Hatch End Station (HTE)

Address: Station Approach, Hatch End, London HA5 4HU
Opened: 1842
Station Code: HTE
Fare Zone: 6

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)

None

Station History

Pinner station was opened by the London & Birmingham Railway on their route from Euston in 1842. However, just four years later in 1846, the L&BR was taken over by the London & Northwestern Railway.

To better reflect the area that the station served, it was renamed to Pinner & Hatch End on 1st January 1897. The LN&WR soon discovered that the station was not fit for its purposes and commissioned architect Gerald Horsley to design new buildings in the early 1900s, with the new station being opened in 1911.

Services through the station were improved in 1917 with the arrival of London Underground’s Bakerloo line on 16th April after they extended their line from Willesden Junction to Watford. Three years later, the station received a further name change, becoming Hatch End (for Pinner) on 1st February 1920.

With the passing of the Railways Act 1921, the London & North Western Railway was amalgamated with other companies to become the London, Midland, and Scottish Railway in 1923. This was followed by Nationalisation in 1952 when the LMS became part of British Railways Midland Region.

Under British Railways management the station name was changed for the final time to Hatch End on 11 June 1956. This was followed by the decision to remove the island platforms on the fast and semi-fast lines in 1963, leaving the station to only be served by London Underground and local Watford services.

Fast forward to the early 1980s when access to the remaining platforms was reconstructed. At this time, a fence was also constructed at the rear of the Southbound platform to protect passengers from passing fast services.

London Underground decided to remove Bakerloo Line services between Watford and Queens Park in 1982, and this year also saw the sectorisation of British Railways, with the London & South Eastern business unit taking over management, before rebranding as Network Southeast on 10th June 1986.

Privatisation of the railways 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.