (now part of the Northern line). Proposals for the line had existed since 1893, but construction did not begin until the American entrepreneur
Charles Tyson Yerkes
Charles Tyson Yerkes Jr. ( ; June 25, 1837 – December 29, 1905) was an American financier. He played a part in developing mass-transit systems in Chicago and London.
Philadelphia
Yerkes was born into a Quaker family in the Northern Liberties, ...
invested in the line in October 1900. Work started in July 1902, and the station was opened on 22 June 1907 by
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...
, then
President of the Board of Trade
The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. This is a committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centu ...
. As the line here branched into two routes, to Hampstead and to Highgate, the design of the station was rather unusual, shaped like a V. The surface building was designed by the
Underground Electric Railways Company of London
The Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited (UERL), known operationally as the Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an und ...
's (UERL's) architect
Leslie Green
Leslie William Green (6 February 1875 – 31 August 1908) was an English architect. He is best known for his design of iconic stations constructed on the London Underground railway system in central London during the first decade of the 20t ...
. The line to Hampstead (now the Edgware branch) is under
Chalk Farm Road; the line to Highgate (now the High Barnet branch) is under
Kentish Town Road
Kentish may be used as a name:
*Kentish Council is a local government area in Tasmania, Australia
*Kentish Town is an area of north west London, England
Kentish as a surname:
*John Kentish (minister), 1768–1853
*John Kentish (tenor), 1910&nd ...
. With the narrowness of the roads above, and the necessity to keep directly beneath them to avoid having to pay compensation to landowners during construction, on both branches the northbound platform is directly above the southbound one.
![Camden Town Underground station geograph-3297329-by-Ben-Brooksbank](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Camden_Town_Underground_station_geograph-3297329-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg)
At the apex of the V was a junction allowing northbound trains to take either of the branches north, and likewise allow the trains south from the branches to join the single southbound track. This resulted in four connecting tunnels. When the CCE&HR and
City & South London Railway (C&SLR) lines were joined together after the C&SLR became part of the
Underground Group on 1 January 1913, a short extension was planned from the Euston terminus of the City & South London Railway to connect with the CCE&HR south of Camden Town station allowing services to run from both City and West End branches to and from the Hampstead and Highgate branches. City branch services were extended to this station on 20 April 1924. The work required to join the two lines together at Camden Town was one of the most ambitious projects in the history of the Underground, and was undertaken without disrupting any existing services. It added another four tunnels that allows trains to proceed to or from either the Edgware or High Barnet branch on to or off both the City or Charing Cross branch without following conflicting paths. The multiple junction tunnels are effectively located beneath
Camden High Street.
The original lifts and emergency stairs to the platforms were inside the vertex of the V, leading to four passageways, one to each of the platforms, with return passageways back to the lifts. With growing patronage and increasing congestion the lifts were later replaced by escalators that came into service on 7 October 1929 with an escalator heading from the station building to a circulating area at the northern end of the platforms. This has only two pairs of parallel passageways, one for each branch (northbound), with a small side passage on each leading to the lower southbound platforms. One set of the original lift passageways became part of the ventilation system, but the remaining one adds to the confusion of the station.
Northern line
The line, known post-merger for many years as the 'Edgware - Morden' line, was formally referred to as the Northern line from 28 August 1937.
The station was damaged by a bomb on 14 October 1940 during
the Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'.
The Germa ...
. One person was killed. Shortly afterwards, Camden Town was chosen as one of eight stations on the Northern line where dedicated air-raid shelters would be constructed alongside the line, capable of accommodating 640,000 people.
2003 derailment
On 19 October 2003, the last carriage of a
1995 stock train derailed on the approach to the station while traversing points in the connecting tunnels that connect the various Northern line branches. Seven passengers were injured, six of them with minor injuries. Two carriages were seriously damaged by the impact. After the accident, trains were restricted to travelling either from the Edgware branch to the Bank branch or from the High Barnet branch to the Charing Cross branch. Full use of the junction was restored in March 2004.
Following the derailment, a joint report by
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
and its maintenance contractor
Tube Lines
Tube Lines Limited, initially known as 'Infraco JNP' (an amalgamation of infrastructure and company), is an asset-management company responsible for the maintenance, renewal and upgrade of the infrastructure, including track, trains, signals, ci ...
concluded that poor
track geometry
Track geometry is concerned with the properties and relations of points, lines, curves, and surfaces in the three-dimensional positioning of railroad track. The term is also applied to measurements used in design, construction and maintenance of t ...
was the main cause of the derailment. Extra friction arising out of striations (scratches) on a newly installed set of points had allowed the leading wheel of the last carriage to climb the rail and therefore derail. The track at the derailment site is on a very tight bend in a tight tunnel bore, which prevents
canting
' (IPA: , VOS Spelling: ''tjanting'', jv, ꦕꦤ꧀ꦛꦶꦁ, Tjanting) is a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax ( jv, ) in the batik-making process in Indonesia, more precisely ''batik tulis'' (lit. "written batik"). Traditional '' ...
the track by dipping the height of one rail relative to the other, the normal solution in this sort of situation.
Future expansion and upgrade
![Camden Town tube station at night, August 2021](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Camden_Town_tube_station_at_night%2C_August_2021.jpg)
The station is too small for current passenger demand, with just two escalators and too few passageways between Northern line platforms.
