Finsbury Park

 

Finsbury Park is on the route of the East Coast Main Line from King's Cross to the north of England and Scotland. The southern section of this was built in stages during the 1840s and early 1850s by the Great Northern Railway (GNR). Tracks were first laid through Finsbury Park in 1850 to the GNR's temporary terminus at Maiden Lane just north of the permanent terminus at King's Cross (which opened in 1852). The first station at Finsbury Park opened on 1 July 1861 and was originally named Seven Sisters Road (Holloway). The first section of the Victoria line, including Finsbury Park, opened between Walthamstow Central and Highbury & Islington on 1 September 1968. When the Victoria line was built in the 1960s, the walls in Finsbury Park station were decorated with mosaics of duelling pistols, which can still be seen. This was based on a mistaken identification of Finsbury Park with Finsbury Fields, which was used by Londoners since medieval times for archery and sports, and also associated with 18th-century duels and one of the first hot air balloon flights. However, Finsbury Fields actually occupied a location close to the present-day Finsbury Square.

 

Although thought of as a 'deep-level' tube station, Finsbury Park has neither lifts nor escalators as its lines are less than 20' (6.1 m) below street level, though there used to be lifts from the high-level platforms to the tube level. These were the last hydraulically-operated lifts on LT. Access to the Piccadilly and Victoria line platforms is by staircase only, reached via two narrow passages that physically prevent the installation of automatic ticket barriers. Manual ticket inspections by ticket inspectors and the British Transport Police do, however, regularly take place to combat fare evasion and ticketless travel. Stand-alone Oystercard validators are available by the station entrances for "pay as you go" customers to touch in and out. The station has help points, cash machines, Euro cash machines, payphones and wi-fi. NOTE: Access by steps only.

 

Connections: National Rail. Piccadilly Line. London Buses routes 4, 19, 29, 106, 153, 210, 236, 253, 254, 259, W3 and W7 and night routes N19, N29, N253 and N279 serve the station and bus station.

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