Northern heights plan

The Northern Heights plan involved the construction of the GN&CR's unbuilt connection from Drayton Park to the surface platforms at Finsbury Park and the transfer of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) branches from there to Edgware, High Barnet and Alexandra Palace. By 1939 much of the work for the connection of the lines had been done, including the ramps needed to take the tracks from Drayton Park up to Finsbury Park, and the opening of the connection was scheduled for autumn 1940, but World War II put a halt to further construction.

After the war the plan to incorporate the Alexandra Palace branch into the Underground was cancelled and the branch closed to passengers in the 1950s. No further effort was made to connect the City Line to the main-line platforms (owned after the 1948 nationalisation by British Railways) and Northern line tube trains continued to run in tunnel to Finsbury Park.

Truncation of the line and transfer to British Rail

Although the Victoria line does not serve Drayton Park, its construction during the 1960s had a significant impact on the station. The City Line tunnels north of Drayton Park were closed on 3 October 1964 and were reused by the Victoria line, which was connected to them south of Finsbury Park. Drayton Park became the northern terminus of the City line, which later became known as the Northern line Highbury Branch.

On 4 October 1975 the line was closed and ceased to be part of the London Underground. The line was transferred to British Rail (BR) and the unused ramps from the cancelled Northern Heights plan finally received the tracks to connect the line to the surface platforms at Finsbury Park. On 8 August 1976 Drayton Park reopened as part of the BR network, with main-line-sized trains running to Old Street. On 8 November 1976, the line was opened for main-line trains from Moorgate to Finsbury Park and beyond, 72 years after the GN&CR opened, as had been originally intended.

v t e Finsbury Park to Highbury & Islington to Dalston
Legend
East Coast Main Line Finsbury Park Junctions with Canonbury Curve and Northern City Line towards King's Cross Bridge to Emirates Stadium Drayton Park Victoria line Canonbury Curve North London line Highbury & Islington Victoria line Northern City Line Canonbury Dalston Junction Dalston Kingsland East London line North London line

Following the transfer of the line from London Transport to British Rail, the tube train car sheds at Drayton Park became redundant. The track in the sheds and outside in the yard had only been used by slow-moving empty tube trains, so was in very good condition. It was purchased by the Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales. The job of lifting and loading it onto a bogie flat wagon fell to volunteers of the London Area Group of the Ffestiniog Railway Society. This was accomplished over about three weekends in June 1977.

Trains on the line have dual power pick-up equipment. In the tunnel section trains use a third rail, and above ground they use overhead line equipment via pantographs. Trains change between the two methods at Drayton Park and the transition may be noticeable as sparks or momentary power blackouts.