The Barnet Tunnel is a railway tunnel in north London on the East Coast Main Line. It has also been known as East Barnet Tunnel, Whetstone Tunnel, and Oakleigh Park Tunnel.
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a 393-mile long (632 km) major railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle; it is electrified along the whole route. The route is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain and broadly paralleled by the A1 road.
The tunnel is in London Borough of Barnet in north London. It passes under Russell Lane which joins Oakleigh Road North to Brunswick Park Road. The station to the north of the tunnel is Oakleigh Park (1873) and to the south, New Southgate (1850). Immediately to the north of the tunnel is Oakleigh Park Rail Cutting between the tunnel entrance and Oakleigh Park station.
Barnet is a suburban London borough in North London, England. It forms part of Outer London and is the largest London borough by population with 384,774 inhabitants and covers an area of 86.74 square kilometres (33 sq mi), the fourth highest. It borders Hertfordshire to the north and five other London boroughs: Harrow and Brent to the west, Camden and Haringey to the southeast and Enfield to the east.
Oakleigh Park railway station serves Oakleigh Park in the London Borough of Barnet, north London, England. It is 8 miles 30 chains (13.5 km) down the line from London King's Cross, in Travelcard Zone 4. The station is managed and served by Great Northern.
New Southgate railway station is on the boundary of the London Borough of Barnet and the London Borough of Enfield in north London, in Travelcard Zone 4. It is 6 miles 35 chains (10.4 km) down the line from London King's Cross.
The tunnel was built as part of the Great Northern Railway from 23 April 1849. It is 605 yards in length. [1] [2] [3]
The Great Northern Railway (GNR) was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity, as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway.
It is now called Barnet Tunnel, [1] but has also been known as East Barnet Tunnel and Whetstone Tunnel. [4] It was known as Barnet Tunnel in the Great Northern Railway guide for 1912 but the LNER called it Oakleigh Park Tunnel. It reverted to Barnet Tunnel under British Rail. [5]
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At that time, it was divided into the new British Railways' Eastern Region, North Eastern Region, and partially the Scottish Region.
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages between 1994 and 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission, it became an independent statutory corporation in 1962 designated as the British Railways Board.
In 8 May 1857, a partial derailment of a goods train took place as the train was entering the tunnel. No lives were lost. [6]
At 6.00 AM on 17 July 1948, locomotive No. 60508, Duke of Rothesay, was hauling a passenger train from Edinburgh Waverley when it began to derail inside the tunnel due to a combination of faulty track and excessive speed. The whole train was subsequently derailed on points at New Southgate. The driver was only slightly hurt but the fireman was killed after he escaped from the engine but was hit by the following carriages. Ten passengers were injured, none seriously. [7] [8]
Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the principal station serving Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the northern terminus of the East Coast Main Line, 393 miles 13 chains (632.7 km) from London King's Cross, although some trains operated by London North Eastern Railway continue to other Scottish destinations beyond Edinburgh.
The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from south-west to north-west London, with two branches through central London and three in the north. It runs northwards from its southern terminus at Morden in the borough of Merton to Kennington in Southwark, where it divides into two central branches, one via Charing Cross in the West End and the other via Bank in the City. The central branches re-join at Camden Town where the line again divides into two branches, one to High Barnet and the other to Edgware in the borough of Barnet. On the High Barnet branch there is a short single-track branch to Mill Hill East only.
The Northern City Line is a commuter line in England, which runs from London Moorgate to Finsbury Park in London with services running beyond. It is part of the Great Northern Route services, and operates as the south-eastern branch of the East Coast Main Line (ECML). It is underground from Moorgate to Drayton Park in Highbury, from which point it runs in a cutting until joining the ECML south of Finsbury Park. Its stations span northern inner districts of Greater London southwards to the City of London, the UK's main financial centre. Since December 2015, its service timetable has been extended to run into the late evenings and at weekends, meeting a new franchise commitment for a minimum of six trains per hour until 23:59 on weekdays and four trains per hour at weekends.
East Finchley is a London Underground station in East Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet, north London. The station is on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line, between Highgate and Finchley Central stations and is in Travelcard Zone 3.
East Barnet is an area of north London within the London Borough of Barnet bordered by New Barnet, Cockfosters and Southgate. It is a largely residential suburb whose central area contains shops, public houses, restaurants and services, and the parish church of St Mary the Virgin. East Barnet is close to the M25 and the A1 and M1.
Arnos Grove is a London Underground station located in Arnos Grove in the London Borough of Enfield, London. It is on the Piccadilly line between Bounds Green and Southgate stations and is in Travelcard Zone 4. The station opened on 19 September 1932 as the most northerly station on the first section of the Piccadilly line extension from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters. It was the terminus of the line until services were further extended to Oakwood on 13 March 1933. When travelling from east of Barons Court and through Central London, Arnos Grove is the first surface station after the long tunnel section of the Piccadilly line. The station has four platforms which face three tracks.
Finchley Central is a London Underground station in the Church End 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. The station is around 7 miles north-northwest of Charing Cross and is in Travelcard Zone 4.
Totteridge & Whetstone is a London Underground station in Whetstone of the London Borough of Barnet, North London. The station is the penultimate one on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line, between Woodside Park and High Barnet stations, in Travelcard Zone 4. It was first built in 1872.
The Edgware, Highgate and London Railway was a railway in north London. The railway was a precursor of parts of London Underground's Northern line and was, in the 1930s the core of an ambitious expansion plan for that line which was thwarted by the Second World War. Parts of the line were closed in the 1950s and have since been removed.
Stroud Green railway station is a former station in the Stroud Green area of north London. It was located between Finsbury Park station and Crouch End station on a bridge over Stapleton Hall Road. The station had platforms cantilevered from the bridge structure and a wooden station building at ground level under and on either side of the bridge, with a station master's house to the north of it. The bridge still exists, and now carries the Parkland Walk cycle and pedestrian path, whilst the station master's house serves as a community centre.
Brunswick Park is a populous neighbourhood and public park/set of small sports grounds in the London Borough of Barnet. It is north of New Southgate and to the south of Oakleigh Park.
The Piccadilly line extension to Cockfosters added eight new stations to the northern end of London Underground's Piccadilly line. The extension through north London from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters was opened in three stages between 19 September 1932 and 31 July 1933.
The area around Hornsey railway station in Hornsey has been the site of several railway maintenance facilities from the mid 19th century onwards.
The Dudding Hill Line is a railway line in north-west London running from Acton to Cricklewood. The line has no scheduled passenger service, no stations, no electrification, and a 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) speed limit with semaphore signalling, and is lightly used by freight and very occasional passenger charter trains. It is roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) long.
New Southgate Cemetery is a 22-hectare cemetery in New Southgate in the London Borough of Barnet. It was established by the Colney Hatch Company in the 1850s and became the Great Northern London Cemetery, with a railway service running from near Kings Cross station to a dedicated station at the cemetery, similar to the service of the London Necropolis Company to Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey.
The Northern line Embankment between Totteridge and Whetstone and High Barnet tube stations on the Northern line is a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade II, in the London Borough of Barnet.
Oakleigh Park Rail Cutting is an 8 hectare Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation in Oakleigh Park in the London Borough of Barnet. It is on the East Coast Main Line between Oakleigh Park railway station and Barnet Tunnel to its south.
