Finsbury Park is an intermodal

interchange station An interchange station or a transfer station is a train station for more than one railway route in a public transport system that allows passengers to change from one route to another, often without having to leave a station or pay an additional ...

in north

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It serves a number of

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...

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 bus services. The station is the third busiest Underground station outside Zone 1, with over 33 million passengers using the station in 2019.

Name and location

The station is named after the nearby

Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in the London neighbourhood of Harringay. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal Borough of Hornsey. It was one of the first of the great London parks ...

, one of the oldest of London's Victorian parks, opening in 1869. The interchange consists of a

station, a

station and two bus stations, all interconnected. The main entrances are by the eastern bus station on Station Place. The National Rail ticket office here lies in between one entrance marked by the Underground roundel symbol, while the other is marked by the National Rail symbol, and provides direct access to the main line platforms. A new, larger western entrance by Wells Terrace and Goodwin Place opened in December 2019, as part of the upgrade of the station. There is also a narrow side entrance to the south on the A503 Seven Sisters Road (currently closed). The complex is located 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 ...

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 4, 19, 29, 106,

153 Year 153 ( CLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rusticus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 906 '' Ab urbe cond ...

, 210, 236, 253, 254, 259, W3, W7, night routes N19, N29, N253, N279, serve the station.

History

Finsbury Park is on the route of the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

from King's Cross to the north of England and Scotland. The southern section of this was built in stages during the 1840s and early 1850s by the Great Northern Railway (GNR). Tracks were first laid through Finsbury Park in 1850 to the GNR's temporary terminus at Maiden Lane just north of the permanent terminus at King's Cross (which opened in 1852). The first station at Finsbury Park opened on 1 July 1861 and was originally named ''Seven Sisters Road (Holloway)''. Soon after the first station opened, the

Edgware, Highgate and London Railway The Edgware, Highgate and London Railway was a railway in North London. The railway was a precursor of parts of London Underground's Northern line and was, in the 1930s the core of an ambitious expansion plan for that line which was thwarted by ...

(EH&LR) began construction of a line from Finsbury Park to

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

. The GNR took over the EH&LR shortly before its opening on 22 August 1867. The station was given its current name ''Finsbury Park'' on 15 November 1869. The Edgware branch platforms were on each side of the main tracks. The southbound ("up") track of the branch crossed over the main line by a bridge on its way into the station. Finsbury Park with LNER Ivatt Atlantic geograph-2319243-by-Ben-Brooksbank

Finsbury Park with LNER Ivatt Atlantic geograph-2319243-by-Ben-Brooksbank

The

Great Northern & City Railway The Northern City Line is a commuter railway line in England, which runs from Moorgate station to Finsbury Park in London with services running beyond. It is part of the Great Northern Route services, and operates as the south-eastern branc ...

(GN&CR) was an underground railway planned to provide a tunnel link between Finsbury Park and

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, b ...

in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

as an alternative London terminus for GNR trains. The tunnels were constructed with a large

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid for ...

to accommodate this service but a dispute between the two companies prevented the GN&CR connecting its tunnels to the GNR platforms. The GN&CR tunnels, instead, terminated beneath the main line station without a connection to the surface and the line operated as a shuttle between Finsbury Park and Moorgate. The line opened on 14 February 1904 and on 1 September 1913, it was taken over by the

Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...

. The

Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR), also known as the Piccadilly tube, was a railway company established in 1902 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London.A "tube" railway is an underground rail ...

(GNP&BR) (now London Underground's Piccadilly line) opened on 15 December 1906 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, between Finsbury Park and

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

in west London. The tube railway originated as the

Great Northern and Strand Railway Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

(GN&SR) in 1899 and was initially supported by the GNR as a means of relieving congestion on its main line into King's Cross by constructing a tube line under the GNR's tracks from

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...

to King's Cross and then to the

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

. The GN&SR was taken over in 1901 by a consortium led by

Charles 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, ...

before any work had been carried out and the section north of Finsbury Park was cancelled. The GN&SR was merged with the

Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway Brompton or The Brompton may refer to: * Brompton, London * Brompton, Hambleton, north of Northallerton, North Yorkshire, England * Brompton, Kent * Brompton, Quebec, a borough of Sherbrooke, in Canada * Brompton, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Engl ...

to form the GNP&BR. It was constructed with the smaller-diameter tube tunnels common to other underground railways being constructed in London at that time. Its platforms were constructed by the GNR parallel with the GN&CR's platforms beneath the main line station.

