Watford Junction Railway Station - History

History

The first station in Watford was north of St Albans Road. Watford Junction station opened when the line to St Albans opened, joining the main line south of St Albans Road, on 5 May 1858. The station was rebuilt in 1909, and was extensively redeveloped in the 1980s.

Trains used to run from the west side of the station to branches serving Croxley Green and Rickmansworth (Church Street), both branches were electrified later than the DC line to Euston but on the same system. At one time tube trains were used to counter the low voltage caused by the lack of a sub-station near Rickmansworth. The Rickmansworth branch predated 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 built over and their remaining southern sections form part of the DC line terminus.

The Abbey Line originally terminated at a through platform adjacent to the Down Slow Main Line but was relocated further East to provide more car parking; this was before the branch line was electrified.

The Bakerloo line was extended to Watford Junction in 1917, giving a shared service with mainline electric trains which served Euston and Broad Street stations. However since 1982 the line north of Harrow & Wealdstone 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.