Northern City Line Art Tribute Scripture

This follow up post to the NCL Photo Gallery, is the compiled history of the Northern City Line collated by myself; I will split the post into chunks so those who wish to view a certain chapter may do so.

Thanks for reading this introduction. See you on the other side.

Chapter 1: Introduction and History

You may never have used it. You may not even know that it’s there. But in zones one and two of the London Underground network, you’ll find an oft-forgotten piece of London’s transport history; an anomaly of a railway hidden deep within the bowels of London’s Financial District: this is the Northern City Line.

Let’s start with some history of the NCL; the line’s inception came in 1904 when the private company Great Northern Railways wanted to link what is now today’s East Coast Main Line with the inner City, providing trains travelling from the northern fringes of the capital with a terminus within the City of London’s Financial District.

Plans to link the NCL to the mainline fell through; eventually forcing GNR to sell off the NCL to the Metropolitan Railway, owners of what is today’s Metropolitan line.

Once the line became under ownership of the LPTB or London Public Transport Board in the 1930’s, there WERE plans to link the NCL with the proposed Northern Heights, a slew of rail lines permeating out across north London, (planned) to link High Barnet, Edgware and Alexandra Palace as part of the Northern Line.

In the wake of the Second World War however, those plans were cancelled.

What the Second World War started; the Victoria Line finished, being agreed in the 1950’s and opening in the 60’s under Royal assent from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Due to the opening of the new Victoria Line, the NCL’s platforms at Finsbury Park were cannibalised; cutting back services one stop south to Drayton Park, the ‘new’ terminus from 1964.

In the early 1970’s the line was briefly named the Northern Line: Highbury Branch; this only lasted a year however as plans were drafted to transfer the line to British Rail; despite this, the line would be mired by the worst tragedy in London Underground history: the 1975 Moorgate tube disaster, on the morning of 28 February, a southbound train failed to stop at the platforms, instead ploughing into the buffer stops at the southern portal of the station, killing 43 people. In the wake of the disaster, the station now employs unique timed stopping mechanisms.

The knell for the underground services to Moorgate finally fell in October 1975, being transferred firstly to British Rail, Network SouthEast between 1986 to 1994 and First Capital Connect from April 2006 to September 2014; the line’s current operator being Govia Thameslink Railway, the rolling stock that was used up until 2019, were ex-FCC BR Class 313 units originally operated by British Rail, these trains were succeeded by new Siemens BR Class 717 Desiro City units formed of 6-cars with enhanced emergency evacuation information in the case of a train failure within the Moorgate tunnels.

Chapter 2: Moorgate Station

We start this journey in the heart of the City at Moorgate; served by the London Underground Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Northern Lines; as well as the Northern City Line; the main focus of this narrative.

Both platforms 9 and 10 are for trains terminating from either a northbound or southbound direction; the platforms have been ‘modernised’ by which the tiling has been updated to represent GTR (Govia Thameslink Railway) who own the line; however, as the NSE grey-blue-red stripes are owned by Network Rail, the past ownership is still represented in the present day; seen on the tunnel wall.

We’ll now move one station north to Old Street.

Chapter 3: Old Street

The station on the NCL connects only with the Northern Line; the Moorfields Eye Hospital is also accessible from here, the station is one of three stations that connect with London Underground services, the others being Highbury & Islington and Finsbury Park; the original terminus of the line.

The next station is Essex Road.

Chapter 4: Essex Road

The next station is a little different, there are no LU connections, the station is solely served by Great Northern services from Moorgate, this is the only National Rail station within the Greater London Boundary in which this occurs; which shows the uniqueness of the NCL.

We continue north; the next station is Highbury & Islington.

Chapter 5: Highbury & Islington

We now arrive into Highbury & Islington, this station provides two connections, one to the London Underground Victoria Line and another to the London Overground network, this station is a vital junction in the north London area as it is situated outside the central London core in Travelcard Zone 2.

Continuing on; we reach the penultimate station on the original NCL: Drayton Park.

Chapter 6: Drayton Park

Heading out into daylight at Drayton Park, the ‘interchange’ is mainly used by football fans as the Emirates stadium overlooks the station; most if not all trains at this station change power modes depending on direction: if the train is heading northbound, the driver changes from 750V DC to 25kV AC overhead power, if the train is heading southbound, the procedure is reversed.

We head towards the original terminus of the NCL: Finsbury Park.

Chapter 7: Finsbury Park + Closing Statement

Heading north from Drayton Park, the train arrives into Finsbury Park; a mega-junction of 12 platforms serving the London Underground Victoria & Piccadilly lines, Great Northern, extended Thameslink services from stations in southern England, London NorthEastern Railway mainline services, Hull Trains and Grand Central. The LNER, Hull Trains and Grand Central services run fast through the station non-stop.

As we have arrived into Finsbury Park; I just want to thank those who have enjoyed this presentation about one of London’s lesser-known suburban main-lines and the relevant connections along the route.

Again; thank you for reading this scripture.

*The gallery was compiled during the COVID-19 pandemic; I kept to the UK government guidelines, yet was exempt from wearing a face-covering due to my hidden disability.*