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Finchley Central tube station

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Finchley Central
LocationFinchley
Local authorityLondon Borough of Barnet
Managed byLondon Underground
Number of platforms3
Other information
London transport portal

Finchley Central tube station is a London Underground station in the Church End Finchley area of Finchley, north London.

The station is on the High Barnet branch of the Northern Line, between West Finchley and East Finchley stations and is the junction for the short branch to Mill Hill East station. The station is above ground and is in Travelcard Zone 4.

History

Finchley Central station was built by the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway (EH&LR) and was originally opened as Finchley & Hendon on 22 August 1867 by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) (which had taken over the EH&LR) in what was then rural Middlesex.[1] The station was on a line that ran from Finsbury Park to Edgware via Highgate. A branch line from this station was constructed by the GNR to High Barnet and opened on 1 April 1872.[1] The station was renamed to Finchley (Church End) on 1 February 1894.

After the 1921 Railways Act created the Big Four railway companies, the line was, from 1923, part of the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). The section of the High Barnet branch north of East Finchley was incorporated into the London Underground network through the "Northern Heights" project begun in the late 1930s. The station took on its current name on 1 April 1940 and was first served by Northern Line trains on 14 April 1940.[2] After a period where the station was serviced by both operators, LNER services ended in 1941.[1] Northern Line services to Mill Hill East began on 18 May 1941.[2]

The station still retains much of its original Victorian architectural character today and, as one of the two remaining original stations, on the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway (along with Mill Hill East), it is one of the oldest parts of the Underground system, pre-dating the first tunnelled section of the Northern Line (the City & South London Railway) by more than twenty years.[3]

  • Looking south from platform 2
    Looking south from platform 2
  • Platforms
    Platforms
  • Platforms
    Platforms
  • Station Road entrance
    Station Road entrance

Local information

The station has two entrances. The main one, leading directly to the ticket hall, is from an access road on the north side of the tracks which for many years lacked a name, but on 13 November 2006 was named Chaville Way after one of Barnet's twin towns. Chaville Way is a turning off the main road opposite Nether Street at the point where the main road changes name from Ballards Lane to Regents Park Road. It also leads to the station car park. The second entrance is in Station Road.

The two entrances are connected by a footbridge over the tracks from which stairs lead down to the platforms. Because the station only has one ticket hall, but two entrances, it is does not have fully gated access. At the Station Road entrance, there is just a pair of Oyster card validators.

The station has three platforms. Platform 3 is served by southbound trains. The other two are served by northbound trains, platform 1 mainly for trains terminating at Finchley Central or going to Mill Hill East, platform 2 mainly for trains going on to High Barnet.

There is currently no disabled access to the platforms, which must be reached by flights of stairs. However, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has announced that Finchley Central will be one of a number of stations on the Northern Line which will be upgraded to allow disabled access.

Work currently being carried out by Tube Lines for the purpose of providing disabled access to each platform. Steelwork for a new lift shaft serving platforms 2 & 3, manufactured by McNealy Brown of Sittingbourne, Kent, is scheduled for installation on the weekend of 21-23 September, with associated steelwork to link to the existing footbridge to follow. A new lift shaft serving the ticket hall and platform is currently under construction. Lifts and associated machinery are to be provided by Kone Lifts.

Finchley Central was the home station of Harry Beck, designer of the original Tube map, and features a commemorative plaque on the southbound platform together with a facsimile poster of Beck's design.

It is believed by many that Finchley Central is the station on the London Underground network with the largest resident population of mice.

The following London Buses serve the station:

  • 82 (North Finchley Tally Ho Corner to Victoria Terminus Place) every 8 minutes
  • 125 (Winchmore Hill, Station Road-Finchley Central Station) every 10 minutes
  • 143 (Brent Cross Shopping Centre-Archway Station) every 12 minutes
  • 326 (Brent Cross Shopping Centre-Barnet Spires Shopping Centre) every 12 minutes
  • 382 (Mill Hill East tube station-Southgate tube station) every 15 minutes
  • 460 (North Finchley Tally Ho Corner-Willesden Bus Depot) every 12 minutes

Night Buses:

  • N13 (North Finchley Tally Ho Corner-Aldwych) every 20 minutes from 0019-0459
  • N20 (Barnet Church-Trafalgar Square) every 30 minutes from 2356-0526

References

  1. ^ a b c Clive's Underground Line Guides - Northern Line, Dates
  2. ^ a b Rose, Douglas (1999). The London Underground, A Diagrammatic History. Douglas Rose/Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-219-4.
  3. ^ The City & South London Railway opened in 1890 between King William Street in the City of London and Stockwell in Southwark.
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51°36′04″N 0°11′36″W / 51.60111°N 0.19333°W / 51.60111; -0.19333

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