Station Name: BROAD STREET
[Source:
Nick Catford]
 Engraving supposedly showing the site of the GER's new City Station at Broad Street. Not everything is as it appears. Broad Street station was nothing to do with the GER. This is in fact the site of the GER's new City Station at Liverpool Street. Broad Street may refer to the district rather than the name of the station. (Both Broad Street and Liverpool Street stations are in Liverpool Street). The east side of Broad Street station is clearly seen on the left and the viaduct running north from it to Dalston is seen in the background. A second sign on the left appears to indicate the LNWR's Broad Street station. Broad Street was the terminus of the North London Railway but it was also the site of the LNWR's City goods station which was on the west side of the trainshed (see 1896 map below) Company Minutes make mention of Liverpool Street as early as 1861, before the GER existed. Many of the Minutes ostensibly refer to 'Liverpool Street station' but in fact mean 'a station in Liverpool Street', in other words the street name. There is no mention of a station, rather the intended site of a station, actually named 'Liverpool Street' until 1868. The Minutes include some rather strange references; for example a joint NLR/GER station at Liverpool Street and "Liverpool Street High and Low Level stations". Quite what a "Low Level" station would have served is hard to imagine, unless it was a vague reference to the Metropolitan Railway or perhaps a mis-reference to Bishopsgate. What does become clear is that prior to 1868 there was uncertainty about what the future GER station was to be called. The proposal for a joint NLR/GER station seems to have been dismissed in October 1868 and the cost of a separate line accepted as a necessary expense. Had the shared plan gone ahead, the existing line from Bishopsgate would have joined the NLR just outside Broad Street station. There was another proposal, harking back to 1861 (for what was soon to become the GER) for trains to run from Tottenham to Kingsland, then via separate tracks to what became Liverpool Street station. Entries such as these go on and on over a number of years. So the date of the engraving is obviously after 1868. The first finalised references to property purchase for what became the GER's separate route into Liverpool Street date from May 1869 so allowing for time taken for legalities the engraving is almost certainly no earlier than 1870 and more likely from 1871/2.Photo from Richard Casserley collection  8.jpg) M. & G.N. Joint Railway Society - The Wandering 1500 railtour at Broad Street on 5th October 1963 Photo by Mike Morant  Broad
Street Station in October 1967 - shortly after part of the overall roof
was demolished.
Photo by Nick Catford street_old12.jpg) street118.jpg) Broad
Street Station in October 1970. The class 501 on the left id Broad Street to Watford via Primrose Hill (B2), that on the right is Broad Street to Richmond (B4)
 The approach to Broad Street Station in c.1975 - taken from the 17th floor of the now demolished Winchester House on London Wall. The EMU is going to/from Watford or Richmond; whilst the DMU is travelling via Barnsbury Tunnel to Finsbury Park and then Hatfield or Gordon Hill Photo by Geoff Burton street95.jpg) A Watford Class 501 at Broad Street in December 1981 Photo by Alan Young 
Broad
Street Station in June 1986. The only remaining platform was a temporary
one built in 1985 to allow the demolition of Broad Street before closure
of the line.
Photo by Nick Catford  Broad Street Starion on the last day of public service Photo by Ian Baker 19.jpg) Looking south towards the site of Broad Street Station in December 1987. Construction of the Broadgate Complex is well under way Photo by Nick Catford  Home Page
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When the station opened in 1865 it had seven platforms, and eighth
was added in 1891 and a ninth, outside the overall roof in 1913.
Platforms 1 - 4 were generally used by the Poplar trains with
trains to Hampstead Road, Watford and Richmond used the remainder.
The station was originally provided with two booking offices,
one for the NLR and one for the LNWR but these were amalgamated
in 1909 when the two companies went into joint management.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NORTH LONDON LINE
The extension to Camden Town (Camden Road until 1870) was opened on 7th December 1850 and on to Hampstead Road (renamed Chalk Farm from 1862 and Primrose Hill from 1950) on 9th June 1851; beyond Hampstead Road there was a junction with the LNWR. The line was extended south from Bow to Poplar on 1st January 1852 allowing freight services to reach the West India Docks. The freight service was worked by the LNWR and was mainly merchandise from the docks but there was also some coal coming from the Midland Railway at Rugby.
On the 18th May 1869 an eastwards spur was added at Bow onto the London Tilbury and Southern Railway allowing through running between Broad Street and Southend. After protracted negotiations the North London finally reached agreement with the London & Blackwall in 1870 for an eastern spur at Poplar allowing trains to reach Blackwall where passengers could catch the steamer services to Margate from Blackwall Pier. By this time however, the steamers were in decline and the train service was withdrawn in 1890 and the connection at Poplar was severed.
The Broad Street extension was very expensive to build and to save costs, the adjacent Broad Street goods station was built on two levels. Passenger traffic began on 1st November 1865 with the goods depot opening on 18th May 1868. The extension was referred to as 'the happy afterthought'; it was an immediate success with passenger traffic doubling to nearly 14 million in 1866;a fourth line was provided into Broad Street in 1874. On 18th January 1875 the Canonbury spur was opened giving access to the GNR network. 
The Richmond service was one of the few in London marked for the Beeching Axe in 1963. Strenuous opposition to closure by local authorities along the route brought a reprieve in 1965 and a modest modernisation scheme to cut costs was started in 1966, this involved singling the track out of Broad Street and removal of the junction to Poplar at Dalston. This ended any possibility of reopening the line to Poplar for which there had been much local support in the mid 1960's.
The opening of the new line marked the end for Broad Street however, from 13th May 1985 the Richmond service was diverted from Broad Street to North Woolwich leaving just a peak hour service to Watford Junction. The end was inevitable. Demolition of Broad Street Station started in the summer of 1985 with trains running into a temporary platform at the north end of the station. With the opening of a new connecting spur between the North London and the former Great Eastern line at Hackney the remaining. Broad Street trains were diverted into Liverpool Street bringing final closure to Broad Street and Dalston Junction on 30th June 1986. By the early 1990's the Watford Junction to Liverpool Street was reduced to just four trains Monday - Friday. This service was withdrawn in September 1992 with the closure of Primrose Hill station.
The Stratford branch used the track bed of the North London line from its junction with the former L & B at Poplar to a point just north of Bow station where it took a new route to Stratford running into a disused bay platform at the existing station. All Saints station was opened on the site of the North London's Poplar Station and at Bow, Bow Church Station opened on the south side of Bow Road, the original Bow Station having been on the north side; there was no direct replacement for South Bromley which was some distance north of the current Langdon Park station.
In phase 1, the line is being extended northwards from Whitechapel, with new stations at Shoreditch High Street, on the site of the old Bishopsgate goods depot, Hoxton, Haggerston and Dalston Junction, the latter two stations on their original sites. A further extension along the North London Line, through Canonbury to In phase 1, the line is being extended northwards from Whitechapel, with new stations at Shoreditch High Street, on the site of the old Bishopsgate goods depot, Hoxton, Haggerston and Dalston Junction, the latter two stations on their original sites. A further extension along the North London Line, through Canonbury to Highbury & Islington for interchange with the Victoria line, North London Line and Northern City Line will open soon afterwards. It is now anticipated that the northern extension should open in 2010. 
The North London Line platforms at Canning Town and West Ham will be redeveloped as part of the extension of the Docklands Light Railway from Canning Town to Stratford International while the North London line platform at Custom House will be used by Crossrail's Abbey Wood branch.
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