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ThePalace Gates line was a short railway branch line in northLondon running from the main line atSeven Sisters station inTottenham toPalace Gates (Wood Green) station inWood Green.
The line was constructed by theGreat Eastern Railway (GER) and opened on 1 January 1878 with a temporary terminus atNoel Park and Wood Green station before being opened to Palace Gates (Wood Green) station on 7 October 1878. The line was opened in competition with theGreat Northern Railway (GNR) line fromKing's Cross station to provide passenger services from the GER's London terminus atLiverpool Street station to the recently openedAlexandra Palace and the developing suburb of Wood Green.
After theRailways Act 1921 amalgamated the GER, GNR and other railway companies into theLondon and North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1923, a connection toBowes Park on the GNRHertford Loop Line, which runs just north of the site of the terminus station, was made in 1929.
With the nearby GNR built stations at Alexandra Palace railway station [formerly Wood Green Alexandra Park [not to be confused with Alexandra Palace to Highgate line, closed in 1954]] andHornsey providing a more direct route to central London, thecatchment areas for the line's stations were always fairly small and the opening in 1932 of the first section of thePiccadilly lineextension toCockfosters with stations atWood Green andTurnpike Lane diminished them further, crucially eroding the line's passenger traffic.
In the early 1950s, the line was one of only two branches in the London area still worked by elderlyF5, mainly, andF6 2-4-2Ts. The remaining examples of these were called into Stratford Works for withdrawal, in mid-1958. There then being no other suitable locomotives for the Palace Gates line, many of its trains were worked byJ68 andJ69 0-6-0Ts until sufficientN7 0-6-2Ts became available, following the electrification of suburban services from Liverpool Street station to Chingford and Hertford, in November, 1960. N7 andL1 steam locomotives continued to be used, until September, 1962.
In later years, services ran to North Woolwich rather than Liverpool Street, mainly to the benefit of workers in the docks living in the areas served by the line.
The Palace Gates line was closed to passengers on 7 January 1963. Goods services continued to run until 5 October 1964.
Tracks were removed and the stations demolished and the route of the line has been almost entirely covered by new construction includingThe Mall Wood Green (Shopping City). The only part of the line that remains is a short section of track withinBounds Green Depot where the line formerly connected to the Hertford Loop Line. A small section of the route can be seen from Avenue Road.[1]
The latest (2015) proposed route forCrossrail 2, sees an option that would closely resemble the Palace Gates Line, running fromSeven Sisters/South Tottenham railway station (double-ended station) through eitherTurnpike Lane andAlexandra Palace stations, orWood Green Underground station, on its way toNew Southgate railway station.[2]
Railway Atlas Then and Now: Ian Allen
