Finchley Central tube station
Northern line · Zone 4 · Barnet
About Finchley Central station
Victorian brickwork survives here because a wartime plan was never finished. The Edgware, Highgate and London Railway built the station on its line from Finsbury Park to Edgware, but the Great Northern Railway bought the company just before the line opened on 22 August 1867, in what was then rural Middlesex. First called Finchley and Hendon, it became Finchley in 1872 and later Finchley (Church End), and it was the junction for the GNR’s branch to High Barnet, opened on 1 April 1872. Under the Northern Heights plan the Northern line arrived on 14 April 1940, the station took its present name, and LNER steam trains ended on 2 March 1941.
The war halted electrification towards Edgware at Mill Hill East, reached on 18 May 1941, and the rest was never built. Charles Holden and Reginald Uren had designed new buildings either side of the road bridge, but they too were dropped, so Finchley Central is one of two EH&LR stations keeping their original buildings, older than the first tunnelled part of the Northern line by more than twenty years. It lies in a cutting with three platforms; the large car park occupies the old goods yard, which closed on 1 October 1962.
First and last trains from Finchley Central
| Line and direction | Mon–Thu first – last | Friday first – last | Saturday first – last | Sunday first – last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern towards Morden, Battersea Power Station or East Finchley | 05:32 – 01:16 to East Finchley | 05:32 – all night | 24 hours | all night – 00:20 to East Finchley |
| Northern towards High Barnet or Mill Hill East | 05:16 to Mill Hill East – 01:06 to Mill Hill East | 05:16 to Mill Hill East – all night | 24 hours | all night – 00:10 to Mill Hill East |
Times are TfL’s published timetable departures from this station; on Saturday the list follows TfL’s “Saturdays and public holidays” timetable.
At the busiest hour on a weekday there are up to 24 Northern trains an hour per direction from Finchley Central, counting both directions separately.
Next stations from Finchley Central
Running times between Finchley Central and the adjoining stations, from TfL’s timetable.
| Line | Next station | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Northern | East Finchley | 4.3 min |
| Northern | Mill Hill East | 2.1 min |
| Northern | West Finchley | 2.4 min |
Connections
Finchley Central is served by the Northern line only; there is no interchange with other rail lines here.
Station facilities
What is near Finchley Central station
The main entrance is in the original building on Chaville Way, off the junction of Ballards Lane, Regents Park Road and Nether Street, with a second entrance on Station Road south of the tracks; a footbridge joins them. This is the Church End area of Finchley. Church End Library, Barnet County Court and St Mary’s Court are all about 210 m away, Church End Gardens about 330 m, and the parkland of Monkey Hill (350 m) and Stephens House & Grounds (390 m) is a little further. The station’s own large car park makes it a park-and-ride for the area.
| Place | Walk from the station |
|---|---|
| Stephens House & Grounds | 390 m |
| Church End Library | 210 m |
| Church End Gardens | 330 m |
| Outdoor Learning Area | 340 m |
| Monkey Hill | 350 m |
| Memorial Garden | 400 m |