TheNorth London line is arailway line which passes through the inner suburbs ofLondon, England betweenRichmond in the south-west andStratford in the east, avoidingcentral London. Its route is a rough semicircle.
Although much of it originated as part of theNorth London Railway, the current route is the result of a series of amalgamations, closures and reopenings, and has a mix of third-rail and overheadelectrical power supply. It remains heavily used by freight services in addition to theMildmay line passenger service on theLondon Overground.[1] BetweenRichmond andGunnersbury,London Underground'sDistrict line shares tracks with the Mildmay line; the entire route is owned and maintained byNetwork Rail.
TfL took over the line in 2007 and introduced new stock as well as putting the line on the Tube map. It closed for four months in 2010 betweenGospel Oak andStratford and had a reduced service for another year to allow platform extensions and signalling upgrades.[2]
In November 2024, the North London and West London sections of the London Overground were named theMildmay line (to honour theMildmay Mission Hospital which treated victims of theHIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s) and are coloured light blue on theTube map.[3]
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The North London line between Richmond and North Woolwich derived from five connecting sections which were opened over 25 years from 1846:
The line from Broad Street to Kew Bridge and Richmond was electrified by the LNWR in 1916 on the fourth-rail DC system.
In 1944, passenger services on the NLR Poplar branch ceased. Freight traffic continued on the branch to the docks on theIsle of Dogs until 1980. The trackbed of the southern part of the branch, from Poplar to Bow, was used for theDocklands Light Railway (DLR) branch to Stratford.
The service was listed for closure in the 1963 Beeching Report, with losses claimed as being £69,000 per year (equivalent to £1,236,000 in 2023). It was saved after a huge campaign. The line was Grant Aided under theTransport Act 1968 and came under threat when the Conservative Government of 1970–71 proposed to reduce Grant Aid funding. That threat, eventually lifted, led to the founding of a new campaign group, the North London Line Committee, which tried to work withBritish Rail management to promote the service.
In 1979, the North Woolwich to Stratford service was extended to Camden Road as theCrosstown Linkline service, using the sameCravens-built diesel multiple unit trains. There were no intermediate stations until, in 1980, Hackney Wick was opened, near the site of the former Victoria Park station and Hackney Central was re-opened; then Homerton re-opened in 1985 (the two latter stations had closed in 1944). New platforms were built at West Ham for interchange with the adjacent Underground station.
The part of the line between the West London and East Coast Main Lines was proposed in the mid-1990s to be used forRegional Eurostar services, which would travel from the lines intoWaterloo International station to points north of London. A proposed link toHeathrow Airport would have also used the line between Willesden Junction and Acton. Regional Eurostar was eventually cancelled.[4]
The line was originally operated by steam-hauled trains which were replaced after electrification by London and North Western RailwayEMUs built from 1914 and augmented by later EMUs built in the 1930s by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. These had all been replaced by the early 1960s with dedicated short-wheelbase trains (shared with theWatford DC line) built by the Southern Region at Eastleigh (using underframes built at Ashford) from 1957 which were later designated by British Railways asClass 501. These were succeeded by Southern RegionClass 416 EMU for a short period, these units being allocated to Selhurst depot in south London. Class 416 trains were in turn succeeded byClass 313 EMUs, which worked the route until 2010 when London Overground introducedClass 378Capitalstar four-car dual-voltage electric trains compatible with both 750 V DC third-rail and 25 kV AC overhead power sources,[5] and all of these units were by 2017 operating in 5-car formations to address the additional demand on the route.
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In 1986,Broad Street station closed and the Tottenham Hale–Stratford link and the station at Lea Bridge ceased to be used by regular passenger trains. The line between Dalston and North Woolwich waselectrified on thethird-rail system and Broad Street services were diverted to North Woolwich using former Southern Region2-EPB types built in the 1950s. The two-car trains soon proved too small and were replaced by three-carClass 313 electric multiple units. The new service was branded by British Rail as theNorth London Link, and some signs using this name still exist.
In December 2006, as with the Poplar branch (see above), the line between Stratford and North Woolwich was permanently closed to make a way for a future DLR extension fromCanning Town toStratford International (which opened on February 2011). The section south of Canning Town was not used by the DLR, as it is largely duplicated by the DLRKing George V branch. Instead, the section became part of theElizabeth line's branch toAbbey Wood, which opened in May 2022. The section south of Stratford had always been the 'Cinderella' end of the line, in that when there were operating problems it was common for trains to be turned short at Stratford.
