Watford High Street Station (WFH)

Address: 182 Watford High Street, Watford, Hertfordshire WD17 2NW
Opened: 5 May 1858
Station Code: WFH
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)

None

Station History

Watford High Street Station was opened on 1 October 1862 by the Watford & Rickmansworth Railway on their route from Watford Junction to Rickmansworth Church Street.

Services through the station were expanded on 15 June 1912 when the London and Northwestern Railway opened its new branch line from Watford Junction to Croxley Green. This was followed by the arrival of London Underground’s Bakerloo Line in 1917 following its extension north from Queens Park and in 1922 by the completion of the suburban line from Watford Junction to Camden by the LNWR.

Following the Railways Act 1921, the LNWR was absorbed into the London, Midland & Scottish Railway in 1923. Nationalisation in 1948 saw the LMS become part of British Railways Midland Region and the station passed ownership again at this time.

Within four years of the new regime coming into existence, services on the Rickmansworth line, which had been massively underused for years, were ceased in 1952 and although freight services continued to run, the branch was officially closed in 1967.

Further contraction of services through the station occurred on 24th September 1982 when London Underground cut the Bakerloo Line back to Stonebridge Park. With sectorisation of British Rail in 1982, the London & Southeastern business unit assumed control, being relaunched as Network Southeast on 10 June 1986.

Under the new brand, Broad Street Station was closed and the trains from the station via Primrose Hill were diverted to Liverpool Street. This lasted until 1992 when the Primrose Hill services were withdrawn, followed on 22 March 1996 by services to Croxley Green, leaving only the London Euston trains to serve the station.

Privatisation occurred on the National Rail Network in March 1997 and the line and its services were taken over by National Express, under their Silverlink Metro brand. This lasted for just over a decade until, on 10 November 2007, Transport for London assumed ownership under the London Overground banner.