Watford Junction railway station
Watford Junction is a railway station serving the town of Watford in Hertfordshire, England. The station is on the West Coast Main Line, from and the Abbey Line, a branch line to St Albans. It is also the northern terminus of the Lioness line of the London Overground, which operates via the Watford DC line into central London.
Journeys into London take between 16 and 52 minutes, depending on the service. Trains also run to and, via the West London line. The station is a major hub for local bus services and the connecting station for buses to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter. The station is located north of a viaduct over the Colne Valley and immediately south of Watford Tunnel.
History
was situated on the north side of St Albans Road, approximately further up the line from the present-day station. This small, single-storey red-brick building was built in 1836–7, when the first section of the London and Birmingham Railway was opened between London and. The station provided first and second-class waiting rooms, a departure yard, a carriage shed and engine house. The platforms were situated in a deep cutting which was accessed via a staircase.In its 21 years of operation, it also served as a station for royalty; in the short period when the Dowager Queen Adelaide was resident at Cassiobury House, this station was remodelled to provide her with a royal waiting room, and it was also reportedly used by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on a trip to visit Sir Robert Peel in November 1843, when they travelled by road from Windsor Castle to take a train from Watford to.
The old station closed when it was replaced by a new, larger station, which opened on 5 May 1858. The new Watford Junction station was located south of St Albans Road in order to accommodate the newly constructed branch line to St Albans. The junction station was rebuilt in 1909, and was extensively redeveloped in the 1980s. The Grade-II-listed Old Station House still stands at 147A St Albans Road, a rare surviving example of architecture from the beginning of the railway age; today, the building is occupied by a second-hand car dealership.
In 1862, the Watford and Rickmansworth Railway opened a route from Watford to Rickmansworth (Church Street). Now mostly closed, this route began by running south and west to a more central station on Watford's High Street, which remains in use.
From 1846, the L&BR was absorbed into the London and North Western Railway and Watford Junction was now run by this large, ambitious company. Seeking to compete with local buses and trams, the LNWR built an additional suburban line from Euston to Watford in the early years of the 20th century, known as the Watford DC line. This veered away from the main line at Bushey to loop around Watford to pass through the High Street station. A second suburban branch line was also built from High Street west towards Croxley Green to serve new housing developments in that area. Both branches were later electrified as part of this improvement plan, on the same DC three-rail system. The Rickmansworth branch was connected to the Main Line, via two through platforms, with a junction to the north; these platforms have since been partly built over and their remaining southern sections form part of the present DC lines terminus. At one time, tube-style trains were used on the branches to counter the low voltage caused by the lack of a sub-station near Rickmansworth.
The Bakerloo line was extended to Watford Junction in 1917, giving a shared service north of Willesden Junction with the main line electric trains which served and Broad Street stations. However, since 1982 the line north of has only been served by what is now the London Overground service from Euston station; this service uses these DC lines for its all-stations local service.
Oyster card capability was extended to this station on 11 November 2007 on both the London Overground and Southern; it was extended to London Midland services on 18 November 2007. However, the station is outside London fare zones 1–9 and special fares apply.
With the electrification of the entire West London line in the 1990s, it became practical to run services from Watford Junction to Clapham Junction, allowing passengers to cross London without changing trains. Southern operated an hourly service from Milton Keynes, now starting from Watford Junction, to East Croydon with connections to Brighton and Gatwick.
There is a well-known expression, North of Watford, which is used to mean the north of England, especially a place remote from London. An alternative variant phrase, North of Watford Junction, was used with similar meaning in the past, referring to Watford Junction railway station. The expression reflects the station's position as the last urban stop on the main railway line out of London to the north of England. In more recent years, it has been suggested that the phrase references Watford Gap services on the M1, however the original saying was in existence well before its opening in 1959.
Motive power depot
The LNWR built a locomotive depot at the station in 1856, which was replaced by a larger building in 1872 and was further enlarged in 1890. It was closed by British Railways in March 1965.Redevelopment
In 1984, the Victorian station buildings were demolished and the station was rebuilt in a modern architectural style; there is a travel centre and a large office block above the station which is occupied by the lorry and bus manufacturing company Iveco. Some 19th-century waiting rooms survived, but were finally demolished in 1987. To enlarge the car park and provide more space, the St. Albans branch line was realigned northwards, with the original St. Albans platforms becoming a single terminating bay now mostly used by Southern services.The station forecourt was extensively remodelled in 2013; the horseshoe-shaped taxi rank was moved to the side of the building, creating a larger pedestrian area in front of the station entrance, and the bus station enlarged. Due to problems with the road layout, buses were unable to gain access to the bus station, and there were problems with access to the relocated car park. London Northwestern Railway are considering revising the design.
