Bushey Station (BSH)

Address: Pinner Road, Watford, Hertfordshire WD19 4EA
Opened: 1841
Station Code: BSH
Fare Zone: 8

London Overground Line(s) Served:

Watford DC Lines

Service Pattern(s):

4 trains per hour to London Euston
4 trains per hour to Watford Junction

Interchange(s)

National Rail: London Northwestern Railway services

Station History

The London & Birmingham Railway constructed a line through the area, commencing services on 20 July 1837. However, a station was not provided here due to the sparse population and no requirement for goods movement.

The local population improved over the following years and a station, including the current station building was constructed and opened as ‘Bushey & Oxhey’ in 1841 serving the L&BR mainline.

Just five years later, the L&BR was taken over by the London and Northwestern Railway, and it was this new company that, wanting to compete with the local bus and tram companies, decided to construct a new line from London Euston to Watford Junction via Watford High Street.

The new line was constructed through the station, opening in 1912. This was followed by the arrival of London Underground’s Bakerloo Line providing a joint service between Queens Park and Watford from 16 April 1917.

With the passing of the Railways Act 1921, the London & Northwestern Railway was amalgamated into the new London, Midland, and Scottish Railway in 1923. With the outbreak of World War II, due to emergency regulations requiring the removal of station names from platforms, the station was known for the duration of the war as ‘Ampersand’ as only the words Bushey and Oxhey were painted over on the name boards.

Three years after the cessation of hostilities, railways in Great Britain were nationalised, and the London, Midland, and Scottish Railway became part of British Railways Midland Region. The station was renamed from Bushey & Oxhey to Bushey in 1974, although it wasn’t until the 1980s that all the station signage was altered to reflect the change.

On the 24th September 1982, London Underground’s Bakerloo Line services were cut back to Stonebridge Park, leaving the station to only be served by Local Watford services and sporadic stopping trains on the main line.

Following sectorisation of the railways, management of the line and station passed to the London & Southeastern business unit in 1982, being relaunched as Network Southeast on 10 June 1986.

Privatisation followed in March 1997 with the station passing to National Express under their Silverlink Metro brand, before in November 2007 the final change of ownership occurred with Transport for London assuming control under their London Overground service.