Construction of Piccadilly line and Northern Heights plan

The transport interchange at Finsbury Park had long been recognised as a severe bottle-neck for passengers heading north from central London and calls had been regularly made to improve the situation by extending northwards one of the two underground lines serving the station. Until the mid-1920s this had been resisted by the GNR and its successor the LNER as a threat to its suburban passenger traffic, but mounting pressure finally forced the LNER to relinquish its veto and lift its objections to the Underground making an extension. With financial support from the government, the Underground began construction of an

extension Extension, extend or extended may refer to: Mathematics Logic or set theory * Axiom of extensionality * Extensible cardinal * Extension (model theory) * Extension (predicate logic), the set of tuples of values that satisfy the predicate * E ...

of the Piccadilly line northwards to

Cockfosters Cockfosters is a suburb of north London to the east of Chipping Barnet, lying partly in the London Borough of Enfield and partly in the London Borough of Barnet. Before 1965, it was in the counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. Origins and ...

and the first section, to

Arnos Grove Arnos Grove () is an List of areas of London, area of north London, England, within the London Borough of Enfield. It is centred north of Charing Cross. It is adjacent to New Southgate. The natural grove (nature), grove, larger than today, ...

, opened on 19 September 1932. The route was opened fully on 31 July 1933. By 1935 the GNR had become part of the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

(LNER). In 1935 London Underground announced its

New Works Programme The New Works Programme of 1935–1940 was the major investment programme delivered by the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB), commonly known as London Transport, which had been created in 1933 to coordinate underground train, tram, trolley ...

. This included plans to take over the steam-operated LNER branch lines from Finsbury Park to Edgware,

High Barnet Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located north-northwest of Charing Cr ...

and

– collectively known as the "Northern Heights" lines. These routes were to be joined to the Northern City Line by the construction of new tracks from Drayton Park to the surface at Finsbury Park as had originally been intended by the GN&CR. Trains would then have been able to run from any of the three LNER termini to Moorgate. The Northern City Line tunnels from Drayton Park to Finsbury Park would have been taken out of use. A separate connection between Archway Underground station (then named Highgate) and East Finchley station was also planned, including a new Underground station below the then-existing surface station at Highgate. In early 1939 London Underground announced that the Drayton Park to Alexandra Palace route would begin operation in autumn 1940 and the branch was transferred to the control of the Northern line. The start of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

caused the postponement and eventual cancellation of this and much of the other plans, leaving operations at Finsbury Park unchanged. The surface connection between Drayton Park and Finsbury Park was abandoned and the Northern City Line continued to run between Moorgate and Finsbury Park in tunnel. Traffic on the Highgate and Alexandra Palace branch diminished and it was closed to passengers in 1954 although it was retained for freight to Edgware and stock movements to Highgate Depot.

Construction of Victoria line

London Underground had for many years been planning a new route across central London to relieve pressure on the central sections of the Piccadilly and Northern lines. In the early 1960s the plans were consolidated into a single plan for the Victoria line. The route of the new line was designed to provide the maximum number of interchanges with other Underground and

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

lines as possible, and Finsbury Park was an ideal candidate for this. The plan called for the reconfiguration of the four underground platforms used by the Northern City Line and the Piccadilly line. To allow the construction works necessary for the provision of

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 between the Piccadilly and the Victoria lines the Northern City service to Finsbury Park was ended on 3 October 1964. After this date trains from Moorgate ran only as far as Drayton Park. Finsbury Park station Platform Changes

The Northern City platforms became the southbound platforms for both the Piccadilly and Victoria lines which were connected to the previously dead-end tunnels to the north of the platforms. The old southbound Piccadilly line platform then became the Victoria line northbound platform, with the northbound Piccadilly line platform unchanged. New connecting tunnels were constructed. There are cross-over connections between each pair of northbound and southbound tunnels to enable stock transfers, given that the Victoria line is otherwise completely self-contained. The first section of the Victoria line, including Finsbury Park, opened between

