Alexandra Palace railway station (Muswell Hill branch)

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Alexandra Palace

Location
Place	Alexandra Palace
Local authority	Haringey
History
Opened by	Muswell Hill Railway
Platforms	2
Key dates	Opened 1873 Closed 1954
Replaced by	none
London Transport Portal

Alexandra Palace railway station (Muswell Hill branch) is a former station in the grounds of Alexandra Palace in the Muswell Hill area of north London. It is one of a number of stations to have held the name at various times and should not be confused with the current holder, Alexandra Palace station on the First Capital Connect line to the east.

The station was the terminus of a short branch line from Highgate station. The previous station on the line was Muswell Hill station. The station was located immediately adjacent to the north side of the Palace buildings. Nothing remains of the tracks or island platform today which have been removed and covered with car park but the small station building, known locally as CUFOS (Community Use For Old Station), remains.

[edit] History

The station was built by the Muswell Hill Railway (MHR) and opened in 1873 along with the Palace. However when the Palace burned down only two weeks after opening, the service was considerably reduced and then closed for almost two years whilst the Palace was rebuilt. It reopened in May 1875.

In 1911 the line was taken over by the Great Northern Railway. After the 1921 Railways Act created the Big Four railway companies, the line was, from 1923, part of the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER).

In 1935 London Underground planned, as part of its "New Works Programme" programme to take over the line from LNER together with the LNER's routes from Finsbury Park to Edgware and High Barnet, modernise it for use with electric trains and amalgamate it with the Northern Line.

How Alexandra Palace might have appeared on the London Underground Map today if the Northern Line extension from Highgate to Alexandra Palace and Finsbury Park was completed and opened to passengers.

Works to modernise the track began in the late 1930s and were well advanced when they were interrupted and halted by the Second World War. Works were completed from Highgate to High Barnet and Mill Hill East and that section was incorporated into the Northern Line. Further works on the section between Highgate and Alexandra Palace were postponed and the line continued under the operation of the LNER. Because of wartime economies services were reduced to rush hours only, so that after the war the dwindling passenger numbers and a shortage of funds lead to the cancellation of the unfinished works in 1950 and passenger services to Alexandra Palace station were ended by British Railways on 3 July 1954 along with the rest of the line between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace.

The line continued to be used for goods into until 18 May 1957 when it was closed completely. Today the track has been removed and most of the platforms and station buildings have been demolished. The track bed between Muswell Hill and Finsbury Park is now largely a Parkland walk.