Widened Lines
The former GNR services were diverted via the Northern City Line to Moorgate in 1976, and in 1988 the cross-London route reopened for Thameslink.
[4] From Paddington the line was built using the "cut-and-cover" method beneath the New Road, connecting the main-line railway termini at Paddington, Euston and King's Cross, then followed Farringdon Road in tunnel and cutting to a station at Farringdon Street near Smithfield, near the capital's financial heart in the City.
With connections to the Great Western Railway (GWR) and GNR under construction and connections to the Midland Railway and the LC&DR planned, the Met obtained permission in 1861 and 1864[note 1] for a four-track eastward extension to a new terminus at Moorgate and two additional tracks from King's Cross to Farringdon Street.
[18] On 1 September 1871, an eastern curve from the Snow Hill line was opened and the LC&DR diverted its Victoria to Farringdon service to Moorgate.
[19] The writer Andrew Martin claims that, by the end of the 19th century, a continental passenger service linked Liverpool with Paris via the Widened Lines.
[14] The former GNR and Midland services continued to run to Moorgate, DMUs and diesel locomotives replacing steam in the 1960s.
[23] In 1976 the former GNR services were diverted at Finsbury Park via the Northern City Line to Moorgate, and York Road station and the curves into King's Cross closed.
[citation needed] Close by, Snow Hill opened on the through line on 1 August, renamed Holborn Viaduct Low Level in 1912.
Places in the South were also able to order coal from collieries in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire, as well as other coalfields, to be conveyed to destination by rail.
The MR and GNR already having connections with the Widened Lines, it became convenient to use the route to transfer wagons of goods and coal to the Southern companies.
Originally small groups of sidings were used, such as Kentish Town and West Hampstead on the MR, Holloway and Finsbury Park on the GNR.
In the later part of the nineteenth century the amount of traffic outstripped the capacity of such places, and huge new marshalling yards were constructed at Brent Sidings MR and Ferme Park GNR.
The companies south of the Thames received the cross-London traffic at places such as Battersea Wharf and Norwood Junction on the LB&SCR, Herne Hill on the LCDR and Bricklayers Arms on the SER.
These depots were served by dedicated workings from the yards on the MR and GNR - latterly Brent Sidings and Ferme Park – via the Widened Lines and running powers established at various dates.
[28] In 1877, there were 58 daily trips from the MR over the Widened Lines their own South London depots and to the LB&SCR, LCDR and SER destinations mentioned above.
[31] The route formed a vital link between the English Channel ports and the railways to the north of London for the movement of troops and freight.
Overall, from 5 August 1914 to 31 December 1918, 248,072 long tons (252,100 t) of goods and 26,047 through military specials for personnel or material were run over the Widened Lines between the northern and southern railways.
[31] This was despite major physical constraints that affected the use of the route and imposed restrictions on the nature and extent of the traffic that could pass over it.
[31][32] Almost from the date of opening of the Widened Lines, the various railway companies supplied their own steam locomotives (mostly fitted with condensing apparatus).
