61-473: The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of London , England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London . Its route is a rough semicircle. Although much of it originated as part of the North London Railway , the current route is the result of a series of amalgamations, closures and reopenings, and has
122-557: A curve across north London. Only Richmond and Kew Gardens stations at the western end are south of the River Thames . The river crossing is made by Kew Railway Bridge on tracks which are shared with the London Underground District line. The location of the eastern extremity has varied over the years. Between 1944 and 1986, it was at Broad Street station; then it was switched to North Woolwich . Later, it
183-560: A mix of third-rail and overhead electrical power supply . It remains heavily used by freight services in addition to the main Mildmay line service on the London Overground . Between Richmond and Gunnersbury , London Underground 's District line shares tracks with London Overground services; the entire route is owned and maintained by Network Rail . TfL took over the line in 2007 and introduced new stock as well as putting
244-462: A project aimed at combating overcrowding on the line. The project was successfully completed and the first five-car trains started to run in summer 2015. In July 2023, TFL announced that it would be giving each of the six Overground services unique names by the end of 2024. In February 2024, it was confirmed that the North London / West London section would be named the Mildmay line (to honour
305-541: A reduced service and none on Sundays, and with the upgrade work completed, the full seven-day service resumed on 22 May 2011. In addition to the primary Broad Street - Richmond service, there were services that linked Broad Street with Harrow & Wealdstone and Watford Junction on the Watford DC line . Most of these were routed via the line between South Hampstead and Camden Road, calling at Primrose Hill although some travelled via Hampstead Heath and joined
366-461: A service between Basingstoke and Ipswich , utilising parts of the North London line. The service was called London Crosslink and ran up to five times a day at roughly two-hourly intervals. The service called only at principal stations such as Staines , Feltham and Brentford . On the North London line, the trains called only at Stratford , Highbury & Islington , Camden Road (some services), West Hampstead and Willesden Junction. The service
427-546: A total of 740 hp per 3-car set. Initially these trains were painted in the standard mid-green livery adopted for electric multiple unit stock at nationalisation. This was replaced by a dark brunswick green livery with wide yellow bands in the early 1960s, the same livery as had been adopted for diesel multiple unit stock. In the late 1960s this was changed to rail blue , and from 1981, units sent for general overhaul received rail blue and grey livery. They were never facelifted or refurbished during their career; however, during
488-592: A very large number of other railway lines, especially lines radiating from central London. This does provide opportunities to move between different sectors of suburban London without having to enter the central zone. Trains run seven days a week, from approximately 06:00 (09:00 Sundays) until 23:30. There are eight trains per hour between Stratford and Willesden Junction, four of which continue to Clapham Junction and four to Richmond. The introduction of new four-car, air-conditioned trains, combined with improved signalling and passenger information, has dramatically overhauled
549-454: Is proposed for interchange with the Central line, but it might require the Central line station being moved to the east. The planned link between the proposed High Speed 2 line and the existing High Speed 1 line would have used the North London line alignment around Camden Road station, which might have reduced the existing or future capacity of the line. Its heavy investment in the line and
610-678: The Great Eastern Main Line (classes 506 , 503 and 306 respectively), it was decided that these trains would closely resemble the EPB stock of the Southern Region , which featured individual passenger-operated doors located at each seating bay. To prevent passengers leaning out of the opening windows, they were partially blocked with three bars — this was for passenger safety when travelling through areas with limited clearance, in particular Hampstead Tunnel. This earned them
671-537: The International Union of Railways in its official publications and thesaurus. Also Centering spring cylinder . Also Railway air brake . Also Main Reservoir and Reservoir . Also see Reverser handle . A metal casting incorporating a slot that allows the casting to fit over the rail near the wheel of a derailed car. The locomotive then pushes or pulls the car so that
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#1732783897322732-740: The Mildmay Hospital in Bethnal Green , which treated victims of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s) and would be coloured sky blue on the updated network map. Maiden Lane station may be reopened by Camden Council; however, the Office of Rail Regulation has not included this in the current plans. Hounslow council has proposed that part of the North London line be used as a branch of Crossrail to Hounslow , which would see Crossrail services serving Acton Central and South Acton . It
