Muswell Hill railway station

Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill station on a 1920 map
Muswell Hill Location of Muswell Hill in Greater London
Location	Muswell Hill
Local authority	Haringey
Number of platforms	2
Railway companies
Original company	Muswell Hill Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Northern Railway
Post-grouping	LNER
Key dates
24 May 1873	Opened as Alexandra Park (Muswell Hill)[1]
1 August 1873	Closed[1]
1 May 1875	Reopened and renamed as Muswell Hill[1][2]
1 December 1930	Closed[2]
July 1932	Reopened
29 October 1951	Closed
7 January 1952	Reopened
5 July 1954	Closed for passengers
18 May 1957	Closed for freight
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
WGS84	51°35′27″N 0°08′26″W / 51.5909°N 0.1406°WCoordinates: 51°35′27″N 0°08′26″W / 51.5909°N 0.1406°W
London Transport portal

Muswell Hill railway station was in Muswell Hill in North London, just north of the junction of Muswell Hill and Muswell Hill Place. Nothing remains of the station; Muswell Hill Primary School occupies its former site.

History

Edgware Highgate & London Railway, 1900

The Muswell Hill Railway (MHR) opened the station on 24 May 1873 as the intermediate station on its line from the Great Northern Railway (GNR) station at Highgate to Alexandra Palace station to coincide with the opening of Alexandra Palace. The station name, originally "Alexandra Park (Muswell Hill)", was changed to the final form in 1875. The other intermediate station on the line, Cranley Gardens, did not open until 1902. In 1911 the line was taken over by the GNR. The 1921 Railways Act created the Big Four railway companies, and in 1923 the line became part of the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER).

Unfulfilled plans

In 1935 London Transport 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 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 between 1939 and 1941. Further works on the section between Finsbury Park 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 Muswell Hill 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 was used for goods until complete closure on 18 May 1957. The track was removed and the platforms and station buildings were demolished. The line between Muswell Hill and Finsbury Park is now a linear park, the Parkland Walk.

See also

• Edgware, Highgate and London Railway

References

1. Butt 1995, p. 15.
2. Butt 1995, p. 166.

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.

External links

• London's Transport Photographic Archive Muswell Hill station in 1935.
• Muswell Hill station on Subterranea Britannica

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Alexandra Palace Line and station closed		British Railways (Eastern Region) Edgware, Highgate and London Railway		Cranley Gardens Line and station closed
	Abandoned Northern Heights Extension
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Alexandra Palace Terminus		Northern line		Cranley Gardens towards Moorgate