Watford West railway station

Last updated

Watford West
Watford West station 1985 - geograph.org.uk - 3302830.jpg
The station in September 1985.
Hertfordshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Watford West
Location of Watford West in Hertfordshire
Location Watford
Local authority Watford
Grid reference TQ098955
Railway companies
Original company London and North Western Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway
Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
15 June 1912 (1912-06-15)Station opened
22 March 1996Services ceased
25 March 1996Substitute bus service commenced
23 September 2003Official closure
Other information
Coordinates 51°38′55″N0°24′51″W / 51.6485°N 0.4143°W / 51.6485; -0.4143
Underground sign at Westminster.jpg London transportportal

Watford West is a disused railway station in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. It was opened in 1912 by the London and North Western Railway on the branch line from Watford Junction to Croxley Green. It last operated in 1996.

Contents

History

The branch line between Watford Junction and Croxley Green was opened in 1912 by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), connected to the Watford-Rickmansworth (Church Street) line that it had acquired from Lord Ebury's Watford and Rickmansworth Railway (W&RR) in 1881. The W&RR had not been a commercial success, and the LNWR sought to improve passenger traffic by creating new connections in the area to central London. The LNWR also planned an intermediate station, initially to be named Hagden Lane, which opened as Watford West. It consisted of a single platform with a canopy and a red brick ticket office om Tolpits Lane. In the 1980s during the British Rail era, platform signs bore the name West Watford, although this is presumed to be an error. [1]

The station was temporarily closed in 1996 before being permanently closed on 23 September 2003, [2] Facilities at the station had been downgraded in the years prior to closure. At first the station was temporarily closed so the remaining station furniture, including the lampposts, drivers mirrors and the station and street-level signage, was left in situ. [3] [4] [1] In 2004–05, after the station was mothballed, ten passengers purchased tickets for travel to the station. [5]

Plans were announced in 2005 to re-open the disused railway line as an extension of the London Underground Metropolitan line. The Croxley Rail Link was planned to link Watford Junction to Croxley tube station, but instead of re-opening Watford West, a new station was planned to open nearby, Watford Vicarage Road tube station. Work began in 2014 to clear the overgrown track bed in preparation for construction work on the new line and the on-street signage was removed at around this time. [6] [7] By 2017, all work had been halted due to funding problems, and the scheme has since been abandoned. [8] [9] [10]

Watford West and the Croxley Rail Link
Watford and Rickmansworth Railway.png
Map of the former Watford and Rickmansworth Railway/LNWR branch lines
Croxley rail link stations old and new.png
The former LNWR stations (closed 1996) and the proposed stations

References

  1. 1 2 "Disused stations - Watford West". Archived from the original on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  2. ↑ The decision to accept the Closure Notice published by the Strategic Rail Authority (dated 23 March 2001) was given in a letter from the then Minister of State for Transport, John Spellar, to the Chief Executive of Network Rail, John Armitt
  3. ↑ "Pictures of Watford West station". Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  4. ↑ "Pictures of Watford West station taken in 2008". Archived from the original on 6 June 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  5. ↑ "Estimates of station usage". Office of Rail Regulation. Archived from the original on 5 July 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  6. ↑ [ https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.6487281,-0.4143269,3a,75y,90.74h,86.23t/data=!3m11!1e1!3m9!1stGCsvKk7APLXLueT0wzXTQ!2e0!5s20120801T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D3.767459793102475%26panoid%3DtGCsvKk7APLXLueT0wzXTQ%26yaw%3D90.74485074070124!7i13312!8i6656!9m2!1b1!2i19?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTAwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D Google Streetview image August 2012
  7. ↑ Google Streetview image May 2014
  8. ↑ "UPDATE: Met Line extension: Mayor confirms work has stopped (From Watford Observer)". Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "Croxley Rail Link plan approved by Government". The Watford Observer. Archived from the original on 5 August 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  10. ↑ "Major Scheme Business Case - Main Report" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
Preceding stationDisused railwaysFollowing station
Croxley Green
Line and station closed		  Network SouthEast
Croxley Green Branch 		  Watford Stadium Halt
Line and station closed
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.