Despite favourable performance figures,[6] the North London line used to be regarded by frequent travellers as offering a poor[7] and unreliable[8] service with extremely congested trains which were often cancelled shortly before they were due to arrive. A 2006London Assembly report described the current service as "shabby, unreliable, unsafe and overcrowded", proposing the transfer of the service toTransport for London (TfL) as a solution to improve the quality of the service[9] due to upgrade plans[10] which coincided with the extension of theEast London line.[11]
The North London line, as part ofSilverlink, along with theWest London line,Gospel Oak to Barking line and theWatford DC line, was transferred toTransport for London (TfL) in 2007 to form its newLondon Overground service. TfL began to remodel stations, integrate lines and, following the transfer and extension of theEast London line, created an orbital rail service. TfL also brought innew trains and the lines, which previously appeared on tube maps following a public campaign, gained their own colour.
TfL closed the line in February 2010 betweenGospel Oak andStratford for the installation of a new signalling system and the rebuilding or extension of platforms to allow four-car trains to run on the line; most NLL platforms had been reduced in usable length (where they had not been originally short) in the late 1960s when services were reduced to three-carriage trains only. The line reopened on 1 June 2010 with a reduced service and none on Sundays,[2] and with the upgrade work completed, the full seven-day service resumed on 22 May 2011.
In addition to the primaryBroad Street –Richmond service, there were services that linked Broad Street withHarrow & Wealdstone andWatford Junction on theWatford DC line. Most of these were routed via the line betweenSouth Hampstead and Camden Road, calling atPrimrose Hill although some travelled viaHampstead Heath and joined the DC line atWillesden Junction. Prior to electrification in the 1960s, other services ran as far asTring on theWest Coast Main Line via Primrose Hill and Willesden Junction Main Line (now demolished). By the time that Broad Street closed in 1986, the Watford services operated only in the rush hours; they were diverted to Liverpool Street by way of a new link inHackney, known as the Graham Road Curve. Trains were frequently cancelled owing to rolling stock shortages; these circumstances had begun some years earlier with service reductions and scrapping of trains in the late 1960s, followed in later years by closure of depots atCroxley Green andStonebridge Park preventing stabling of spare stock. Along with what eventually became a lack of trains timetabled to serve Liverpool Street to match the needs of rush-hour passengers, this inevitably led to falling patronage. British Rail applied to close the service in 1990, and the last trains ran two years later.
In 2000,Anglia Railways started a service betweenBasingstoke andIpswich, utilising parts of the North London line. The service was calledLondon Crosslink and ran up to five times a day at roughly two-hourly intervals. The service called only at principal stations such asStaines,Feltham andBrentford. On the North London line, the trains called only atStratford,Highbury & Islington, Camden Road (some services),West Hampstead and Willesden Junction. The service was withdrawn in 2002.
The AC electrification of the eastern part of the North London line uses the previously unelectrified northern pair of tracks, which were also partially singled at the same time. BetweenCanonbury and Highbury & Islington, there is a line which links to theEast Coast Main Line atFinsbury Park. This used to carry passenger trains to and from various main line stations (such asEdgware,Alexandra Palace,High Barnet,Welwyn Garden City and others) over part of the North London line to Broad Street Station; however, with the electrification of the Great Northern Electrics suburban lines in 1976, trains were diverted intoMoorgate andLondon King's Cross stations, so since then this link has only been used for freight trains. It too was singled concurrent with the AC electrification of the eastern part of the North London line.
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| Station |
|---|
| Richmond |
| Kew Gardens |
| Gunnersbury |
| South Acton |
| Acton Central |
| Willesden Junction |
| Kensal Rise |
| Brondesbury Park |
| Brondesbury |
| West Hampstead |
| Finchley Road & Frognal |
| Hampstead Heath |
| Gospel Oak |
| Kentish Town West |
| Camden Road |
| Caledonian Road & Barnsbury |
| Highbury & Islington |
| Canonbury |
| Dalston Kingsland |
| Hackney Central |
| Homerton |
| Hackney Wick |
| Stratford |
Most of the line runs in a curve across north London. OnlyRichmond andKew Gardens stations at the western end are south of theRiver Thames. The river crossing is made byKew Railway Bridge on tracks which are shared with the London Underground District line. The location of the eastern extremity has varied over the years. Between 1944 and 1986, it was at Broad Street station; then it was switched toNorth Woolwich. Later, it was cut back toStratford. A tunnel, the Hampstead Heath tunnel, runs underHampstead betweenFinchley Road & Frognal andHampstead Heath. The line is double track throughout, with quadruple track between York Way (near St. Pancras) and Arundel Square (near Highbury and Islington). The former North Woolwich branch included a section of single track between Custom House and North Woolwich stations, and the Broad Street branch was at one time formed of quadruple track.
During the February–May 2010 blockade, theCaledonian Road & Barnsbury,Highbury & Islington andCanonbury stations were rebuilt to allow the extended East London line to serve Highbury & Islington on fully segregated tracks on the south side of the cutting. Under the reinstated four-track arrangement, the North London line runs parallel to the double-trackEast London line from Dalston Kingsland to Highbury and Islington. The line then becomes quadruple-track at Arundel Square, with passenger services using the inner pair of tracks and freight services using the outer pair, before the line reduces to double track at York Way, near St. Pancras.
