Watford tube station

Watford is a station at the end of the Watford branch of London Underground's Metropolitan Line in the north-western part of the network in Zone 7, previously zone A.

Location and description

The station is in Cassiobury Park Avenue, at the junction with Metropolitan Station Approach, in the Cassiobury area of Watford. It is close to two of the entrances to Cassiobury Park. Despite the name suggesting a central location, it is some distance from Watford town centre compared with the town's other stations, Watford High Street and Watford Junction. It is known locally as "Watford Met" to distinguish it from these and the other Watford stations, which are all operated by National Rail. The station building is typical red-brick and was designed by C. W. Clark.

History

Watford station opened on 4 November 1925, as part of the extension of the line from Moor Park, with electrical supply from the Metropolitan Railway, and a train service from the Great Central Railway to London Marylebone operating in the first few months.

Although it is the terminus of the branch, it was not planned as such, with an extension to the town centre (Watford Central station) envisaged but never constructed. The original Watford Central station building was in Watford High Street, opposite the junction with Clarendon Road, and has known many guises. In the 1950s this was the Grange Furniture Store and the original underground station canopy was still in evidencehttp://books.google.co.uk/books?id=b409AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=watford+metropolitan+station+high+street&source=web&ots=LLOGGxvmB-&sig=7F5lVkCtvqw7c9XKOLiCUEr0eUQ&hl=en#PRA1-PA60,M1 London's Lost Railways] . A restaurant called Revolution now occupies the site. For many years, a bus service ran from Watford station to the High Street.

When travelcard zones were introduced Watford was in Zone B. From 2004 it moved to Zone A and in 2008 became part of Travelcard Zone 7.

Watford Junction links

A proposal known as the Croxley Rail Link envisages diverting the Metropolitan line away from its present route to Watford Junction.

For many years, a short branch line from Watford Junction ran to nearby Croxley Green, though passenger usage was low. In 1996, rail services were withdrawn and the line allowed to fall into disuse. The line comes very close to the Metropolitan Line south of Watford and it has often been proposed that there should be a short viaduct to link the two lines to create a through route to Watford Junction. This would lead to the closure of Watford Met, but Watford West station could be given a new exit to provide a near enough service.

This project, although small, has long faced problems with funding. As Watford is outside Greater London, normal sources of funding for the Tube are not available. Hertfordshire County Council do not have railways within their remit and so are unable to supply the funding on their own. However, the County Council, backed by Transport for Londoncite web
url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/networkandservices/2053.aspx
title=Croxley Rail Link
publisher=Transport for London
accessdate=2008-07-24] , are now leading a combined scheme to build the extension largely from a Government grant; the cost will be about £60m, and should be completed by 2009. TfL have agreed to commit almost £18m to the scheme, and a submission to the Department for Transport has been made asking for a commitment in principle to pay the balance. The DfT's response is still awaited.

It is envisaged that the services on the lines so linked could be further enhanced by using the north-facing junction on the Metropolitan main line north of Moor Park to provide shuttle services between Watford Junction and Amersham, Chesham or even Aylesbury. It is believed that such a service would do much to enhance the entire area. [cite web
url=http://www.railsaver.co.uk/chilternrailway.htm
quote=If the Croxley Rail link gets the go ahead from Tfl and Hertfordshire County Council, direct services into Watford junction from Aylesbury will be likely...
title=Chiltern Railways
publisher=Rail Saver
accessdate=2008-07-27]

ee also

* Watford Junction
* Watford High Street railway station

###@@@KEYEND@@@###

References