Archway tube station

Archway
Main entrance on Junction Road
Archway Location of Archway in Greater London
Location	Archway
Local authority	London Borough of Islington
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	2 and 3
OSI	Upper Holloway
London Underground annual entry and exit
2011	8.08 million
2012	8.06 million
2013	8.17 million
2014	8.94 million
Railway companies
Original company	Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway
Key dates
22 June 1907	Opened as Highgate; terminus of line
11 June 1939	Renamed Archway (Highgate)
3 July 1939	Line extended to East Finchley
19 January 1941	Renamed Highgate (Archway)
December 1947	Renamed Archway
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
London Transport portal

Archway is a London Underground station in Archway, of the London Borough of Islington, north London. It is located underneath the Archway Tower, at the intersection of Holloway Road, Highgate Hill, Junction Road and Archway Road. It is on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line, between Highgate and Tufnell Park stations, in Zones 2 and 3.

Location

Side entrance on Highgate Hill.

When constructed, the area was simply the northern end of Holloway Road and had no specific name but, in the hope of attracting patronage, the terminus was originally named Highgate after the village up the hill. At the time of the station's construction the first cable car in Europe operated non-stop up Highgate Hill to the village from outside the Archway Tavern, and this name was also considered for the station. The main station entrance now lies beneath Archway Tower on Junction Road while the side entrance is on Highgate Hill.

History

The station lies at the base of Archway Tower, viewed from Junction Road.

The Leslie Green designed station opened on 22 June 1907, under the name Highgate faced in Green's standard ox-blood glazed brick. It was opened as one of the northern terminals of what was then the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR) and, as with other tube stations, soon gave its name to the local area.

On 3 July 1939, the line was extended to the Great Northern Railway's station at Highgate and East Finchley station as part of the New Works Programme. The station was renamed Highgate (Archway) (after the nearby road bridge over the deep cutting containing Archway Road), then Archway (Highgate), before becoming just Archway with the Highgate name being reassigned to the new station constructed beneath the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) high-level station of the same name.

Design

In 1930 the station was upgraded with escalators to replace the original lifts and the secondary entrance was replaced with a modern design by Charles Holden, virtually identical to the one he built at the same time at Hammersmith. Holden's station was replaced in the 1970s.

The platform walls once featured the distinctive and elegantly simple tiling schemes used by Holden on the underground stations constructed at this time. Cream tiles were used throughout with the station name band formed of letter shaped tiles inset into a background of cream tiles incised to accept the lettering. Similar tiling schemes can be seen at the neighbouring Highgate station, as well as at Bethnal Green and the stations on the tunnelled section of the Hainault branch of the Central line (for example Gants Hill). All were built in the late 1930s/early 1940s. The tiles at Archway were replaced several years ago during retiling works.

The station currently (as of 2015) has escalators (Otis type HD-B) to get down to the platforms. Alternatively, passengers can use the 113 steps to get down to the platforms.

Crossover and Siding

Northbound platform looking north. The small width of the platform together with the southbound one reflect the station's former role as a terminus.

When the original section of the Northern Line from Charing Cross to Golders Green and Archway (then Highgate) was opened in 1907, the terminus at Archway was provided with a scissors crossover just south of the station and the running lines beyond the north end of the platforms continued as separate dead-end sidings. When the line was extended to Highgate and East Finchley in 1939, the 'northbound' siding was extended as the northbound road while the 'southbound' siding was retained as a dead-end siding, extended at the north end with the new southbound line from Highgate joining it just before the southbound platform and a new connection from the northbound line to the siding, thus turning the old 'southbound' siding into a central reversing siding. The crossover south of the station was subsequently converted to a single trailing crossover but was decommissioned on 15 October 1967 when Archway was converted to programme-machine control from Coburg Street.(the signal box closed on 25 June 1961 when Archway became remote-controlled ) The enlarged crossover tunnel remains although cable runs extend down its centre between the two tracks for most of its length. The layout of the platforms and underground passenger areas still reflect the station's former role as a terminus.

Services

Northern line trains generally operate between Morden or Kennington to Edgware, High Barnet or Mill Hill East via the Charing Cross or the Bank branch. Occasionally and during disruptions or engineering works, trains can terminate at Archway. Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 3–7 minutes between 05:58 and 00:19 in both directions.

Connections

• London Bus routes 4, 17, 41, 43, 134, 143, 210, 263, 271, 390, C11 and W5 and night routes N20 and N41 serve the station.

• Maps in London Overground trains, but not London Underground maps, show the station as 450m from Upper Holloway station on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line. Interchange within twenty minutes is allowed between the two stations.

External links

• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Main station exterior, 1907
  • Secondary entrance in Highgate Hill in 1929
  • Secondary entrance in 1932 after reconstruction
  • Entrance at base of Archway Tower, 2006
• Archway station on Multimap
• Design drawing by Charles Holden and photograph, 1930s from Royal Institute of British Architects

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Highgate towards Mill Hill East or High Barnet		Northern line		Tufnell Park towards Morden or Kennington