The line was constructed by the Great Eastern Railway (GER) and opened on 1 January 1878 with a temporary terminus at Noel Park and Wood Green station before being opened to Palace Gates (Wood Green) station on 7 October 1878.
The line was opened in competition with the Great Northern Railway (GNR) line from King's Cross station to provide passenger services from the GER's London terminus at Liverpool Street station to the recently opened Alexandra Palace and the developing suburb of Wood Green.
There then being no other suitable locomotives for the Palace Gates line, many of its trains were worked by J68 and J69 0-6-0Ts until sufficient N7 0-6-2Ts became available, following the electrification of suburban services from Liverpool Street station to Chingford and Hertford, in November, 1960.
In later years, services ran to North Woolwich rather than Liverpool Street, mainly to the benefit of workers in the docks living in the areas served by the line.
Tracks were removed and the stations demolished and the route of the line has been almost entirely covered by new construction including The Mall Wood Green (Shopping City).