Camden Road railway station

History

The first Camden Road station was opened by the North London Railway in 1850 on the east side of what is now St. Pancras Way. It was renamed Camden Town on 1 July 1870, but closed on 5 December the same year when it was replaced by the current station, a short distance to the west.

Designed by Edwin Henry Horne, it opened as Camden Town by the North London Railway on 5 December 1870, but was renamed Camden Road on 25 September 1950 to avoid confusion with the London Underground Northern line which had opened in 1907. Thus, between 1907 and 1950, there were two stations called Camden Town. It remains Horne's only station still operating as such.

Between 14 May 1979 and 11 May 1985 Camden Road was the western terminus of the Crosstown Linkline diesel multiple unit service to North Woolwich.

To allow four-car trains to run on the London Overground network, the North London line between and closed in February 2010, and reopened on 1 June that year, in order to install a new signalling system and to extend 30 platforms. After the reopening the work continued until May 2011 with a reduced service and none on Sundays.

In November 2024 it was announced that toilets would be installed at the station.

Design

The Edwin Henry Horne designed station is a Grade II listed building.

Location

The station is at the corner of Royal College Street and Camden Road. The present Camden Town London Underground station is 450 m to the southwest of this station. This is an official out of station interchange. London Buses routes 29, 46, 253 and 274 and night routes N29, N253 and N279 serve the station.

It is one of the few railway stations in England in which there is a police station.

Services

The typical weekday service in trains per hour is:

• 4 westbound to via
• 4 westbound to Clapham Junction also via Willesden Junction
• 8 eastbound to via .

There is now no normal passenger service on the line from Camden Road to Willesden Junction Low Level via Queens Park, though the route can be (and is) used if the line via Hampstead Heath is blocked for any reason.

In addition to the frequent local passenger service, the station is a busy location for freight traffic due to its proximity to the junctions linking the North London line to both the West Coast Main Line at Camden Junction (via the now closed station at ) and the East Coast Main Line at Copenhagen Junction. The former is particularly well used by container trains from the deep water ports at Felixstowe and Tilbury to various terminals in the Midlands and North West of England; it also carried a passenger service (between and Broad Street/Liverpool Street) until 1992.

Proposals

Camden Highline

Main article: Camden Highline

In the future there may be a walking connection to and from King's Cross station. The Camden Highline is a proposed public park and garden walk transforming a disused section of the North London line between the two stations.

Potential reinstatement of platform 3

Plans for the North London line upgrade originally included reinstatement of the two disused tracks through Camden Road station. In 2008 this was removed from the project to save costs and to ensure the upgrade would be completed in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics. In a London Rail Freight Strategy released by Network Rail in May 2021, proposed reinstatement of platform 3 as a through platform, with platform 2 becoming a turn back for a potential peak hour service from Camden Road to with potential to continue these during the off peak.

Notes

References

References

1. {{citation London station interchange January 2016
2. {{citation step free tube map
3. The Forgotten Stations of Greater London by J.Connor and B.Halford-page 25
4. Williams, Michael. (2010). "On The Slow Train: Twelve Great British railway journeys". Preface Publishing.
5. (15 February 2010). "London Overground to close from Gospel Oak to Stratford as part of £326m upgrade to deliver longer, more frequent trains". TfL.
6. (2024-10-30). "London's tube and rail stations to get public toilets, with first seven stations announced".
7. "Camden Road Station".
8. [https://www.google.com/maps?q=51.5418,-0.1388+to+51.5394,-0.1427&saddr=51.5418,-0.1388&daddr=51.5394,-0.1427&hl=en&sll=51.540417,-0.141985&sspn=0.002856,0.005922&geocode=FSh3EgMd0OH9_w;FchtEgMdlNL9_w&dirflg=w&doflg=ptk&t=m&z=17 Walking directions to Camden Town tube station from Camden Road railway station]
9. (15 May 2022). "Richmond and Clapham Junction to Stratford route".
10. Richardson, Tim. (14 August 2017). "The Garden Bridge is dead, long live the Camden Highline". The Telegraph.
11. (24 September 2008). "North London Line plan cut back to hit Games deadline". Construction News.
12. [https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/London-Rail-Freight-Strategy-Summary-Report.pdf London Rail Freight Strategy Summary Report] Network Rail, May 2021 p.14