High Barnet station was planned by the
Edgware, Highgate and London Railway (EH&LR) and opened on 1 April 1872 by the
Great Northern Railway (which had taken over the EH&LR) on the original site of the
Barnet Fair. It was the terminus of the branch of a line that ran from
Finsbury Park to
Edgware via
Highgate. In 1896 an additional ticket hall was opened. After the
Railways Act 1921 created the "Big Four" railway companies the line was, from 1923, part of the
London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). The section of the High Barnet branch north of
East Finchley was incorporated into the London Underground network through the "
Northern Heights" project begun in the late 1930s. High Barnet station was first served by Northern line trains on 14 April 1940 and, after a period where the station was served by both operators, LNER services ended in 1941.
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. The goods yard was converted to a car park for commuters. The station still retains much of its original
Victorian architectural character, with numerous platform buildings dating from the pre-London Transport era. In 2008, a new train crew accommodation block was constructed immediately to the south west of the station on part of the car park. This was opened on 31 January 2010. Further improvements include a new covered step-free entrance from the car park to platform one, along with a ramp at the end of the platform connecting it to platforms two and three. There are also two accessible toilets. These works were fully completed in October 2009. There is full step-free access in the station, although there is a considerably steep path if approaching the station from the north and a steep approach from the road to station level from the south.
Housing development In the late 2010s,
Places for London (the property arm of
Transport for London) proposed that around 300 new homes would be built on the car park next to the station. The development would have around 40% affordable housing. The Barnet Society and local MP
Theresa Villiers criticised the plans, with Villers calling the car park "heavily used". In 2025, an amended proposal was refused at committee by
Barnet Council, despite a positive recommendation from officers. The scheme will pass to the
Mayor of London, who may overturn the decision. ==Services==