793-786: The Transport Act 1968 and came under threat when the Conservative Government of 1970–71 proposed to reduce Grant Aid funding. That threat, eventually lifted, led to the founding of a new campaign group, the North London Line Committee, which tried to work with British Rail management to promote the service. In 1979, the North Woolwich to Stratford service was extended to Camden Road as the Crosstown Linkline service, using
854-424: The 'Cinderella' end of the line, in that when there were operating problems it was common for trains to be turned short at Stratford. Despite favourable performance figures, the North London line used to be regarded by frequent travellers as offering a poor and unreliable service with extremely congested trains which were often cancelled shortly before they were due to arrive. A 2006 London Assembly report described
915-659: The 1930s by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. These had all been replaced by the early 1960s with dedicated short-wheelbase trains (shared with the Watford DC line ) built by the Southern Region at Eastleigh (using underframes built at Ashford) from 1957 which were later designated by British Railways as Class 501 . These were succeeded by Southern Region Class 416 EMU for a short period, these units being allocated to Selhurst depot in south London. Class 416 trains were in turn succeeded by Class 313 EMUs , which worked
976-496: The 1970s GN electrification. The Richmond lines were initially covered by ex-SR sets as stated above, but ultimately all the 501s territory was covered by 313s which had become spare. Furthermore, the London Underground Bakerloo line, which initially shared the system from Queens Park to Watford, was very substantially cut back and ultimately withdrawn north of Harrow & Wealdstone. The decline in traffic on
1037-495: The 1970s some trains had the intermediate trailers modified from compartment layout to open saloon. This work was carried out at Croxley Green workshops and, though quite neatly done, the overhead luggage racks which had been attached to the partitions were not replaced, leaving nowhere to put things like coats and umbrellas. The trains, which were allocated to Croxley Green depot , were withdrawn from operation in May 1985. The trains on
1098-577: The 1980s) and are coloured light blue on the Tube map . The North London line between Richmond and North Woolwich derived from five connecting sections which were opened over 25 years from 1846: The line from Broad Street to Kew Bridge and Richmond was electrified by the LNWR in 1916 on the fourth-rail DC system. In 1944, passenger services on the NLR Poplar branch ceased. Freight traffic continued on
1159-600: The 501s' territory is unparalleled by any other electrified service in London. The substantial peak services operated by the units from London's Broad Street terminus, to Richmond and Watford, were completely withdrawn during their lifetime. British Railways numbers were: Two 3-car units (xx162 & xx165) were transferred to the SR as Departmental Test Units 051 & 052 in 1969 but did not last long. Formations: 051: M61162 - DB975027; M70162 - DB975028; M75162 - DB975029. 052: M61165 - DB975030; M70165 - DB975031; M75165 - DB975032. 052
1220-552: The 77 LNWR "Oerlikon" 3-car sets on these lines, and the 25 additional sets built by the LMS in 1927 (giving over 100 3-car sets on these lines) were withdrawn in the early 1960s without replacement. After this numbers of the Class 501 were subject to early withdrawal in the 1960s-70s (45 of the 57 units remained in traffic by 1976), and the final stage was reached where they were replaced by a small number of class 313 sets which were spare from
1281-609: The Broad Street branch was at one time formed of quadruple track. During the February–May 2010 blockade, the Caledonian Road & Barnsbury , Highbury & Islington and Canonbury stations were rebuilt to allow the extended East London line to serve Highbury & Islington on fully segregated tracks on the south side of the cutting. Under the reinstated four-track arrangement, the North London line runs parallel to
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#17327838973221342-931: The DC line at Willesden Junction . Prior to electrification in the 1960s, other services ran as far as Tring on the West Coast Main Line via Primrose Hill and Willesden Junction Main Line (now demolished). By the time that Broad Street closed in 1986, the Watford services operated only in the rush hours; they were diverted to Liverpool Street by way of a new link in Hackney , known as the Graham Road Curve. Trains were frequently cancelled owing to rolling stock shortages; these circumstances had begun some years earlier with service reductions and scrapping of trains in
1403-531: The London Transport boundaries as a wartime measure in 1940. It was never reinstated, so these trains were second class only. The motor coaches had two powered bogies and GEC electrical equipment. They were the first to have camshaft controllers . The train ends also followed the EPB style and incorporated a two-character alphanumerical headcode. There were four 185 hp GEC traction motors giving
1464-468: The NLR opened its City Extension, mostly on a viaduct from a triangular junction at Dalston to Broad Street in the city, with these stations: The extension closed on 30 June 1986, but although the track was lifted the viaduct remained in place. The route was re-opened in 2010 as part of the extended East London line , which, like the North London line, is operated by London Overground . On 10 December 2006,
