Watford West railway station


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 to. It last operated in 1996.

History

The branch line between and was opened in 1912 by the London and North Western Railway, connected to the Watford- line that it had acquired from Lord Ebury's Watford and Rickmansworth Railway 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 on 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.
The station was temporarily closed in 1996 before being permanently closed on 23 September 2003, 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.
In 2004–05, after the station was mothballed, ten passengers purchased tickets for travel to the station.

Croxley Rail Link

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 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. By 2017, all work had been halted due to funding problems, and the scheme has since been abandoned.