The Edgware, Highgate and London Railway was authorised independently in 1862 to build a suburban line from Seven Sisters Road (renamed Finsbury Park in 1869) to Highgate and Edgware. Before opening, branches to Muswell Hill and High Barnet were authorised too. The Edgware main line was opened on 22 August 1867, by which time the GNR had taken over the company. The High Barnet branch opened in 1872, and greater population growth caused it to become the main line. The dominant business was residential travel, and the southern terminals used included Blackfriars, Loughborough Road, and later Moorgate and Broad Street.