Palace Gates Line
The Palace Gates Line was a short railway branch line in north London running from the main line at Seven Sisters station in Tottenham to Palace Gates (Wood Green) station in Wood Green.
Opening
The line was constructed by the Great Eastern Railway (GER) and opened on 1 January 1878 with a temporary terminus at Noel Park and Wood Green station before being opened to Palace Gates (Wood Green) station on 7 October 1878. The line was opened in competition with the Great Northern Railway (GNR) line from Kings Cross station to provide passenger services from the GER's London terminus at Liverpool Street station to the recently opened Alexandra Palace and the developing suburb of Wood Green.
Extension to Bowes Park
After the 1921 Railways Act amalgamated the GER, GNR and other railway companies into the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1923, a connection to Bowes Park on the GNR Hertford Loop Line, which runs just north of the site of the terminus station, was made in 1929.
Decline
With the nearby GNR built stations at Alexandra Palace and Hornsey providing a more direct route to central London, the catchment areas for the line's stations were always fairly small and the opening in 1932 of the first section of the Piccadilly line extension to Cockfosters with stations at Wood Green and Turnpike Lane diminished them further, crucially eroding the line's passenger traffic.
In the early 1950s, the line was one of only two branches in the London area still worked by elderly F5, mainly, and F6 2-4-2Ts. The remaining examples of these were called into Stratford Works for withdrawal, in mid-1958. There then being no other suitable locomotives for the Palace Gates line, many of its trains were worked by J68 and J69 0-6-0Ts until sufficient N7 0-6-2Ts became available, following the electrification of suburban services from Liverpool Sreet station to Chingford and Hertford, in November, 1960. N7 and L1 steam locomotives continued to be used, until September, 1962.
Closure
The 1960s rationalisation of British Railways to reduce unprofitable lines identified the Palace Gates line as one that was surplus to requirements and the line was closed to passengers on 7 January 1963. Goods services continued to run until 5 October 1964.
The site today
Tracks were removed and the stations demolished and the route of the line has been almost entirely covered by new construction including The Mall Wood Green (Shopping City). The only part of the line that remains is a short section of track within Bounds Green Depot where the line formerly connected to the Hertford Loop Line. A small section of the route can be seen from Avenue Road.[1]
References
- ↑ "Palace Gates Railway line to South Tottenham". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
External links
- Abandoned Tube Stations - Palace Gates Line
- Subterranea Britannica - Seven Sisters Station - contains a history of the Palace Gates Branch
- The History Files: Railway Walks - Seven Sisters to Palace Gates
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