Alexandra Palace railway station

Alexandra Palace
The station buildings at street level
Alexandra Palace Location of Alexandra Palace in Greater London
Location	Wood Green
Local authority	London Borough of Haringey
Managed by	Great Northern
Station code	AAP
DfT category	D
Number of platforms	4
Fare zone	3
National Rail annual entry and exit
2004–05	0.610 million[1]
2005–06	0.693 million[1]
2006–07	1.043 million[1]
2007–08	1.267 million[1]
2008–09	1.058 million[1]
2009–10	1.063 million[1]
2010–11	1.115 million[1]
2011–12	1.157 million[1]
— interchange	56,081[1]
2012–13	1.197 million[1]
— interchange	47,208[1]
2013–14	1.282 million[1]
— interchange	56,487[1]
2014–15	1.420 million[1]
— interchange	43,985[1]
Key dates
1 May 1859	Station opens as Wood Green
1 August 1864	Station renamed Wood Green (Alexandra Park)
18 March 1971	Station renamed Wood Green
17 May 1982	Station renamed Alexandra Palace
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portalCoordinates: 51°35′54″N 0°07′11″W / 51.5983°N 0.1197°W

Alexandra Palace railway station (originally named Wood Green and later Wood Green (Alexandra Park)) is in the London Borough of Haringey in north London, and is in Zone 3. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Great Northern. Trains mostly go to and from Moorgate on weekdays and weekends.

It is the only surviving station of three that have served Alexandra Palace. Alexandra Palace, sited actually at the palace, was on the Highgate - Alexandra Palace line, and Palace Gates (Wood Green) was on the Palace Gates Line.

Just outside the station to the north is Bounds Green Depot, used for storage and maintenance of the high speed trains used on the East Coast Main Line. A line adjacent to the station platforms is used by shunters moving carriages and engines around in the depot.

It is proposed that the station should be a terminus on Crossrail 2.^[2]

History

The station was opened by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) on 1 May 1859 as Wood Green, being renamed to Wood Green (Alexandra Park) in 1864.^[3] The GNR became part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the grouping of 1923. The line then passed on to the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The station reverted to its original name of Wood Green on 18 March 1971, but was again renamed, this time to Alexandra Palace, on 17 May 1982.^[4]

Under plans approved in 1897, the station was to be the northern terminus for the Great Northern and Strand Railway (GN&SR), a tube railway supported by the GNR which would have run underground beneath the GNR's tracks to Finsbury Park and then into central London. The next GN&SR station to the south would have been Hornsey. The GN&SR route and stations north of Finsbury Park were cancelled in 1902 when the GN&SR was taken over by Charles Yerkes' consortium which planned to merge it with the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway to form the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway from Finsbury Park to Hammersmith (now part of the London Underground's Piccadilly line).^[5]

In May 2013 it was announced that the station would be a terminus on the latest proposed route for Crossrail 2.^[6]

When sectorisation was introduced, the station was served by Network South East until the privatisation of British Rail.

In Autumn 2008, a new Shere FASTticket self-service ticket machine, accepting both cash and credit cards, was installed here (and similarly at other local First Capital Connect stations). Oyster card readers were installed at the station during 2008 and activated on 2 January 2010 for use with the Oyster Pay As You Go System.

Station layout

Looking north from the footbridge

The station has old buildings on Buckingham Road, which house a refreshment kiosk and ticket machines, with a modern footbridge connection to the platforms and across the tracks to Bedford Road. On the platforms there are only rudimentary modern buildings for public use.

On 9 December 2012 the old platforms 1 and 2 were closed for reconstruction. A temporary new platform 1 was provided to the east of the up slow line. All up (London-bound) trains which stop (served from either the Welwyn or Hertford directions) did so at this platform face. On 2 April 2013 the reconstructed platform 1 opened, on the west of the up slow line as before, now numbered as platform 2. This new platform is narrower than the former and the track has been moved to the west. The old platform 2 is permanently closed and has a fence along the edge. This work is part of a scheme to provide greater segregation of stopping, semi-fast and high-speed services in the section between Alexandra Palace and Finsbury Park, to allow a greater quantum of services.

The up fast line now has no platform face at this station. The down fast is a through road, without a platform face. Platform 3 is used by northbound trains on the ECML down slow line and trains on the Hertford Loop Line use platform 4. Trains to/from Hertford must use the outer platform lines.

Connections

London Buses routes 184 and W3 serve the station.

Services

A Class 313 at Alexandra Palace on its way to Stevenage via Hertford.

Alexandra Palace currently has the following National Rail services off-peak (all operated by Great Northern) which uses Class 313:

Weekday services

• 6tph to London Moorgate
• 3tph to Welwyn Garden City
• 3tph to Hertford North (1tph extended to Letchworth Garden City) via Hertford Loop Line
• A limited Great Northern service to/from King's Lynn, Cambridge and Peterborough via Potters Bar also calls at Alexandra Palace in the late evening and at night calling at all stations en route.

Weekend services:

• 4tph to London Moorgate
• 2tph to Welwyn Garden City
• 2tph to Hertford North (1tph extended to Stevenage) via Hertford Loop Line

Other Great Northern services between Peterborough, Cambridge, King's Lynn and London often pass through the station non-stop, as do all Virgin Trains East Coast, First Hull Trains and Grand Central services between London and the North/Scotland. Northbound trains usually use the central line, away from the platforms, while southbound trains speed non-stop past Platform 2.

References

1. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22522884
3. Butt 1995, p. 254
4. Butt 1995, pp. 15,254
5. Badsey-Ellis, Antony (2005). London's Lost Tube Schemes. Capital Transport. pp. 77 and 138. ISBN 1-85414-293-3.
6. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22522884

• 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.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 0-9068-9999-0. OCLC 228266687.

External links

• Train times and station information for Alexandra Palace railway station from National Rail