Edgware was a London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) station located on Station Road in

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 ...

, north London. It was opened in 1867 and was in use as a passenger station until 1939, then as a goods yard until 1964. It is not to be confused with the

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 counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

's Edgware Underground station, served by 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, tw ...

, situated approximately 200 metres to the north-east of the site of the old Edgware railway station.

History

Extract of 1900 Map showing Edgware Highgate and London Railway

The station was built as the northern terminus of the single track Edgware, Highgate and London Railway (E&HLR) and was opened on 22 August 1867 by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) (which had taken over the EH&LR) in what was then rural

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

. The line ran from

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 ...

to Edgware via

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisat ...

. At opening the previous station on the line was

Mill Hill Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it became part of Greater London. Its population counted 18,45 ...

(now Mill Hill East). In 1906 Mill Hill (The Hale) station opened between them. At first, services ran from Edgware to

, King's Cross and, via Snow Hill tunnel, to

Ludgate Hill Ludgate Hill is a street and surrounding area, on a small hill in the City of London. The street passes through the former site of Ludgate, a city gate that was demolished – along with a gaol attached to it – in 1760. The area include ...

, Blackfriars and Loughborough Road on the south of the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. After 1869, trains terminated at

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, bu ...

. Services could also run from Finsbury Park via the

North London Railway The North London Railway (NLR) company had lines connecting the northern suburbs of London with the East and West India Docks further east. The main east to west route is now part of London Overground's North London Line. Other NLR lines fe ...

to Broad Street after the Canonbury-Finsbury Park link opened in 1875. 14 trains a day ran from Edgware to King's Cross. In 1923, the line became part of the LNER after the 1921 Railways Act created the ''Big Four'' railway companies. In 1924 the London Underground's Hampstead Tube was extended north from

Golders Green Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in England. A smaller suburban linear settlement, near a farm and public grazing area green of medieval origins, dates to the early 19th century. Its bulk forms a late 19th century and ea ...

to its own station north of the LNER's. In 1935, the

London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Lond ...

planned to take over the LNER's Edgware, High Barnet and Alexandra Palace branches as part of the " Northern Heights" part of the "

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 ...

". The track would be electrified and modernised for use with electric trains and amalgamated with the London Underground's Morden-Edgware line to form what is now the Northern line. The integration of the line meant the closure of Edgware railway station and the connection of its track to the Underground station, which was to be expanded to take the additional traffic. Works began in the late 1930s and were at an advanced stage when they were interrupted and halted by 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 opposi ...

. The section of line between Finchley Central station and Edgware was closed to passenger services on 11 September 1939. After the war a shortage of funds and the introduction of the

Metropolitan Green Belt The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...

led to the cancellation of the unfinished Northern line elements of the "New Works Programme" in 1950. The goods yard at Edgware continued to operate with British Rail trains running from Finsbury Park until 1 June 1964 when it was completely closed. Today, the track has been removed and the platforms and station buildings have been demolished. The site of Edgware railway station is now occupied by a shopping centre called The Broadwalk Centre, alongside part of whose car park runs a small stretch of the former trackbed, leading to the still-standing bridge over the

tracks into the Underground station.

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * {{Disused railway stations of London Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1867 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1939 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964 Former Great Northern Railway stations Disused railway stations in the London Borough of Barnet

Railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...