Northern line's past history

[Deleted]

Hi all,

I'm kind of new here, haven't contributed much yet. So might as well start now .

I'm curious about the Northern line's history. As someone who's moved to London only a few years back, I was eager to explore the Tube for I love trains and subways. The Northern line's backstory particularly inntrigued me. What with the multiple extensions built by different companies in the late 19th-early 20th centuries, joining it all into one big complex line as it is now, the mind-boggling tunnel layout of Camden Town, the 1975 Moorgate incident, and the 'Misery line' period. Knowing all this makes travelling on the line kinda exciting (I commute in the city centre daily and use the Bank branch to go to work).

Having read especially about the 'Misery line' side of it, it now seems incredible how much the line has improved, almost resurrected. The 95ts trains are superb. Delays, signal failures and other incidents are particularly rare compared to other lines, making the Northern arguably the most reliable at the moment. So I would like to hear some stories, if you have any to share, on what it was like before that. Was it really plagued by neglect in the 70s-80s? What were your experiences of commuting on the Northern line in the past? Cheers!

[theblackferret]

Mar 21, 2015 22:31:10 GMT @railnut said:

Hi all,

I'm kind of new here, haven't contributed much yet. So might as well start now .

I'm curious about the Northern line's history. As someone who's moved to London only a few years back, I was eager to explore the Tube for I love trains and subways. The Northern line's backstory particularly inntrigued me. What with the multiple extensions built by different companies in the late 19th-early 20th centuries, joining it all into one big complex line as it is now, the mind-boggling tunnel layout of Camden Town, the 1975 Moorgate incident, and the 'Misery line' period. Knowing all this makes travelling on the line kinda exciting (I commute in the city centre daily and use the Bank branch to go to work).

Having read especially about the 'Misery line' side of it, it now seems incredible how much the line has improved, almost resurrected. The 95ts trains are superb. Delays, signal failures and other incidents are particularly rare compared to other lines, making the Northern arguably the most reliable at the moment. So I would like to hear some stories, if you have any to share, on what it was like before that. Was it really plagued by neglect in the 70s-80s? What were your experiences of commuting on the Northern line in the past? Cheers!

First off, greetings!

I had to read your post twice-you find commuting exciting. I admire your youthful enthusiasm-I had to start work (after 90 mins from Ramsgate to Vic or Charing X, thence by tube to Oxford Circus)with a stiff triple sweet martini & lemonade every day, so maybe it was actually exhilarating for me & I needed to settle my shot nerves?

Mrs tbf used to commute part of the way to Bank on the Northern Line (from c 1978-82), so I'll pinch her memories. Dirty, overcrowded, total madhouse were her comments. Last time we were up there (last October) we did about 3-one stop changes on it apart from trying to travel through as many stations & disused ones as possible-she did NOT want to replicate too much of the 1980's experience, even for me!!

To be frank, the entire network was neglected in the 70's & 80's, probably due to what was then an inexorable reduction in passenger numbers that had been on-going since about 1953, and the planning & building of the Victoria & Jubilee Lines taking what cash there was. The Misery Line epithet came from The Evening Standard, which was as worthless then as it is now.

The Northern Line was possibly the worst, because of the operational problems inherent in the two branches in the middle, etc., and therefore gross overcrowding on platforms & trains in peak hours. From what I saw in October, redoing Angel station was a massive improvement, and the newer stock has helped as well, because, as you know, it has the longest continual underground mileage on the whole network; that isn't always appreciated, but lighter trains & better ventilation thereon has made a difference.

I do suspect, though, if I was still working & using the Northern Line, the Martini bottle would be inappropriate now. Or at least, I might settle for just a single!!

[superteacher]

There is a great video on YouTube called Heart of the Angel, which gives a good feel for what the Northern line was like back then.

It is undoubtedly better now, but I do miss it as it was then. It had a lot more character, but then again I didn't have to use it to commute every day!

[pitdiver]

I worked on the Northern Line as a Stn Supervisor just as the 95Ts came into use. It was fun when they were doing test run's as I had one sit down in my platform at GST and shed it's load, Upset the whole line for the best part of half a day as no one was really sure what had happened so couldn't figure out how to fix it.