Northern Line

About the Northern Line

The Northern line is one of the busiest and most confusing on the network, with its distinctive Y-shaped route splitting at both ends into separate branches. It runs from Edgware, High Barnet and Mill Hill East in the north to Morden in the south, passing through Camden Town, King's Cross, Euston, Tottenham Court Road, Bank, London Bridge and Kennington. The line also has two distinct central routes - via Bank (the City) and via Charing Cross (the West End) - which diverge at Kennington and Camden Town respectively, giving 50 stations across 58 km. A new extension to Battersea Power Station opened in 2021, adding three new stations.

History

The Northern line's history is complex, drawing together several earlier railways. The City & South London Railway, which opened in 1890 as the world's first electric deep-level tube, forms the core of today's Northern line. It was amalgamated with the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway in 1924 and extended to Edgware and Morden in the 1920s. The High Barnet and Mill Hill East branches were absorbed from the former LNER surface railway in 1940. The 2021 extension to Battersea added Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station stations, opening up the Nine Elms regeneration area.