Gospel Oak railway station

Gospel Oak railway station is in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. It is situated on 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.

Gospel Oak
The station entrance in 2016
Gospel Oak Location of Gospel Oak in Greater London
Location	Mansfield Road, Gospel Oak
Local authority	London Borough of Camden
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Network Rail
Station code(s)	GPO
DfT category	D
Number of platforms	3
Accessible	Yes[1]
Fare zone	2
National Rail annual entry and exit
2018–19	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 dates
2 January 1860	Opened (NLL)
4 June 1888	Opened (GOBLIN)
1926	Closed (GOBLIN)
1981	Reopened (GOBLIN)
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.5552°N 0.1514°W / 51.5552; -0.1514
London transport portal

History

Local railway lines, 1914

Ordnance Survey map, 1920

Gospel Oak station

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 Internal interchange London Underground Weaver line Out-of-station interchange London Trams Windrush line (   ) Nearby interchange London River Services The new London Overground line names and colours were introduced across the London rail network in November 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 and 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

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.

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		Mildmay line North London line		Kentish Town West towards Stratford
Terminus		Suffragette line 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

1. "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. April 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 May 2021.
2. "Estimates of station usage". 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. "Mansfield Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy". Camden London Borough Council. 4 December 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
5. Bosher, Dave. "Journey Along the North London Line, Part 2". Inter City Railway Society. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013.
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. "Mayor hails successful bid to make more London Overground stations step free". TfL. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
8. Table 59, 62 National Rail timetable, December 2023
9. "London Overground Timetable: Richmond and Clapham Junction to Stratford" (PDF). Transport for London. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
10. "London Overground Timetable: Gospel Oak to Barking" (PDF). Transport for London. Retrieved 23 January 2024.

External links

• Train times and station information for Gospel Oak railway station from National Rail