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Essex Road | |
|---|---|
 Entrance on Canonbury Road | |
  Essex Road Location of Essex Road in Greater London | |
| Location | Canonbury |
| Local authority | London Borough of Islington |
| Managed by | Great Northern |
| Owner | |
| Station code | EXR |
| DfT category | E |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| Fare zone | 2 |
| National Rail annual entry and exit | |
| 2019–20 |  0.768 million[1] |
| 2020–21 | 0.197 million[1] |
| 2021–22 |  0.408 million[1] |
| 2022–23 | 0.560 million[1] |
| 2023–24 | 0.597 million[1] |
| Key dates | |
| 14 February 1904 | Opened (GN&CR) |
| 4 October 1975 | Closed (Northern City Line) |
| 8 August 1976 | Opened (British Rail City Line) |
| Other information | |
| External links | |
| Coordinates | 51°32′26″N0°05′47″W / 51.5406°N 0.0963°W /51.5406; -0.0963 |
 London transport portal | |
Essex Road is aNational Rail station inCanonbury inGreater London, England, and is on theNorthern City Line betweenOld Street andHighbury & Islington, 1 mile 59 chains (2.8 km) down the line fromMoorgate, and is inLondon fare zone 2. The station is at the junction ofEssex Road, Canonbury Road andNew North Road, with the present entrance on Canonbury Road. Operated byGreat Northern, it is the only deep-level underground station inLondon served exclusively by National Rail trains. Between 1933 and 1975 the station was operated as part of theLondon Underground, on a short branch of theNorthern line. Between 1922 and 1948 the station name wasCanonbury & Essex Road. The name reverted to the original form in 1948.
The station was opened on 14 February 1904 by theGreat Northern & City Railway (GN&CR) on its underground route between theGreat Northern Railway (GNR) station atFinsbury Park and theMetropolitan Railway (MR) andCity & South London Railway (C&SLR) station at Moorgate in theCity of London.
The GN&CR was intended to carry main line trains and the tunnels were constructed with a larger diameter (16 ft; 4.9 m) than the other deep tube railways being built at that time (roughly 11 to 12 ft; 3.4 to 3.7 m). From 1913 the MR took control of the GN&CR and ran it under its own name until it became part of theLondon Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) in 1933. In preparation for the LPTB'sNorthern Heights plan, the line was transferred to the control of the Morden-Edgware Line (now the Northern line).
The Northern Heights plan involved the building of a connection to the surface platforms at Finsbury Park and the transfer of aLondon and North Eastern Railway (LNER) branch from there toEdgware,High Barnet andAlexandra Palace. By 1939 much of the work for the connection of the lines had been done and the opening of the connection was scheduled for autumn 1940 but the start ofWorld War II put a halt to further construction. After the war the uncompleted parts of the plan were cancelled and Northern line trains continued to run to Finsbury Park on what became known as the Northern City Line or, from 1970, the Northern line Highbury Branch.
The station was, from the early 1960s, closed on Sundays. In the 1970s it was also closed on Saturdays.
The Northern City Line was closed on 4 October 1975 (due to its weekend closure, Essex Road closed the day before) and ceased to be part of the London Underground. The line was transferred toBritish Rail (BR) and the unused connection between Drayton Park and Finsbury Park from the cancelled Northern Heights plan finally received the tracks to connect the line to the surface platforms atFinsbury Park. On 8 August 1976, the City Line reopened as part of the BR network with main line size trains running toOld Street. On 8 November 1976, seventy-two years after the GN&CR first opened, the line was opened fully for main line trains from Moorgate to Finsbury Park and beyond as had been originally intended. It is the only underground station on this line not operated by London Underground or Transport for London.
By comparison with other underground stations built at the beginning of the 20th century, the station's surface building is nondescript and unremarkable. Unlike many other central London underground stations, Essex Road was never modernised withescalators and access to the platforms is bylift or a spiral staircase. The station also lacks the automatic ticket gates present at most London Underground and many National Rail stations. Far fewer passengers use Essex Road station, only 0.77 million entries and exits during 2019–20,[2] compared to nearby Angel tube station, with 17.7 million for 2019.[3]
At the lower level the lifts and staircase (of 156 steps) are connected to the platforms via a passageway and a short staircase rising between the two tunnels. The Underground's former operation of the station is evident from the unused and rusty fourth rail which once provided a return of the current from the tube trains serving the line. The third rail is still in use, with return now through the running rails. Signs at street and platform level use Helvetica and logos which still referenceNetwork SouthEast, despite that brand being defunct for over 30 years.
All services at Essex Road are operated byGreat Northern usingClass 717EMUs.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[4]
During the peak hours, the station is served by an additional half-hourly service between Moorgate and Hertford North and the service between Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City is increased to 4 tph.
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Northern | ||||
| Former service | ||||
| Preceding station |  London Underground | Following station | ||
| Highbury & Islington towardsFinsbury Park | Metropolitan line Northern City Branch (1913–39)[5] | Old Street towardsMoorgate | ||
| Northern line Northern City branch (1939–64) | ||||
| Highbury & Islington towardsDrayton Park | Northern line Northern City branch (1964–75) | |||
| Abandoned Northern Heights line | ||||
| Highbury & Islington | Northern line | Old Street towardsMoorgate | ||
London Buses routes21,38,56,73,341 and476, and night routesN38,N73 andN263 serve the station.
Essex Road was a station on the proposedChelsea-Hackney line. However, the scheme currently being pursued by the developers ofCrossrail, known asCrossrail 2, does not provide for an interchange at Essex Road.[6]
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