1525-528: The North London line to Broad Street Station; however, with the electrification of the Great Northern Electrics suburban lines in 1976, trains were diverted into Moorgate and London King's Cross stations, so since then this link has only been used for freight trains. It too was singled concurrent with the AC electrification of the eastern part of the North London line. Most of the line runs in
1586-714: The Poplar branch (see above), the line between Stratford and North Woolwich was permanently closed to make a way for a future DLR extension from Canning Town to Stratford International (opened February 2011). The section south of Canning Town was not used by the DLR, as it is largely duplicated by the DLR King George V branch. Instead, the section became part of the Elizabeth line 's branch to Abbey Wood , which opened in May 2022. The section south of Stratford had always been
1647-540: The branch to the docks on the Isle of Dogs until 1980. The trackbed of the southern part of the branch, from Poplar to Bow, was used for the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) branch to Stratford. The service was listed for closure in the 1963 Beeching Report, with losses claimed as being £69,000 per year (equivalent to £1,236,000 in 2023). It was saved after a huge campaign. The line was Grant Aided under
1708-532: The current service as "shabby, unreliable, unsafe and overcrowded", proposing the transfer of the service to Transport for London (TfL) as a solution to improve the quality of the service due to upgrade plans which coincided with the extension of the East London line . The North London line, as part of Silverlink , along with the West London line , Gospel Oak to Barking line and the Watford DC line ,
1769-660: The derailed wheel runs up the rerailer and back on to the track. Also see Extended Wagon Top Boiler . Also see Waist sheet . Also see Expansion knee . Also see Valve gear. Also see Grate Also see Train air signal apparatus. Also see Control system. Also Adhesion railway . Also Adhesion railway . Also see Hub. Also Adhesion railway . Also see Whistle stem. Also Coupler Yoke , Bell Yoke , Guide Yoke , Valve Yoke . British Rail Class 501 The British Rail Class 501 electric multiple units were built in 1955/56 for use on
1830-453: The double-track East London Line from Dalston Kingsland to Highbury and Islington. The line then becomes quadruple-track at Arundel Square, with passenger services using the inner pair of tracks and freight services using the outer pair, before the line reduces to double track at York Way, near St. Pancras. Originally, the line was electrified in 1914–15 using the fourth rail +420 V / -210 V system, as used by London Underground. This
1891-603: The east–west orbital service, from Broad Street to Richmond, were replaced with Class 416 units from the Southern Region, from the first day of the service being diverted and extended from Broad Street around eastern London to North Woolwich station . Services between London Euston / Broad Street and Watford and on the Croxley Green branch were subsequently replaced by sliding door Class 313 units. The services they were used on were subject to considerable contraction during their lifetime. The 57 units initially replaced
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1952-489: The final upgrade of the line between Camden Road and Stratford, the need to change traction current systems on this stretch was eliminated, and now the only changeover takes place at Acton Central for the short section to Richmond. The line ran on third rail throughout the 1980s until 1996 when it was closed for conversion to overhead lines. In 2010, the last of the third-rail sections around Camden Road station were completely removed. The line crosses, or comes into contact with,
2013-474: The former Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway line between Stratford and North Woolwich was closed to allow building of a Docklands Light Railway line to Stratford International between Stratford and Canning Town . Part of the south end of the closed section is used by the Elizabeth line . NLL stations closed were: DLR and Jubilee line services are not affected at the first three of those stations. The DLR line to Stratford International uses
2074-554: The former LNWR / LMS suburban electric network of the London Midland Region . A total of 57 three-car units were built. The services worked by the Class 501 units consisted of a small self-contained group of lines, which were electrified at 630 V DC on the 3rd and 4th rail principle, linking London Euston to Watford , Broad Street with both Richmond and Watford plus the Croxley Green branch — which
2135-458: The former NLL low-level platforms at Stratford. NLL trains now terminate at new platforms on the north side of the high-level station. Railway line Rail transport terms are a form of technical terminology applied to railways. Although many terms are uniform across different nations and companies, they are by no means universal, with differences often originating from parallel development of rail transport systems in different parts of
2196-441: The late 1960s, followed in later years by closure of depots at Croxley Green and Stonebridge Park preventing stabling of spare stock. Along with what eventually became a lack of trains timetabled to serve Liverpool Street to match the needs of rush-hour passengers, this inevitably led to falling patronage. British Rail applied to close the service in 1990, and the last trains ran two years later. In 2000, Anglia Railways started