Walthamstow Central Walthamstow Central is a London Underground and London Overground interchange station in the town of Walthamstow in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, north-east London. It is the northern terminus of the Victoria line following Blackhorse ...

and Highbury & Islington on 1 September 1968. When the

Victoria line The Victoria line is a London Underground line that runs between in south London and in the north-east, via the West End. It is printed in light blue on the Tube map and is one of the only two lines on the network to run completely undergr ...

was built in the 1960s, the walls in Finsbury Park station were decorated with mosaics of duelling pistols, which can still be seen. This was based on a mistaken identification of Finsbury Park with

Finsbury Fields Finsbury Square is a square in Finsbury in central London which includes a six-rink grass bowling green. It was developed in 1777 on the site of a previous area of green space to the north of the City of London known as Finsbury Fields, in the ...

, which was used by Londoners since medieval times for archery and sports, and also associated with 18th-century duels and one of the first hot air balloon flights. Finsbury Fields was close to the present-day

Finsbury Square Finsbury Square is a square in Finsbury in central London which includes a six-rink grass bowling green. It was developed in 1777 on the site of a previous area of green space to the north of the City of London known as Finsbury Fields, in the pa ...

, south. At the same time the long entrance subways and the Wells Terrace booking hall (at the bus station end) were rebuilt to a high standard.

Northern City Line modifications

London Underground continued to use the Edgware branch occasionally for stock movements between its depot at Highgate and Finsbury Park until September 1970. The tracks were removed in 1971 and the platforms at Finsbury Park which served this line were demolished; their location is now the pedestrian access to the eastern station entrance. The bridge over Stroud Green Road which carried the tracks was removed. The abutment walls remain. In 1976, part of the abandoned Northern Heights plan was completed in reverse. The

Northern City Line The Northern City Line is a commuter railway line in England, which runs from Moorgate station to Finsbury Park in London with services running beyond. It is part of the Great Northern Route services, and operates as the south-eastern branc ...

, which had originally run to the underground part of the station, was transferred from

. An unfinished surface connection between Drayton Park and Finsbury Park begun as part of the "Northern Heights" project was completed to make it possible to bring trains to the surface at Finsbury Park and run through trains from Moorgate on to the north. The service commenced operation on 8 November 1976.

Station upgrades

In the late 2010s, the station was upgraded and refurbished throughout, including the provision of step free access, ticket barriers and a new, larger western entrance to the bus station, Goodwin Street and Wells Terrace. Step free access to both the

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

lines, as well as to platforms 1&2 and 5&6 of the National Rail station was completed in January 2019. The new western entrance was constructed in collaboration with

Telford Homes Telford Homes is a housebuilding company that specialises in developments in non-prime areas of London. In April 2018 it was reported that Telford Homes was expecting record profits and revenues for the financial year 2017/18 as a result of Lond ...

, the developer of "City North" - a residential and commercial development adjacent to the station. This new, larger entrance opened in December 2019, replacing an older entrance constructed in the 1970s, which closed in July 2016 as part of the City North development works. A project to make the remaining platforms (3, 4, 7 & 8) step-free began in July 2021 and is expected to be completed in November 2022.

Accidents and incidents

On 9 November 1959, a freight train ran away and collided with an empty coaching-stock train. The collision occurred on a bridge over a road, severely damaging the bridge. On 8 May 1974, musician

Graham Bond Graham John Clifton Bond (28 October 1937 – 8 May 1974) was an English rock/blues musician and vocalist, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s. Bond was an innovator, described as "an important, und ...

died after getting run over by a Piccadilly line train at the station. On 17 December 1992, Jonathan Zito was stabbed to death in the station.

Current and future National Rail services

Current services

Class 717 023 Great Northern at Finsbury Park

The above-ground

station, which has a separate ticket office to the Underground station, is managed and served by

Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great ...

