Oakleigh Park railway station

Oakleigh Park railway station is in Oakleigh Park in the London Borough of Barnet in north London, England. It is 9+1/2 mi north of Moorgate on the East Coast Main Line between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. Oakleigh Park is in Travelcard Zone 4. The station is managed and served by First Capital Connect.

Oyster pay as you go can now be used to and from this station as well as on the majority of National Rail services in Greater London. Customers should touch in and touch out at the validators provided to ensure they are charged the correct fare.

History
In 1866 the Whetstone Park Company, promoters of the Whetstone Park Estate, reached an agreement with the Great Northern Railway (GNR) to construct a new station to serve the development. The station - to be known as Whetstone - would open once 25 houses were complete, although the GNR built the two station platforms immediately (they were completed by June 1866).

Contact between the developer and the GNR took place in January 1869, then again in summer 1871 by which time the development had been renamed to the Oakleigh Park Estate, but it wasn't until January 1873 that the developer was able to inform the GNR that the 25th house was complete. Accordingly, the GNR authorised the station to be completed, now to be known as Oakleigh Park. It opened to passenger traffic on 1 December 1873. The estate office was situated in Chandos Avenue; a contemporaneous sign advertising "Oakleigh Park on main line. Detached residences - gravel soil - open country - large plots - moderate prices" is displayed in the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden.

As part of works to increase the number of tracks from two to four, the station was completely rebuilt in 1891/2 with two island platforms, a new footbridge and booking office. The 1873 station footbridge at the extreme north end of the station was retained as a public footpath, but with the stairs to the station removed.

The station remained largely unchanged until around 1975, when alterations were made in readiness for electrification. By the 1930s the station had gained the suffix For East Barnet, which remained until at least the 1970s. The first holes were bored near the station for the overhead powerline in order to electrify the East Coast Mainline.

Facilities
In Autumn 2008, a new SHERE self-service ticket machine, accepting both cash and credit cards, was installed here (and similarly at other local FCC stations).

First Capital Connect Train Services
The service from the station runs to Moorgate on weekdays until about 9.30pm, and into London Kings Cross after 9.30pm Mondays to Fridays and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. Normally the service uses class 313 EMUs, as these are the only units cleared to Moorgate, although on weekends sometimes class 317 EMUs are used instead.

The typical off-peak weekday service is 3 trains per hour to Moorgate, and 3 trains per hour to Welwyn Garden City. During peak hours and weekends, trains from Oakleigh Park terminate at Kings Cross instead of at Moorgate.

Bus Services
Transport for London bus route 383 stops directly outside Oakleigh Park railway station, as well as operating a Hail and Ride service along Netherlands Road and Oakleigh Park North/Athenaeum Road. Buses run towards Barnet (the Spires) or towards Woodside Park tube station, every 30 minutes Mondays to Saturdays except late evenings. There is currently no service on this route on Sundays or public holidays, though there is some local demand for one that may be catered to in the future.

Ticket Office Opening Times & Station Staffing Hours
Below are the current opening and staffing times for Oakleigh Park,.

Nature reserve
Immediately to the south of the station is Oakleigh Park Rail Cutting, a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation.