Watford Junction railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Watford Junction | |||
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|---|---|---|---|
| Location | |||
| Place | Watford | ||
| Local authority | Watford | ||
| Coordinates | Coordinates: | ||
| Operations | |||
| Station code | WFJ | ||
| Managed by | London Midland | ||
| Platforms in use | 10 (4 DC Line (bays), 4 Main Line, 1 Southern (bay), 1 St. Albans Line) | ||
| Live departures and station information from National Rail | |||
| Annual Rail Passenger Usage | |||
| 2004/05 * | 4.066 million | ||
| 2005/06 * | 4.244 million | ||
| History | |||
| May 1858 | Opened | ||
| 1909 | Rebuilt | ||
| 1980s | Refurbished throughout | ||
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |||
| * Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Watford Junction from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. | |||
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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, currently operated by London Overground services 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.
Contents |
[edit] 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 had tentatively committed £18m towards the scheme's costs, but the agreement of the Department for Transport to provide the remaining funds is presently on hold[1]. A completion date for this would be around 2013.
[edit] Gallery
 View looking north showing trains in Silverlink Metro (now London Overground) platform 4 and Virgin Trains platform 6 |
 Class 377 unit operated by Southern on Brighton services shown waiting in bay platform 10 |
| Preceding station |  London Overground |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminus | Watford DC Line |
towards Euston
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| National Rail | ||||
| Crewe | First ScotRail Highland Caledonian Sleeper (northbound only) |
London Euston | ||
| Carlisle | First ScotRail Lowland Caledonian Sleeper |
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| Terminus | Southern to Brighton or Gatwick Airport |
Harrow & Wealdstone | ||
| Watford North | London Midland St Albans Branch Line |
Terminus | ||
| Kings Langley | London Midland West Coast Main Line |
Bushey | ||
| Milton Keynes Central |
Virgin Trains West Coast Main Line |
London Euston | ||
| Disused Railways | ||||
| Terminus | British Rail Rickmansworth Branch |
Watford High Street | ||
| Terminus | British Rail Croxley Green Branch |
Watford High Street | ||
| Proposed | ||||
 London Underground |
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| Terminus | Metropolitan line |
towards Baker Street or Aldgate
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[edit] References
[edit] See also
- Watford Underground station (Metropolitan Line)
- Watford High Street station (DC line)
- St Albans Branch Line