. Trains from

and King's Cross form inner suburban services to

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

via Hertford North and

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

and outer suburban services start from Kings Cross towards

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. Inner suburban service formerly did not serve the Moorgate branch at night and at weekends, being diverted to London Kings Cross instead. There are currently six platforms but only five tracks, as platforms 6 and 7 share a track (though platform 6 is no longer separately numbered or utilised). The platforms were renumbered on 19 May 2013 to prepare for two new up platforms, with all existing numbers increased by 2. Typically, platform 1 is used by southbound suburban services to Moorgate, platform 2 by southbound regional services to King's Cross and southbound Thameslink services, platform 7 (and occasionally also platform 5) by northbound regional services from King's Cross and northbound Thameslink Services, and platform 8 by northbound suburban services from Moorgate. Works at Finsbury Park

Thameslink services

In 2018, as part of the

Thameslink Programme The Thameslink Programme, originally Thameslink 2000, was a £6billion project in south-east England to upgrade and expand the Thameslink rail network to provide new and longer trains between a wider range of stations to the north and to the s ...

, Finsbury Park was linked to the Thameslink network via a new tunnel which connects the Great Northern Route to the lines into . This has enabled through services to run from and Peterborough via Finsbury Park and to , Horsham and . Currently, not all trains labelled on the train as 'Thameslink' actually travel through the Thameslink core, as many serve King's Cross instead. During the week there are four trains an hour in each direction through the core to/from Finsbury Park, two to/from Peterborough to Horsham and two to/from Brighton to Cambridge. On Saturdays from 15 December 2019 there is one train per hour in each direction between Brighton and Cambridge, two trains per hour in each direction to/from Peterborough and Horsham. On Sundays there is only one train per hour in each direction to/from Gatwick Airport to Cambridge. The introduction of Thameslink services at Finsbury Park was part of the

, and in the connected 'RailPlan 2020' consultation, it was stated that they planned to start a peak hours service of two trains an hour from Welwyn Garden City to Blackfriars from May 2018 and a two trains per hour service from Cambridge to Maidstone East from December 2019. However, neither of these services yet exists, probably due to the fact they require a frequency of 24 trains per hour (tph) to be going through the Thameslink core, and currently the highest frequency is 20tph. Automatic Train Operation (ATO) will be required to achieve 24tph, and this is not yet fully implemented.

New Platform 1

In February 2008 Network Rail published its East Coast Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy (ECMLRUS). This recommended improvements to the tracks able to carry passenger trains between Alexandra Palace Station and Finsbury Park. In March 2009 Network Rail published its CP4 Delivery Plan 2009, which involved the bringing back into service of an abandoned southbound platform; this plan was confirmed in a June 2010 update to the plan. Regular use of this new platform, Platform 1, commenced at the December 2013 timetable change. and since that date regular use of platform 3 has ceased, with platforms 1 and 2 now used instead. Since the December 2015 timetable change, the Northern City line to Moorgate operates through until end of service during the week and at weekends, rather than diverting to Kings Cross at weekends.

Other station facilities

British Transport Police , nativename = , abbreviation = BTP , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = British Transport Police Logo.svg , logocaption = Logo of the British Transport Police , badge = , badgecaption = , f ...

maintain a presence at Finsbury Park and have a police station at the Wells Terrace entrance.

London Underground

The station is served by the

and

lines. Although thought of as a 'deep-level' tube station, Finsbury Park has no escalators as its lines are less than 6 m below street level. Access to the Piccadilly and Victoria line platforms was previously by staircase only, reached via two narrow passages that prevented the installation of ticket barriers. As part of the upgrade of the station in the 2010s, ticket barriers were installed at both the eastern and western entrances to the station, as well as the provision of step free access throughout the station.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * *

External links

London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** ** ** , when the Northern City Line was still operated by the

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line i ...

** {{London bus and coach stations Piccadilly line stations Victoria line stations London Underground Night Tube stations London Underground stations located underground Railway stations in the London Borough of Islington DfT Category C2 stations Tube stations in the London Borough of Islington Former Great Northern Railway stations Former Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1861 Former Great Northern and City Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1904 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1965 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1906 Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway 1861 establishments in England Unopened Northern Heights extension stations