Highgate is a London Underground station and a former railway station on Archway Road, in the London Borough of Haringey. The station takes its name from nearby Highgate Village. It is on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line, between East Finchley and Archway stations. It is in London fare zone 3.

The station was originally opened in 1867, on the Great Northern Railway's line between and stations. As part of their only partially completed Northern Heights plan, the London Underground started serving the station in 1941, using new platforms in tunnels beneath the surface station. The platforms of the surface station remain, but were last used in 1954; the section of the line through them to Finsbury Park was closed in 1970 and lifted by 1972. One of the original 1867 station buildings still exists and is in use as a private house.

History

Original station

Highgate station was originally constructed by the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway in the 1860s on its line from Finsbury Park to Edgware. Before the line was opened, it was purchased in July 1867 by the larger Great Northern Railway (GNR), whose main line from ran through Finsbury Park on its way to and the north. The station opened along with the railway to Edgware on 22 August 1867.

Post-war

After the war, plans to complete the Northern Heights project were reviewed. In early 1946, the conversion of the LNER line from Mill Hill East to Edgware was scheduled by the LPTB for completion between January 1947 and June 1948. No work was carried out as maintenance works and reconstruction of war damage on the existing network had the greatest call on London Underground funds. Funds for new works were severely limited and priority was given to the completion of the western and eastern extensions of the Central line to West Ruislip, Epping and Hainault.

Despite being shown as under construction on Underground maps as late as 1950, work never restarted on the unimplemented parts of the Northern Heights project.

After a temporary closure between October 1951 and January 1952, British Railways (the successor to the LNER) ran the last passenger services between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace on 3 July 1954. the pre-war plans included a large entrance building at the top of the hill next to The Woodman pub with a pair of escalators between the entrance and the sub-surface concourse. These were to be enclosed in an inclined structure down the side of the cutting parallel with the surface tracks. Taking inspiration from the local legend, the building would have been topped by a statue of Dick Whittington and his cat. When works were finished in 1957, a single and upwards only escalator was provided to take passengers from the sub-surface ticket hall up to a simple exit at the top of the cutting.

One of the GNR's station buildings remains on the north side of the surface platforms; it is used as a private residence. Much of the route between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace now forms part of the Parkland Walk, although this bypasses the station site for safety reasons.

On 2 May 2023, a fire broke out in the ground-level station.

Facilities

The current station consists of a central subterranean ticket hall, with escalators leading down to two separate nine-car long platforms. The stairs to the closed surface platforms have been blocked off from the public areas of the station by a staff room.

There are two entrances to the station: one leading to Priory Gardens to the east and Archway Road to the south. This entrance is directly opposite the Jacksons Lane art venue. There is also a one-way escalator leading to a simple exit north of the station.

Services and connections

Services

Highgate station is on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line in London fare zone 3. It is between East Finchley to the north and Archway to the south. Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 3–7 minutes between 06:01 and 01:01 northbound and 05:37 and 00:18 southbound (as of 2015).

Connections

As of 2024, London Bus routes 43, 134, 234 and night bus route N20 serve the station.

The disused platforms and tunnels have been used for filming, appearing in several productions including the feature film Paperhouse and the television series Waking the Dead.

Jerry Springer, former mayor of Cincinnati, in Ohio, United States, and later a TV host, was born at Highgate tube station in 1944 during a World War II bombing raid by the Luftwaffe.

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Buildings on Archway Road are visible beyond, showing depth of cutting in which the surface station was built.