Originally, the line was electrified in 1914–15 using the fourth rail +420 V / -210 V system, as used by London Underground. This was changed in the 1970s to +630 V / 0 V; the trains (thenEMUs of a design unique to this and the DC line) were modified to the same basic traction supply arrangements as SR 3rd rail EMUs; the centre/negative current rail was removed except where coincident four-rail running was required between Richmond and Gunnersbury for the Underground trains that share this section, the centre rail there being bonded to the running rail used for current return. The line is nowelectrified using that samethird rail system from Richmond toActon Central, but withoverhead lines now used from Acton Central to Stratford. The line into Broad Street used third-rail supply and, when the through service to North Woolwich started in 1985, trains used the third rail throughout. When the trains were replaced a few years later by dual-voltageClass 313 trains, it became possible to use the overhead line equipment which had been added to parts of the line for the benefit of freight trains; there had been some unexpected difficulties with earth currents from the third rail system which this overcame. This use was steadily extended, and trains had to make a number of changes between traction current supplies during their short journey; these were at Hackney Wick, Dalston Kingsland, Camden Road and Acton Central. With the final upgrade of the line between Camden Road and Stratford, the need to change traction current systems on this stretch was eliminated, and now the only changeover takes place at Acton Central for the short section to Richmond. The line ran on third rail throughout the 1980s until 1996 when it was closed for several months for conversion to overhead power, reopening electrified with OHLE later in 1996. In 2010, the last of the third-rail sections around Camden Road station were completely removed.
The line crosses, or comes into contact with, a very large number of other railway lines, especially lines radiating from central London. This does provide opportunities to move between different sectors of suburban London without having to enter the central zone.
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Trains run seven days a week, from approximately 06:00 (09:00 Sundays) until 23:30. There are eight trains per hour between Stratford and Willesden Junction, four of which continue to Clapham Junction and four to Richmond.
The introduction[when?] of new four-car, air-conditioned trains, combined with improved signalling and passenger information, has dramatically overhauled the service, making it an effective alternative to travelling through central London for many orbital journeys.
From March 2011, the extendedEast London line connects to the NLL, with ELL services joining the line west ofDalston Kingsland, running toHighbury & Islington.[12][13]
Transport for London extended platforms at some stations along the route to prepare the line for five-car operations in 2015, a project aimed at combating overcrowding on the line. The project was successfully completed and the first five-car trains started to run in summer 2015.
In July 2023, TFL announced that it would be giving each of the six Overground services unique names by the end of 2024.[14][15] In February 2024, it was confirmed that the North London / West London section would be named theMildmay line (to honour theMildmay Hospital inBethnal Green, which treated victims of theHIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s) and would be coloured sky blue on the updated network map.[3] The renaming was implemented in November 2024.
Maiden Lane station may be reopened by Camden Council;[16] however, the Office of Rail Regulation has not included this in the current plans.[17]
Hounslow council has proposed that part of the North London line be used as a branch ofCrossrail toHounslow,[18] which would see Crossrail services servingActon Central andSouth Acton. It was not included in the initial Crossrail bill but could form part of a later extension.
Under the former government's plans forHigh Speed 2 line fromLondon Euston toBirmingham, a new station calledOld Oak Common was to be built by 2025 serving the North London line,West London line, High Speed 2 andCrossrail. The new government supports the idea after it had been opposed at first.[19]
Another new station atNorth Acton is proposed for interchange with the Central line,[citation needed] but it might require the Central line station being moved to the east.
The planned link between the proposed High Speed 2 line and the existingHigh Speed 1 line would have used the North London line alignment around Camden Road station, which might have reduced the existing or future capacity of the line. Its heavy investment in the line and the passenger growth on it has made Transport for London against the alignment's use as a link between the two High Speed lines.[20] That link has now been removed from the parliamentary bill.
A new park utilising the former railway alignment between Camden Town and King's Cross was given planning permission in January 2023.[21][22]
Closed stations apart from those on the closed sections of the line are:
On 1 November 1865 the NLR opened its City Extension, mostly on a viaduct from a triangular junction at Dalston toBroad Street in the city, with these stations:
The extension closed on 30 June 1986, but although the track was lifted the viaduct remained in place. The route was re-opened in 2010 as part of the extendedEast London line, which, like the North London line, is operated byLondon Overground.
On 10 December 2006, the formerEastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway line between Stratford and North Woolwich was closed to allow building of aDocklands Light Railway line toStratford International betweenStratford andCanning Town. Part of the south end of the closed section is used by theElizabeth line.[23]
NLL stations closed were:
DLR and Jubilee line services are not affected at the first three of those stations.
The DLR line to Stratford International uses the former NLL low-level platforms at Stratford. NLL trains now terminate at new platforms on the north side of the high-level station.
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