Further redevelopment of the station and its surroundings is planned for the next 10 years. They may be delayed because the redevelopment of Watford Junction has been placed within the pre-qualification pool of proposed schemes by the Department for Transport.
Accidents and incidents
1954 accident
On 3 February 1954, an express passenger train became derailed in Watford Tunnel due to a broken rail. The last three carriages became divided from the train as it entered the station. One of them ended up on the platform. A passing express passenger train grazed the wreckage but only received minor damage. Fifteen people were injured.1962 accident
On 16 October 1962 between Watford Junction and Watford High Street, a local passenger train running on the Watford DC line from Watford Junction to Euston collided with the rear of a stationary Bakerloo line train from Watford Junction to Elephant & Castle. In fog, the driver of the Euston train had passed a danger signal without stopping. This signal was provided with a subsidiary signal which authorised a train to proceed with caution provided that it had first stopped at the signal, and telephoned the signal box for permission to proceed. The collision occurred about after the signal, at a speed of between. Most of the damage occurred to the rear two cars of the seven-car Bakerloo train, and seven passengers were injured.1975 accident
On 23 January 1975, an express train from Manchester to Euston derailed just south of Watford Junction after striking some stillages that had fallen on to the track. It then collided with a sleeper service from Euston to Glasgow. The driver of the Manchester train was killed, and eight passengers and three railway staff injured. The stillages had fallen from a Ford company goods train that had passed the station a few minutes earlier, conveying car parts from Dagenham to Halewood. Although the wagons of the goods train were sealed on departure from Dagenham, three were found to have open doors when the train was inspected after the accident. The official enquiry ruled that the doors had been forced by thieves or vandals, probably when the train was standing at.1996 accident
In August 1996, a Class 321 passenger train, operated by Network SouthEast, passed a signal at danger. An empty Class 321 coaching stock train collided with the stationary passenger train approximately 700 m south of Watford Junction.2014 incident
On 26 October 2014, a Class 350 electric multiple unit on the 06:42 service from to London Euston, operated by London Midland struck the door of a lineside equipment cabinet and suffered damage to a set of doors; however, no one was killed or injured. The RAIB investigated the incident, and concluded that the lineside cabinet door had not been properly secured during maintenance work the previous night. The investigation also noted that the maintenance crew were likely suffering from fatigue due to a pattern of consistent night-shift work, regular overtime, and short-term sleep deprivation.2016 accident
On 16 September 2016, Class 350 electric multiple unit 350 264 collided with a landslide, caused by heavy rain the previous night, at the entrance of the Watford Tunnel and derailed. Class 350 unit 350 233 then collided with the derailed train. Two injuries were reported, and trains were disrupted for three days.Services
London Overground
services at Watford Junction are operated using EMUs.The station is served by four trains per hour to and from London Euston, calling at all stations via the Lioness line.
London Northwestern Railway
services at Watford Junction are operated using and EMUs.The station is served by two stopping trains per hour in each direction between London Euston and, as well as two stopping trains per hour in each direction between London Euston and. It is also served by an hourly semi-fast service between London Euston and via which runs non-stop to and from London Euston. Additional services call during the peak hours.
Southern
services at Watford Junction are operated using EMUs.The station is served by one train per hour to and from via.
Avanti West Coast
services at Watford Junction are operated using EMUs, BMUs and EMUs.Southbound services call to set down passengers only and northbound services call to pick up passengers only. This means that Avanti West Coast services cannot be used for travel to and from London Euston.
The station is served by one train per hour in each direction to and from London Euston with northbound services generally alternating between running to or every two hours. The station is served by two trains per day that run to and from instead of Glasgow Central. Additional services call during the peak hours.
Caledonian Sleeper
Watford Junction is also served in both directions by the Lowland Caledonian Sleeper service between London Euston, and which runs on Sunday-Friday nights.The Caledonian Sleeper service also cannot be used for travel to and from London Euston. The Highland Caledonian Sleeper service does not call at Watford Junction.