2257-690: The line between the West London and East Coast Main Lines was proposed in the mid-1990s to be used for Regional Eurostar services, which would travel from the lines into Waterloo International station to points north of London. A proposed link to Heathrow Airport would have also used the line between Willesden Junction and Acton. Regional Eurostar was eventually cancelled. The line was originally operated by steam-hauled trains which were replaced after electrification by London and North Western Railway EMUs built from 1914 and augmented by later EMUs built in
2318-466: The line in February 2010 between Gospel Oak and Stratford for the installation of a new signalling system and the rebuilding or extension of platforms to allow four-car trains to run on the line; most NLL platforms had been reduced in usable length (where they had not been originally short) in the late 1960s when services were reduced to three-carriage trains only. The line reopened on 1 June 2010 with
2379-596: The line on the Tube map. It closed for four months in 2010 between Gospel Oak and Stratford and had a reduced service for another year to allow platform extensions and signalling upgrades. In November, 2024 the North London and West London section of the London Overground were named the Mildmay line (to honour the Mildmay Mission Hospital which treated victims of the HIV/AIDS crisis in
2440-615: The nickname "jail units". The stock differed from that for the Southern Region in that each vehicle was 57 feet (17.37 m) long instead of 63 feet 6 inches (19.35 m), and the vehicles within the units had screw coupling with two buffers instead of the close-coupled single buffer with chain arrangement used on the Southern multiple units. The trains were made up in 3-car formations as follows: Driving motor with two saloons of 3+4 bays + 9 compartment intermediate trailer + driving trailer with two saloons of 3+4 bays. Unusually for
2501-476: The normal arrangement of the full positive current of +630V in the outer rail, and to use the normal running rails for the return current at 0 potential. This required adaptation of the Class 501 trains to return current through the wheels instead of the centre rail. On the sections shared with the Underground trains the centre rail was retained, but was now also at zero potential and just bonded electrically to
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2562-436: The overhead line equipment which had been added to parts of the line for the benefit of freight trains; there had been some unexpected difficulties with earth currents from the third rail system which this overcame. This use was steadily extended, and trains had to make a number of changes between traction current supplies during their short journey; these were at Hackney Wick, Dalston Kingsland, Camden Road and Acton Central. With
2623-475: The passenger growth on it has made Transport for London against the alignment's use as a link between the two High Speed lines. That link has now been removed from the parliamentary bill. A new park utilising the former railway alignment between Camden Town and King's Cross was given planning permission in January 2023. Closed stations apart from those on the closed sections of the line are: On 1 November 1865
2684-576: The route until 2010 when London Overground introduced Class 378 Capitalstar four-car dual-voltage electric trains compatible with both 750 V DC third-rail and 25 kV AC overhead power sources, and all of these units were by 2017 operating in 5-car formations to address the additional demand on the route. In 1986, Broad Street station closed and the Tottenham Hale–Stratford link and the station at Lea Bridge ceased to be used by regular passenger trains. The line between Dalston and North Woolwich
2745-473: The running rail used for current return. The line is now electrified using that same third rail system from Richmond to Acton Central , but with overhead lines now used from Acton Central to Stratford. The line into Broad Street used third-rail supply and, when the through service to North Woolwich started in 1985, trains used the third rail throughout. When the trains were replaced a few years later by dual-voltage Class 313 trains, it became possible to use
2806-548: The running rails. No modifications were required on the Underground trains for this change, but electrical switching units are at the lineside where Underground trains pass from one system to the other. The Class 501 units were built by British Railways in its own workshops at Eastleigh on short 57 ft frames supplied by Ashford . Despite British Railways having recently built modern sliding door trains for electric suburban services in Manchester and Liverpool and on
2867-399: The same Cravens-built diesel multiple unit trains . There were no intermediate stations until, in 1980, Hackney Wick was opened, near the site of the former Victoria Park station and Hackney Central was re-opened; then Homerton re-opened in 1985 (the two latter stations had closed in 1944). New platforms were built at West Ham for interchange with the adjacent Underground station. The part of
2928-463: The service, making it an effective alternative to travelling through central London for many orbital journeys. From March 2011, the extended East London line connects to the NLL, with ELL services joining the line west of Dalston Kingsland , running to Highbury & Islington . Transport for London extended platforms at some stations along the route to prepare the line for five-car operations in 2015,
