Original station East Finchley station was built by the
Edgware, Highgate and London Railway (EH&LR) on its line from
Finsbury Park station to
Edgware station. Before the line was opened, it was purchased in July 1867 by the larger
Great Northern Railway (GNR), whose main line from
King's Cross ran through Finsbury Park on its way to
Potters Bar and the north. The station, originally named
East End, Finchley, opened along with the railway to Edgware on 22 August that year. The station was given its current name either on 1 February 1887 or, alternatively, in 1886. As a result of the
Railways Act 1921, which created the "
Big Four" railway companies, the GNR amalgamated with several other railways to create the
London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1923. At the start of the 1930s, the station had around 54 trains daily from High Barnet and a few through trains from Edgware. Services ran to Finsbury Park and then either
King's Cross,
Moorgate or
Broad Street.
Northern Heights project In 1935, the
London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) announced a proposal, which became known as the
Northern Heights project. This was to take over the LNER lines from Finsbury Park to Edgware, High Barnet and Alexandra Palace, and link them to both the
Northern line at East Finchley and to the
Northern City line at Finsbury Park. The construction of the first phase of this project involved extending tube train services from the Northern line's existing terminus at
Archway station, through a new section of paired tunnels under the LNER's Highgate station to emerge south-east of East Finchley station, where track connections to the LNER line were made. For the introduction of London Underground services, the original station was completely demolished and rebuilt. The station was provided with two additional platforms, giving four in total. The platforms comprise two parallel islands with tracks on both sides. This was necessary as the intention of the Northern Heights project was that trains would be able to run south from East Finchley to Highgate via both the surface and the underground routes. The inner pair of tracks served the surface route, whilst the outer pair serve the tunnel route. Northern line trains first served the station on 3 July 1939. After completion of the electrification of the line to High Barnet, Underground services were extended northwards on 14 April 1940. The station continued to be served by LNER steam trains from Highgate until 2 March 1941 when that service was discontinued. The inner platforms are now used only by northbound trains entering service or southbound trains terminating at East Finchley on their way to or from Highgate Wood depot south of the station.
Post-war After the war, plans to complete the Northern Heights project were reviewed but no work was carried out. Maintenance works and reconstruction of war damage on the existing network had the greatest call on London Underground funds. Funds for new works were severely limited and priority was given to the completion of the western and eastern extensions of the
Central line to
West Ruislip,
Epping and
Hainault. Despite being shown as under construction on underground maps as late as 1950, work never restarted on the unimplemented parts of the Northern Heights project.
British Railways (the successor to the LNER) freight trains continued to serve the station's goods yard until 1 October 1962, when it was closed. ==Description of the building==