Watford Junction railway station
Watford Junction | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | Watford |
| Managed by | London Midland |
| Platforms | 10 (4 DC Line (bays), 4 Main Line, 1 Southern (bay), 1 St. Albans Line |
| Other information | |
| Station code | WFJ |
| Key dates | |
| May 1858 | Opened |
| 1909 | Rebuilt |
| 1980s | Refurbished throughout |
Watford Junction station is a railway station in Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Located a short distance from the town centre, it is served by the West Coast Main Line (WCML), the local DC electric line to Euston and a branch line to St Albans. Journeys to London take between sixteen and fifty-two minutes depending on the service used. Trains also run to Brighton and Gatwick Airport via the WCML and the West London Line through Kensington Olympia and Clapham Junction.
Major redevelopment work of the station and its surroundings is planned over the next 10 years.
History
The first station in Watford was north of Saint Albans Road, but Watford Junction opened with the line to St Albans on 5 May 1858. The station was rebuilt in 1909, and was extensively redeveloped in the 1980s.
Previous services also ran from the West side of the station to branches serving Croxley Green and Rickmansworth (Church Street), both eventually being electrified on the same system as the DC line to Euston, at one time using tube trains to mitigate the effect of the voltage-drop caused by the lack of a sub-station near Rickmansworth. The Rickmansworth branch pre-dated the DC line and was connected to the Main Line via two through platforms with a junction to the north; these platforms have since been partly obstructed by building over and the remaining Southern sections now form part of the DC line terminus.
The St Albans Branch Line originally terminated at a through platform adjacent to the Down Slow Main Line but was relocated further East to allow increased car parking; this was before the branch line was electrified.
The Bakerloo Line was extended to Watford Junction in 1917, providing shared services with mainline electric trains which served London Euston and Broad Street stations. However since 1982 [1] the line north of Harrow & Wealdstone station 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 Services and Southern services. It was further extended to London Midland services on the 18th November 2007. However, the station remains outside of the Oyster Travelcard Zones.
The station will be overhauled and upgraded by 2009. A new multi storey car park will be built, a new access road to the station will be built from the A412 to platform 10, where there will be access to the station. The entrance, access roads and bus station by the station will be altered.
A scheme to divert the Metropolitan Line's Watford branch to Watford Junction via the disused Croxley Green branch might also see the first appearance at the station in revenue service of LU surface stock, operating from Baker Street. TfL have committed £18m towards the scheme's costs, but the agreement of the Department for Transport to provide the remaining funds is still awaited. A completion date for this is around 2010.
Gallery
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View looking north showing trains in Silverlink Metro (now London Overground) platform 4 and Virgin Trains platform 6
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Class 377 unit operated by Southern on Brighton services shown waiting in bay platform 10
References
See also
- Watford Underground station (Metropolitan Line)
- Watford High Street station (DC line)
- St Albans Branch Line
External links
- Train times and station information for Watford Junction railway station from National Rail