Alexandra Palace railway station (Muswell Hill branch)

Alexandra Palace

Edgware Highgate & London Railway, 1900
Alexandra Palace
Location of Alexandra Palace in Greater London
Location Alexandra Palace
Local authority Haringey
Number of platforms 2
Railway companies
Original company Muswell Hill Estate Company
Pre-grouping Great Northern Railway
Post-grouping LNER
Key dates
24 May 1873 Opened[1]
1 August 1873 Closed[1]
1 May 1875 Reopened[1]
30 November 1876 Closed[1]
10 May 1877 Reopened[1]
30 April 1880 Closed[1]
15 November 1880 Reopened[1]
1 December 1930 Closed[1]
July 1932 Reopened[1]
29 October 1951 Closed[1]
7 January 1952 Reopened[1]
5 July 1954 Closed[1]
Other information
Lists of stations
London Transport portalCoordinates: 51°35′41″N 0°07′55″W / 51.5948°N 0.1320°W

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 East Coast Main Line 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.[2]

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, but there were further periods of closure from August 1882 to March 1885 and September 1885 and May 1889.[3]

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 and North Eastern Railway (LNER).

Alexandra Palace station, dwarfed by the Palace immediately behind it

In 1935 London Underground planned, as part of its "New Works 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.

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 led 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 as far as Muswell Hill continued to be used for goods until 18 May 1957 when the section between Muswell Hill- Highgate was closed to regular goods traffic. The tracks between Highgate and Finsbury Park were retained until the 1970s, to enable Northern City Line's tube stock to be transferred to and from Highgate depot and, as the tracks were not electrified, the trains had to be hauled by battery locomotives. Today the track has been removed and many of the platforms and station buildings have been demolished. At Stroud Green the former Station Masters house still stands and sees residential use, but the platforms and buildings have been removed. The opposite is true at Crouch End, where the platforms survive almost intact but only fragments of the station building survive. The track bed between Muswell Hill and Finsbury Park is now largely part of Parkland Walk.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 Butt 1995, p. 15.
  2. ↑ http://www.cufos.org.uk/
  3. ↑ Wall, Mike (2003). Lost Railways of Middlesex. Newbury: Countryside Books. p. 116. ISBN 978-1853068027.

Bibliography

  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.

Further reading

External links

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
  Former Services  
Terminus   EH&LR
Alexandra Palace Line		   Muswell Hill
  Abandoned Northern Heights Extension  
Preceding station   London Underground   Following station
TerminusNorthern line
towards Moorgate