Highgate station fire

[Taunton]

Highgate Station has just reopened after firefighters tackled a huge fire by the north London Tube stop.
Plumes of smoke can be seen billowing out for miles away after the blaze broke out at roughly 3pm on Tuesday.

Seems to have been a substantial fire this afternoon (2 May) in the abandoned upper level station building at Highgate, Northern Line, which was on the onetime Finsbury Park to East Finchley line, rebuilt in the 1940s but never used by the Underground, which has had many an article written about it.

News link :

MSN

 

[Mikey C]

Really sad news that. if the disused part of the station has been gutted

 

[LUYMun]

I've recently noticed that the upper level of Highgate station has been frequented by trespassers, so if this fire has been caused by one of them I wouldn't be surprised...

 

[Tubeboy]

I've recently noticed that the upper level of Highgate station has been frequented by trespassers, so if this fire has been caused by one of them I wouldn't be surprised...

Indeed. There have been numerous raves and drug taking up there for years. BTP are frequent visitors. There was even a rave in one of the South tunnels.

 

[bramling]

Indeed. There have been numerous raves and drug taking up there for years. BTP are frequent visitors. There was even a rave in one of the South tunnels.

Not really a great shout that LU haven’t been able to keep the site secure. It’s essentially landlocked on three sides, so it shouldn’t be that difficult.

 

[The exile]

Not really a great shout that LU haven’t been able to keep the site secure. It’s essentially landlocked on three sides, so it shouldn’t be that difficult.

Only needs one!

 

[thomalex]

Seems like it's the abandoned "Northern Heights" part of the station which sits on top of the underground station.

While sad I hope it spurs some thought as to what to do with Highgate station. It sits on what must be some very sought after land and wasting it with a semi-abandoned station, car park and some garages just seems weird.

The upper parts of the station have a "bodged" feel such as the one way escalator exit where you have to swing a beaten up wooden door to exit, a vestige from the original much grander plans that were never completed. Some new development that can also properly finish off the station wouldn't go a miss.

 

[bramling]

Seems like it's the abandoned "Northern Heights" part of the station which sits on top of the underground station.

While sad I hope it spurs some thought as to what to do with Highgate station. It sits on what must be some very sought after land and wasting it with a semi-abandoned station, car park and some garages just seems weird.

The upper parts of the station have a "bodged" feel such as the one way escalator exit where you have to swing a beaten up wooden door to exit, a vestige from the original much grander plans that were never completed. Some new development that can also properly finish off the station wouldn't go a miss.

Very vociferous locals round there. I suspect anything too ambitious wouldn’t be tolerated. There’s also the issue that at least part of the site sits on top of the booking hall and escalator shaft, which would complicate things, though still plenty of other space.

Personally, my ideal use for the site would be to incorporate the tunnels into the Parkland Walk, therefore avoiding the awkward detour via Archway Road for those wishing to continue north. As ever, complications with this include the presence of LU sidings right up to the north tunnel mouth, and more recently the presence bats in all four tunnels.

LU’s security doesn’t seem great nowadays. There’s been constant problems with the disused substation at East Finchley recently as well.

 

[Lucan]

Seems like it's the abandoned "Northern Heights" part of the station which sits on top of the underground station.

I don't think so. It was on the GNR Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace branch.

 

[Gloster]

I don't think so. It was on the GNR Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace branch.

It was where the Ally Pally branch left the Great Northern line to Finchley and thence to Edgware or High Barnet. The junction was just beyond the West Tunnel and the Northern connected up just before East Finchley.

 

[edwin_m]

This part of the station was built as part of the Northern Heights project, replacing an older Great Northern station. It would have served trains from Moorgate towards Edgware and Bushey Heath.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I’d like to see the buildings retained but a use found for them. Weren’t there protected bats in those tunnels?

 

[Wolfie]

Seems like it's the abandoned "Northern Heights" part of the station which sits on top of the underground station.

While sad I hope it spurs some thought as to what to do with Highgate station. It sits on what must be some very sought after land and wasting it with a semi-abandoned station, car park and some garages just seems weird.

The upper parts of the station have a "bodged" feel such as the one way escalator exit where you have to swing a beaten up wooden door to exit, a vestige from the original much grander plans that were never completed. Some new development that can also properly finish off the station wouldn't go a miss.

It's become a de facto wild life sanctuary and indeed the abandoned tunnels are home to a significant bat colony which would make your ambitions very difficult to fulfill... Not to mention VERY prosperous and influential residents who would certainly not want the sort of development you aspire to.

‘A sleeping vale of sanctuary’: The abandoned Highgate station now home to bats

As swathes of commuters dive down into the Highgate underground every day, its elder sibling sits atop - abandoned but rife with nature.

www.hamhigh.co.uk

 

[Ashley Hill]

The London Evening Standard reported that the Fire Brigade said that over half of the building was well alight and included this photograph showing the fire.

The Harringay Community Press included this photo showing some of the remains.

I’d imagine that the old building will now be lost.

 

[Mojo]

It was the 1867 'up' platform building which caught fire rather than the railway buildings. I had the fortune of visiting this location last year and it was clear it had been abandoned for quite some time, with evidence of significant vandalism internally and numerous break-ins. Many sources online seem to suggest this was a private house however it was most peculiar and reflective of what I would expect a commercial premises in the 1980s to look like.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Still a sad loss. So at least the platform building survives then.

 

[AndrewP]

Once made enquiries about the disused station building for a residential conversion many years ago - no chance!

Shame that would have been handy for the tube.

Still a pity most of the northern heights scheme never happened

 

[swt_passenger]

I thought the newer disused platforms and track formations underwent some major maintenance, they need to be at least properly waterproofed because they’re forming the roof of the underground station?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Once made enquiries about the disused station building for a residential conversion many years ago - no chance!

What were their grounds for refusing your interest in doing that?

 

[Rogmi]

I’d like to see the buildings retained but a use found for them. Weren’t there protected bats in those tunnels?

I don't know if they're in both tunnels, certainly in one. Even if one of the tunnels was able to be opened, I can't see LU opening it for every day public access because of unsociable behaviour etc. Also, as it ends in Highgate depot, public access at the other end would be difficult without work being done.

 

[greyman42]

Was this the station that featured on Secrets Of The London Underground?

 

[davews]

Yes it was.

 

[Taunton]

There seems some significant water penetration of the lower, active Underground passages, which I think comes from the area of the "Northern Heights" upper level structure. The lower levels were refurbished a while ago but water penetration through the tunnel walls continued and is some of the worst, unless it's been very recently fixed up again.

Although rebuilt in Underground style of the times, the upper island platform was still served by the residual GN suburban steam trains for another 10 years or so, until they were given up.

 

[AndrewP]

What were their grounds for refusing your interest in doing that?

It was a long time ago - but I think it was required for operational purposes