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Could the Northern line be split into two separate tube lines? Under proposals from TfL, it just might be. Transport for London has long-term goals to break up the line, saying that the split could increase the line’s capacity by 20,000.
At the moment, the Northern line has two central branches: trains run either via Bank or Charing Cross, before rejoining at Camden Town in the north and Oval in the south.
You’re probably wondering: who gets Kennington in the divorce? Well, if the line was split, the alteration would see all trains from Morden run via Bank, and all services starting at Kennington (or Battersea) travel via Charing Cross. The High Barnet and Edgware branches would each continue to be served by both Bank and Charing Cross trains.
Plans to split the Underground line dated back to before 2018, which was first revealed in 2024 by a Freedom of Information (FoI) request. In January 2026 the Express reported that TfL still wants to break the line into two separate services, however it doesn’t currently have the dosh to do it.
The 2024 FoI response read: ‘It was our intention to separate the Northern line, for which various options have been considered. These options vary between full separation and partial separation with timetable separations. Separation of the line would enable a more frequent service but requires more trains and as such, additional trains were being procured as part of the Jubilee and Northern line Additional Trains project.
‘This project was cancelled in 2018 due to funding constraints, alongside the deferral of the Camden Town station capacity upgrade (as announced in our 2018 Business Plan). The latter project is needed to support the separation of the Northern line due to increased interchange at this station.’
So when could this actually happen? For now, splitting up Morden and Battersea remains a pipe dream for TfL. The transport bosses said that it was still an ‘aspiration’, but that it may not happen until the 2040s when the Northern line’s fleet would need to be replaced.
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