2989-469: The time, the vehicles featured screw couplings both within and between the units, in contrast to the SR units which had intermediate single buffer and chain and buckeye couplings at the unit ends. Although all other areas of the London Midland region had trains with both first and second class accommodation, the inner London area had withdrawn first class from main line trains operated entirely within
3050-757: The world, and in the national origins of the engineers and managers who built the inaugural rail infrastructure . An example is the term railroad , used (but not exclusively) in North America , and railway , generally used in English-speaking countries outside North America and by the International Union of Railways . In English-speaking countries outside the United Kingdom, a mixture of US and UK terms may exist. Various terms, both global and specific to individual countries, are listed here. The abbreviation "UIC" refers to terminology adopted by
3111-485: Was electrified on the third-rail system and Broad Street services were diverted to North Woolwich using former Southern Region 2-EPB types built in the 1950s. The two-car trains soon proved too small and were replaced by three-car Class 313 electric multiple units. The new service was branded by British Rail as the North London Link , and some signs using this name still exist. In December 2006, as with
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#17327838973223172-402: Was actually supplied at +420 V in the outer electric rail and -210 V in the centre one, a total potential difference of 630 V. This was the same system as used at the time (and still employed today) by London Underground, and allowed Underground trains to run over the lines, from Queens Park to Watford (Bakerloo line) and Gunnersbury to Richmond (District line). In 1970 it was decided to convert to
3233-424: Was changed in the 1970s to +630 V / 0 V; the trains (then EMUs of a design unique to this and the DC line ) were modified to the same basic traction supply arrangements as SR 3rd rail EMUs; the centre/negative current rail was removed except where coincident four-rail running was required between Richmond and Gunnersbury for the Underground trains that share this section, the centre rail there being bonded to
3294-481: Was cut back to Stratford . A tunnel, the Hampstead Heath tunnel, runs under Hampstead between Finchley Road & Frognal and Hampstead Heath . The line is double track throughout, with quadruple track between York Way (near St. Pancras) and Arundel Square (near Highbury and Islington). The former North Woolwich branch included a section of single track between Custom House and North Woolwich stations, and
3355-600: Was joined by driving motor no. 61183 in October 2006. It was hoped that the centre trailer coach would also be preserved, but this was scrapped in 2006. When the Electric Railway Museum closed in 2017, DMBSO 61183 and DTBSO 75186 were moved to a private site at Finmere Railway Station, on the former Great Central Main line (closed 1966) in Buckinghamshire. However, in January 2020 the station site
3416-402: Was mostly served by shuttle trains from Watford . Some of these services were partially jointly operated with London Underground 's Bakerloo and District Lines. In 1970 the trains were converted to 3rd rail only operation, although the 4th rail was retained on sections of line which are shared with London Underground trains. The original electric scheme on these lines was at 630 V DC, which
3477-442: Was not included in the initial Crossrail bill but could form part of a later extension. Under the former government's plans for High Speed 2 line from London Euston to Birmingham , a new station called Old Oak Common was to be built by 2025 serving the North London line, West London line , High Speed 2 and Crossrail . The new government supports the idea after it had been opposed at first. Another new station at North Acton
3538-403: Was transferred to Transport for London (TfL) in 2007 to form its new London Overground service. TfL began to remodel stations, integrate lines and, following the transfer and extension of the East London line , created an orbital rail service. TfL also brought in new trains and the lines, which previously appeared on tube maps following a public campaign, gained their own colour. TfL closed
3599-527: Was used as a Depot Pilot Unit No: 977385, nicknamed “The Beast”, at Strawberry Hill Depot for several years, numbered 501, but was later withdrawn and scrapped in 1995. Currently two vehicles are preserved. The two carriages used by the MOD were put up for disposal in early 2006. The driving trailer, no. 75186, was saved for preservation and moved to the Electric Railway Museum, Warwickshire . It
3660-494: Was withdrawn by 1970 and 051 was reformed as DB975029-DB975027-DB975030, but was withdrawn in late 1970, and the vehicles scrapped, except for one remaining DTBSO M75165. This was rebuilt to EPB standards and converted for Departmental Use in 1976 as Test Coach “Mars” ADB975032, based at Strawberry Hill, for commissioning refurbished Class 410/411/412 EMUs, but was scrapped on site by MRJ Phillips (contractors) in August 1987. One DMBSO
3721-578: Was withdrawn in 2002. The AC electrification of the eastern part of the North London line uses the previously unelectrified northern pair of tracks, which were also partially singled at the same time. Between Canonbury and Highbury & Islington, there is a line which links to the East Coast Main Line at Finsbury Park . This used to carry passenger trains to and from various main line stations (such as Edgware , Alexandra Palace , High Barnet , Welwyn Garden City and others) over part of
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