London Underground ‘ghost ride’ that sees trains stop at the same station twice

Everyone has missed their stop while riding the tube before, right? Well, one line which runs through South London can remedy that as it sees trains stop at the same station twice.

Southbound trains on the Northern Line usually run from High Barnet or Edgware underground stations to Morden in South-West London. However, some rides terminate at Kennington.

And the southbound Northern Line service to Kennington has a unique feature that can leave passengers feeling as though they are riding a ghost train.

The train stops at Kennington station twice in a row.

The oddity is known as the Kennington loop. Unlike most trains when they terminate at their final destination, trains finishing at Kennington do not vanish into some sort of depot.

Instead, they continue to head south and the driver performs a U-turn near the Oval Cricket Ground before returning to Kennington to begin the northbound service.

For passengers who have missed their stop at Kennington, the loop can be quite the mind-boggler.

Transport for London have said that the train is actually supposed to empty when the southbound services terminates. But many passengers have missed their stop late at night and become bewildered when they arrive at Kennington twice in a row, much to the amusement of train drivers.

The mysterious loop, however, is believed to be something of a ghost ride, with some passengers riding it intentionally to see if the rumours are true.

‘I’ve heard the ghost of a young girl is often seen down on the loop by train drivers,’ posted Denis de Lacy on Facebook.

Trains terminating at Kennington have become ever-more sparse, however, since the opening of Battersea Power Station, which sees many Northern Line trains head south-west after Kennington.

So, if you are (un)lucky enough to end up on a southbound service to Kennington, try not to forget about the Kennington loop.

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