RailAir
Since 2003, FirstBus have operated a seven-day, hourly RailAir service from Watford Junction to Heathrow Airport. The RA3 service stops at Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, and passengers can reach Terminal 4 and Terminal 5 by changing onto the Elizabeth line or the London Underground Piccadilly line at no additional cost.Platforms
Platform Usage:- Platforms 1-4: Bay platforms for the four London Overground services per hour to London Euston calling at all stations.
- Platform 5 was used by the Bakerloo line services of the London Underground but its use was discontinued on 16 September 1982.
- Platform 6 : For the hourly Avanti West Coast service to Birmingham New Street, hourly Avanti West Coast service to Glasgow Central or Edinburgh, and fast London Northwestern Railway services northbound.
- Platform 7 : For fast London Northwestern Railway services to London Euston and Avanti services only to set down.
- Platform 8 : For slow and semi-fast London Northwestern Railway services northbound and limited Southern services to Hemel Hempstead.
- Platform 9 : For slow, semi-fast and fast London Northwestern Railway services to London Euston, and Southern services to East Croydon via Kensington Olympia, Clapham Junction, Balham and Selhurst.
- Platform 10: For terminating Southern services to and from Kensington Olympia and Clapham Junction. There are additional terminating services to and from Balham, Selhurst, East Croydon and South Croydon on weekdays and Saturdays.
- Platform 11: Used for the hourly West Midlands Railway service to St Albans Abbey.
Connections
Local buses run to destinations including Heathrow Airport, Stanmore, Uxbridge and Brent Cross in London, Amersham, Chesham and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, Hatfield, Harpenden and Hertford in Hertfordshire, Luton Airport in Bedfordshire and Harlow in Essex.Specific routes include London bus routes 142, 258 and non-London Arriva Shires & Essex routes 20, 320, 321, 322 and 725 as well as other Intalink routes 306, 328, 336, 352, 501, 635, W1, W2, W3, W4, W20 and W30.
The Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter shuttle bus route 311 also leaves from the station forecourt.
Green Line route 724 stops in the station forecourt. It runs directly to St Albans and Harlow from stop 5 and to Heathrow Terminal 5 via Heathrow Central and Rickmansworth station from stop 2.
Future developments
Watford Junction station area improvements
There are plans to upgrade the station and its access points. The scheme includes a new multi-storey car park and a new access road to the station, connecting the A412 to Colonial Way and thus to the A4008 M1 link road.This scheme is currently in the Pre-Qualification pool, where to achieve funding a case for selection must be submitted and if successful the Watford Station redevelopments will be moved into the Development Pool where more than 24 transport projects will compete for about £600 million.
Previous proposals
Croxley Rail Link
The Croxley Rail Link was a scheme to extend the branch of the London Underground Metropolitan line via the disused Croxley Green branch to terminate at Watford Junction. It was planned to open to passenger service in 2020, but due to funding issues, the project was abandonded.West London Line improvement
The London and South East Route Utilisation Strategy document published by Network Rail in July 2011 examined ways to increase capacity at in preparation for High Speed 2. The report recommended increased service frequency and longer trains on the West London line route from via Watford Junction and.Crossrail
The 2011 London & South East Rail Utilisation Strategy report also made recommendations for the Crossrail lines which were then under construction in central London. It proposed an extension of what is now the Elizabeth line northwards into Hertfordshire via a new tunnel near and Watford Junction, connecting the Crossrail route to the West Coast Main Line. Services would have run from stations in the West End of London via Watford Junction to terminate at Tring and Milton Keynes. The new alignment would have alleviated congestion at Euston and resolved capacity constraints on the Elizabeth Line, allowing trains that terminate at to continue east via the Hertfordshire branch. This proposal was abandoned in 2016.London Euston/Watford-Aylesbury services
The rail operator Chiltern Railways proposed in 2008 that a new east–west direct rail route from Watford Junction to could be operated via the planned Croxley Rail Link and the northern section of the London to Aylesbury Line. A 2006 report by Hertfordshire County Council mentioned the possibility of a link running as far as.Hertfordshire Essex Rapid Transit
A Draft Rail Strategy consultation published by Hertfordshire County Council in June 2015 considered options for reconfiguring the Abbey Line, either as a light rail route or converting it to a guided busway.The scheme is currently being studied by HCC as the Hertfordshire Essex Rapid Transit, and could form part of an east–west transit system across the central belt of Hertfordshire. HERT vehicles have not been specified, but proposals indicate that zero-emission passenger vehicles are being considered, including trams, guided busways, or trackless trams.