 In November 1898 the Great Northern and Strand Railway (GN & SR) was announced as a tube railway, to run from Wood Green to Stanhope Street, north of the Strand. The GN & SR was backed by the Great Northern Railway (GNR), the main line railway operating from King's Cross station. The GNR saw the new company as a means of relieving congestion on its route. The GN & SR was to run beneath the GNR's main line from Wood Green station (now Alexandra Palace) to Finsbury Park station. It was then planned to run south-west through Holloway to King's Cross, and then south to Bloomsbury and Holborn. Intermediate stations were planned at the GNR's Hornsey, Harringay and Finsbury Park stations, and at Holloway, York Road, King's Cross, Russell Square and Holborn. A power station was planned next to the GNR's tracks at Gillespie Road. When the London County Council planned the construction of Kingsway and Aldwych, Stanhope Street was scheduled for demolition so the southern terminus was relocated to the junction of the two new roads. The bill was enacted on 1 August 1899 as the Great Northern and Strand Railway Act, 1899.
