Gospel Oak railway station

Gospel Oak railway station is in the London Borough of Camden in north London. It is on the North London Line (NLL) and is also the western passenger terminus of the Gospel Oak to Barking Line - known informally as GOBLIN. Passengers using Oyster cards are required to tap on interchange Oyster card readers when changing between the two lines. The station is in Travelcard Zone 2, and is managed by London Overground which runs all passenger trains at the station.

Gospel Oak
The station entrance in 2017
Gospel Oak
Location of Gospel Oak in Greater London
LocationGospel Oak
Local authorityLondon Borough of Camden
Managed byLondon Overground
OwnerNetwork Rail
Station codeGPO
DfT categoryD
Number of platforms3
AccessibleYes[1]
Fare zone2
National Rail annual entry and exit
2015–16 2.629[lower-alpha 1] million[2]
– interchange  1.826 million[2]
2016–17 2.356 million[2]
– interchange  0.601 million[2]
2017–18 2.379 million[2]
– interchange  1.108 million[2]
2018–19 2.700 million[2]
– interchange  1.577 million[2]
2019–20 2.459 million[2]
– interchange  1.402 million[2]
Key dates
2 January 1860Opened (NLL)
4 June 1888Opened (GOBLIN)
1926Closed (GOBLIN)
1981Reopened (GOBLIN)
Other information
External links
WGS8451.5552°N 0.1514°W / 51.5552; -0.1514
 London transport portal

History
Local railway lines, 1914
Ordnance Survey map, 1920
Gospel Oak station

The station opened in 1860[3] as Kentish Town on the Hampstead Junction Railway from Camden Road to Old Oak Common Junction south of Willesden Junction. It was renamed Gospel Oak in 1867 when a new station more appropriately named Kentish Town was opened about a mile south on the same line (that station is now Kentish Town West). Due to financial constraints a planned connection from the Tottenham and Hampstead Junction Railway to Gospel Oak station was not added until 4 June 1888, some 20 years after that railway opened, and then without a link to the North London Line due to other companies' opposition.

From 1926 to 1981, the station was not a passenger interchange: passenger trains left the Barking line at Tufnell Park and descended the gradient to Kentish Town station. In 1981 that passenger service from Barking was diverted from Kentish Town to Gospel Oak with the terminal platform rebuilt on the north side of the existing station.[4]

The North London Line through Gospel Oak was electrified on the fourth-rail 660 volt DC system in 1916 by the LNWR: in the 1970s that was changed to 750 volt DC third rail. In 1996, the line from Willesden through Gospel Oak to Camden was closed during conversion to 25 kv AC overhead.

Design

The platforms are high above street level with stairs and two lifts, one serving westbound trains, and one serving eastbound trains and the Barking line.[5] The North London Line has two platforms and the Barking line has a short terminal platform north of which are two separate through freight tracks which join the NLL just west of the station. Oyster ticket barriers are in operation.

Services
London Overground Turbostar unit 172005 departs from Gospel Oak with a service to Barking. Until 2018, the line was not fully electrified requiring diesel train operation.

To allow four-car trains to run on the London Overground network, the North London Line between this station and Stratford closed from February 2010 to 1 June 2010, for installing a new signalling system and for extending 30 platforms. Until May 2011, there was a reduced service with no services on Sundays while the upgrade work continued.[6]

The typical off-peak service at the station in trains per hour is:[7]

Preceding station   London Overground   Following station
TerminusGospel Oak to Barking Line
towards Barking
North London Line
towards Stratford
  Disused railways  
Terminus   Tottenham & Hampstead Junction Railway
(1868–1915)		   Highgate Road

Connections

London Buses route C11 serves the station.

In arts and music

The two brick skew arch bridges by which the trains cross Gordon House Road are shown in the cover photograph of the 1997 Gospel Oak EP by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor.

Notes
  1. This decrease was caused by a change in methodology which reduced the figure by 1.052 million. Without the change, the figure would have been 3,681 million.

References
  1. "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. May 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 August 2020.
  2. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
  3. Brown, Joe (2006). London Railway Atlas. Ian Allan Publishing.
  4. Bosher, Dave. "Journey Along the North London Line, Part 2". Inter City Railway Society. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013.
  5. "Mayor hails successful bid to make more London Overground stations step free". TfL. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  6. "London Overground to close from Gospel Oak to Stratford as part of £326m upgrade to deliver longer, more frequent trains". TfL. 15 February 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  7. GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Tables 59 & 62 (Network Rail)
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