[ Detailed report, with updated timeline etc.] The station is particularly busy at weekends with tourists visiting
Camden Market
The Camden markets are a number of adjoining large retail markets, often collectively referred to as Camden Market or Camden Lock, located in the historic former Pickfords stables, in Camden Town, London. It is situated north of the Hampstead ...
and
Camden High Street, with entry to the station prohibited on Sunday afternoons to prevent overcrowding on the station's narrow platforms. By 2021, weekday passenger demand at the station is expected to grow by 40 per cent.
London Underground originally submitted redevelopment plans in the early 2000s, a £130m project that would have eased congestion and provided step free access – with residential and office development above the new station.
However, the project involved demolition of all buildings between Buck Street, Camden High Street and Kentish Town Road – including
Buck Street Market
The Camden markets are a number of adjoining large retail markets, often collectively referred to as Camden Market or Camden Lock, located in the historic former Pickfords stables, in Camden Town, London. It is situated north of the Hampstead ...
,
Electric Ballroom
The Electric Ballroom is a 1,500-capacity performance venue (primarily for rock bands) and indoor market located at 184 Camden High Street in Camden Town, London, England.
History
The Electric Ballroom started as an Irish ballroom in the 1930 ...
and the ox-blood tiled
Leslie Green
Leslie William Green (6 February 1875 – 31 August 1908) was an English architect. He is best known for his design of iconic stations constructed on the London Underground railway system in central London during the first decade of the 20t ...
station building itself.
London Underground's reasoning was that land was required for a temporary entrance for the station while the new station was built.
Complaints regarding the loss of these buildings and the market
– as well as complaints regarding out-of-place and out-of-scale development when compared to the remainder of
Camden Town
Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...
– led to a
public inquiry, which was held in 2004.
In 2005, Transport for London had their
Transport and Works Act
The Transport and Works Act 1992 (TWA) was established by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to provide a system by which the construction of rail transport, tramway, inland waterway and harbour infrastructure could proceed in the UK by ord ...
order refused by the office of the
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...
and the scheme was subsequently cancelled.
![Camden Town (4050007513)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Camden_Town_%284050007513%29.jpg)
In 2013, TfL announced new redevelopment plans given the continuing congestion and high passenger demand at the station.
Instead of the previously aborted scheme, TfL proposed a new station building built on the north side of Buck Street, on the site of the vacated Hawley School, avoiding the need to demolish both the original station and the other previously-threatened buildings.
As well as this new station entrance, expansion work would take place throughout the station with new escalators and passageways and step-free access - tripling the size of the station.
In the 2017 consultation, construction work was estimated to take four years to complete.
In 2018, following the delays to
Crossrail
Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway ...
and the knock on effects on
TfL's business plan, the station upgrade was placed on hold indefinitely.
Station layout
As one of only three stations where transfers between the Bank and Charing Cross branches are possible and the northern of the two junctions between them, Camden Town features a complex platform arrangement. Like its sister station of
Kennington, the station has four platforms with
cross-platform interchange
A cross-platform interchange is a type of interchange between different lines at a metro (or other railway) station. The term originates with the London Underground; such layouts exist in other networks but are not commonly so named. In the Uni ...
s available between branches.
However, unlike at Kennington, since trains do not terminate at Camden Town there are no terminus platforms or loop to allow terminating trains to turn around. Instead, all northbound trains headed to the branch use platform 1 and those headed to the branch use platform 3. Trains headed southbound to either central branch use platforms 2 for trains coming from Edgware and 4 for trains coming from High Barnet or Mill Hill East respectively.
Connections
Out-of-station interchange
Camden Road station
Camden Road railway station in the London Borough of Camden, north London, is operated by London Overground. It is on the North London line and in Travelcard Zone 2.
The first Camden Road station was opened by the North London Railway in 1850 ...
is located 450 metres north-east of the station for
London Overground
London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...
services to
Stratford,
Hackney, and
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
.
Buses
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...
Routes
24,
27,
29,
31,
88,
134,
168,
214,
253,
274, and Night Routes
N5,
N20,
N28,
N29,
N31,
N253,
N279 serve the station. Route
46 passes nearby.
Air raid shelter
Camden Town is one of eight London Underground stations with a
deep-level air-raid shelter underneath it. The entrances are on Buck Street (near the market) and Underhill Street with the shelter tunnels reaching from just north of Hawley Crescent to south of Greenland Street.
Nearby places
*
Camden Town
Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...
*
Chalk Farm
Chalk Farm is a small urban district of north London, lying immediately north of Camden Town, in the London Borough of Camden.
History
Manor of Rugmere
Chalk Farm was originally known as the Manor of Rugmere, an estate that was mentioned in ...
*
Kentish Town
Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the open ...
*
Regent's Park
Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...
*
London Zoo
London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...
*
Somers Town
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
External links
Subterranea Britannica's visit to the Camden Town deep level shelterLondon Transport Museum Photographic Archive** Utilitarian building is London Underground electrical substation.
** The elevation was never fully rebuilt.
{{Northern line navbox
Northern line stations
Former Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway stations
Tube stations in the London Borough of Camden
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1907
London Underground stations located underground
Tube station
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The Und ...
Leslie Green railway stations
London Underground Night Tube stations