Gospel Oak railway station

LocationGospel OakLocal authorityLondon Borough of CamdenManaged byLondon OvergroundOwnerNetwork RailStation codeGPODfT categoryDNumber of platforms3AccessibleYes^[1]Fare zone2National Rail annual entry and exit2018–19 2.700 million^[2]– interchange  1.577 million^[2]2019–20 2.459 million^[2]– interchange  1.402 million^[2]2020–21 1.113 million^[2]– interchange  0.810 million^[2]2021–22 2.006 million^[2]– interchange  1.354 million^[2]2022–23 2.224 million^[2]– interchange  1.738 million^[2]Key dates2 January 1860Opened (NLL)4 June 1888Opened (GOBLIN)1926Closed (GOBLIN)1981Reopened (GOBLIN)Other informationExternal links

• Departures
• Layout
• Facilities
• Buses

Coordinates51°33′19″N 0°09′05″W / 51.5552°N 0.1514°W / 51.5552; -0.1514 London transport portal

Gospel Oak railway station is in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. It is situated the North London line, served by Mildmay line services between Clapham Junction/Richmond and Stratford, and is also the western passenger terminus of the Gospel Oak to Barking Line, served by Suffragette line services to/from Barking Riverside. 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.

History

v t e London Overground
Cheshunt Theobalds Grove Enfield Town Turkey Street Romford Bush Hill Park Southbury Emerson Park Upminster Edmonton Green Silver Street Chingford White Hart Lane Highams Park Watford Junction Bruce Grove Wood Street Watford Seven Sisters Walthamstow Central High Street Harringay Blackhorse Road Walthamstow Queen's Road Bushey Green Lanes Carpenders Park Crouch Hill South Tottenham St. James Leyton Midland Road Hatch End Upper () Stamford Hill Street Leytonstone Headstone Lane Holloway Stoke Newington Clapton High Road Harrow & Kentish Town West Rectory Road Wanstead Park () Wealdstone Gospel Oak Camden Road () Hackney Woodgrange Park Kenton () Caledonian Road Canonbury Downs Barking South Kenton & Barnsbury Barking Riverside () North Highbury & Islington Dalston Kingsland Hackney Central Wembley Hampstead Heath Dalston Wembley Finchley Road & Frognal () Junction London Fields Central West Hampstead ( ) Haggerston Cambridge Homerton Stonebridge Brondesbury Hoxton Heath Hackney Wick Park Brondesbury Park Shoreditch High Street Bethnal Green Stratford Harlesden Kensal Rise Kensal Green Liverpool Whitechapel Willesden Queen's Park Street Shadwell () Junction Kilburn High Road Wapping South Hampstead Rotherhithe Shepherd's Bush () Euston () Canada Water Kensington (Olympia) Surrey Quays West Brompton Battersea Park Imperial Wharf () (limited service) New Cross Clapham Queens Road Peckham New Cross Gate Junction Peckham Rye Brockley Acton Central Wandsworth Road Denmark Hill Honor Oak Park South Acton () Clapham Forest Hill Gunnersbury High Street Sydenham Kew Gardens Richmond Crystal Palace Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction West Croydon ()
Legend
Station National Rail Liberty line Accessible station Thameslink Lioness line Interchange station Elizabeth line Mildmay line Accessible interchange Docklands Light Railway Suffragette line London Underground Weaver line Internal interchange London Trams Windrush line Out-of-station interchange London River Services The new London Overground line names and colours are to be introduced across the London rail network in autumn 2024

The station opened in 1860^{[3][page needed]} 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.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Terminus		Tottenham & Hampstead Junction Railway		Highgate Road

The station was rebuilt by the London Midland Region of British Railways in 1954.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.

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]

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.^[7] 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

All services at Gospel Oak are operated by London Overground using Class 378 and 710 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[8][9][10]

• 8 tph to Stratford via Camden Road
• 4 tph to Barking Riverside
• 4 tph to Richmond
• 4 tph to Clapham Junction

During the late evenings, the services to and from Clapham Junction do not operate and the services to and from Barking Riverside are reduced to 3 tph.

Preceding station	London Overground			Following station
Hampstead Heath towards Richmond		North London line		Kentish Town West towards Stratford
Terminus		Gospel Oak to Barking line		Upper Holloway towards Barking Riverside

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

References

External links