Transport for London has applied to the Department for Transport to take over the Northern City Line into Moorgate.
RAIL understands the business case was sent to the DfT on September 30.
The move was listed in London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan’s 2021 manifesto, but no progress has been made until recently.
Trains are currently operated by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), using Great Northern branding and a fleet of dual-voltage Class 717 electric multiple units.
The line has up to ten trains per hour (tph) in the morning peak using 19 units, with trains running to and from Hertford North, Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City. However, RAIL understands TfL believes it can run a more intense service.
Pre-COVID GTR was running 12tph using 21 units, a service considered the maxiumum to maintain reliability.
GTR is working with the DfT towards returning to 12tph an hour in the peak and an off-peak frequency of 4tph from December 2026.
A spokesperson said: “We are already working towards running still more trains in the rush hour and doubling the off-peak service to four trains an hour.
“Looking further ahead, service frequency can be further increased throughout the day if funding becomes available and if it is commercially viable. We're committed to continuing to deliver great services for our Great Northern passengers.”
TfL has highlighted the ‘right to request’ the transfer of services – a process outlined by the government in its rail reform consultation. In this, the Transport Secretary can decide to devolve operations to Mayoral Strategic Authorities that believe they could run them more effectively.
If approved, TfL would also take over the 25 dedicated Class 717s that replaced the Class 313s in 2019.
GTR will be nationalised on May 31 2026, and officials are thought to be keen to ensure any potential transfer of the Moorgate route to TfL does not affect the operator’s overall performance, with a desire to avoid any complex operational changes.
While isolated to a point, Northern City Line services must be integrated with the East Coast Main Line north of Finsbury Park.
The Northern City Line was run by the Metropolitan Railway and then London Underground between 1913 and 1975. From 1976, services were run by British Railways and then various iterations of the Great Northern franchise since 1997.
TfL has signed a subscription for full membership of the Passenger Demand Forecasting Council, to “inform discussions over the potential transfer of control over more National Rail services to TfL from the DfT”.
The government’s New Towns Taskforce has also published a report listing Crews Hill, on the Hertford Loop used by Moorgate services, on a shortlist of 12 potential new towns.
Up to 21,000 homes could be built. The report says services would need to be increased and that the government could explore options “including the potential to devolve”.
TfL was already planning to make the case for taking over the route, but sources believe the case is strengthened by the potential for a new town at Crews Hill.
“We have a proven track record of making rail services better and more reliable, leading to economic benefits and improving services for millions of commuters and unlocking thousands of new homes,” said TfL Director of Spatial Planning Lucinda Turner.
“We are keen to work collaboratively with the Transport Secretary and have begun engaging with officials regarding Great Northern.”
GTR currently runs up to six peak-hour trains, while the off-peak service is two per hour.
A spokesperson said: “We’re already working towards running still more trains in the rush hour from Gordon Hill, and doubling the off-peak service to four trains an hour from Hertford North.
“In the longer term, service frequency can be further increased if funding becomes available to support it until the point where it becomes commercially viable.”
If its submission is approved, it would not be the first time TfL has taken over services from a train operating company.
Former Greater Anglia and Great Western Railway services to Shenfield and Reading respectively were transferred prior to the full opening of the Elizabeth line, allowing through services to run between the two.
TfL has also taken control of several services that now make up parts of the London Overground network, with the transfer of Liverpool Street-Enfield, Cheshunt and Chingford services (now the Weaver line) between 2013 and 2015.
by urbexed
17 comments
This will likely happen. The government itself called for it in their new towns report and even Chris Grayling was in favour of it despite hating Sadiq khan. There are also tonnes of relatively simple improvements that tfl could do as well.for example; the Elizabeth line lifts at moorgate go right through this platform but network rail/GTR didn’t want to pay for an entrance to be placed there. So under tfl management you could see step free on this line.
It wasn’t just run by London Underground in the past, it was branded and run as part of the northern line until the 70’s.
Hypothetically would this mean it would become part of the Overground? Or another separate service akin to the Elizabeth line?
Still freaks me out a little when I see a national rail train under ground, I’ve used these stations loads. Essex Road too.
The stations are all battered too. Needs a little updating.!
If it became an Overground service, I wonder what they would name the line.
Should’ve happened years ago. Fuck Chris Grayling
Please don’t get rid of the beautiful red, white, and blue British Rail signage at Essex Road, it’s such a wonderful relic of a bygone time.
Fantastic
If they take it over, there goes the back up when strikes go ahead
I’ve never even heard of this route
Stevenage joining the oyster zone let’s gooooooo
Regardless of cost as a regular user I like that lots of people seemingly don’t know about this line. Put it on the overground and change the colour on the map and my chances of getting a seat go way down
Wish they took over SWR suburban services.
It would be useful to have a reliable, frequent service on this line. I used to use it, before Grayling messed around with it.
Been a semi-regular user of this line for several years since I’ve lived in Enfield. I take the Overground (Weaver) most of the time, but sometimes it’s more convenient to take this instead, and it would be nice if they ran 4 per hour off-peak as it’s really annoying when you narrowly miss a train and have to wait almost 30 minutes for the next one when I’m only going from like Finsbury Park to Grange Park.
It’s similar to the Lea Valley lines situation really, where it made sense for TfL to take over the local stopping services while leaving the regional and longer-distance stuff to… well I guess it’ll be GBR now.
Personally I’d be looking to long-term get the Hertford Loop (terminating at Stevenage) as one of the two northern branches of Crossrail 2 (rather than having it terminate at New Southgate) – especially with so much space up there for new housing – so if getting TfL in charge of it now makes that easier later, all the better.
The offpeak service is already 4tph ?
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