The Tottenham & Hampstead Junction Railway was a

railway 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 pre ...

line in north

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, formed by an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

of 28 July 1862, which today is mostly part of the Gospel Oak to Barking line. It was effectively part of an attempt by the Great Eastern Railway to obtain a west end terminus to complement

Bishopsgate railway station Bishopsgate was a railway station located on the eastern side of Shoreditch High Street in the parish of Bethnal Green (now within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets) on the western edge of the East End of London and just outside the City of L ...

in east London. The line opened on 21 July 1868 between

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Wal ...

North Junction (on the Great Eastern Railway) and Highgate Road. An extension to

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 ...

opened in 1870. An extension to

Gospel Oak Gospel Oak is an inner urban area of north west London in the London Borough of Camden at the very south of Hampstead Heath. The neighbourhood is positioned between Hampstead to the north-west, Dartmouth Park to the north-east, Kentish Town to t ...

opened on 4 June 1888.Gospel Oak to Barking Line User Group
History of the Barking to Gospel Oak line
/ref>

History

Even before it opened, the line had problems. Plans to extend the western end of this line via a proposed 'London Main Trunk Railway', underneath Hampstead Road, the Metropolitan Railway (modern Circle line) and Tottenham Court Road, to Charing Cross were rejected by Parliament in 1864. Instead it was decided to terminate the line at Gospel Oak. The line opened in 1868 with the Great Eastern Railway operating a service between Highgate Road and

Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many corporate office ...

via Tottenham. With a very indirect route into central London at one end and no interchange at all at the other, the service was a commercial failure and the planned link to Gospel Oak was never completed. The service ceased operation entirely in January 1870 and a local act was passed in August abandoning the railway in its original form. During 1870, a branch was constructed to Kentish Town and the line reopened as part of the Midland Railway in October, initially running between

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 ...

and Crouch Hill via Kentish Town. In 1872 this was extended to South Tottenham & Stamford Hill. This provided an interchange with the

Palace Gates Line The Palace Gates Line was a short railway branch line in north London running from the main line at Seven Sisters station in Tottenham to Palace Gates (Wood Green) station in Wood Green. Opening The line was constructed by the Great Eastern ...

. A number of new stations were opened, many of them close to existing stations. Most of these were closed in the 1940s. In 1888, the line was extended to Gospel Oak (as originally planned) although the Kentish Town branch remained the primary route and the Gospel Oak link was abandoned in 1926. In 1894 the

Tottenham & Forest Gate Railway The Tottenham & Forest Gate Railway was a railway line in north London, formed by an Act of Parliament of 1890 and built as joint venture between the Midland Railway and the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. It officially opened on 1 July 18 ...

opened and the service was extended east of South Tottenham & Stamford Hill to

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

and, occasionally, beyond. In 1901, a bill was passed authorising the widening of the railway and other improvements. This was followed by a bill in 1902 which gave the Great Eastern and Midland railways joint ownership of the line.

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official prin ...

Midland Railway Bill 1902
/ref> The line, along with the rest of Britain's railways, was nationalised in 1948 and became part of British Rail. In 1981, the Kentish Town branch was closed and the link to Gospel Oak reinstated. For more recent history see the Gospel Oak to Barking line.

Stations

The line had the following stations (listed from east to west using the original station names): *

(existing, service abandoned 1870) * South Tottenham & Stamford Hill (existing) (added 1872, replacing Tottenham) ow called 'South Tottenham'* St Ann's Road (new) (opened 1882, closed 1942) *

Green Lanes Green Lanes may refer to: *A green lane (road), a type of road, usually an unpaved rural route. *Green Lanes (London), a major road running through north London * Harringay, a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Haringey The London Borough o ...

(new) (opened 1880) ow called 'Harringay Green Lanes'* Crouch Hill (new) * Hornsey Road (new) (opened 1872, closed 1943) *

Upper Holloway Upper Holloway is a district in the London Borough of Islington, London, centred on the upper part of Holloway Road and Junction Road. It is served by the Overground at Upper Holloway Station and the Northern Line at Archway Station. History ...

(new) *

Junction Road Junction Road may refer to: * Junction Road, Hong Kong Junction Road () is a road in Kowloon, Hong Kong which runs between Kowloon City and Kowloon Tong. History The streets in Kowloon City, including Junction Road, were laid out in the late ...

(new) (opened 1872, closed 1943) *Branch: :* Highgate Road (new) (opened 1900, closed 1918) :*

(existing, added 1870, line abandoned 1981) * Highgate Road (new) (closed 1915) *

(existing, added 1888, abandoned 1926, line reopened 1981)

Current status

The branch to Kentish Town closed in 1981 because there was not track capacity at Kentish Town because of the introduction of the

Thameslink Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying ...

electrification project. The remainder of the line now forms part of the Gospel Oak to Barking line, part of the

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a large part of Greater London as w ...

References

External links

*Abandoned Tube Stations
GOSPEL OAK - BARKING
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tottenham And Hampstead Junction Railway Transport in the London Borough of Haringey Transport in the London Borough of Islington History of the London Borough of Haringey History of the London Borough of Islington Railway lines opened in 1868 History of rail transport in London