Bricket Wood railway station is in the village of

Bricket Wood Bricket Wood is a village in the county of Hertfordshire, England, south of St Albans and north-northeast of Watford. History The area of Bricket Wood was mostly occupied by farmers until Bricket Wood railway station was built in 1861. In 18 ...

, Hertfordshire, England, on the

Abbey Line The Abbey Line, also called the St Albans Abbey branch line, is a railway line from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey. The route passes through town and countryside in the county of Hertfordshire, just outside the boundaries of the Oyster C ...

3 miles (5 km) east of

Watford Junction Watford Junction is a railway station that serves Watford, Hertfordshire. The station is on the West Coast Main Line (WCML), 17 miles 34 chains from London Euston and the Abbey Line, a branch line to St Albans. Journeys to London take between 16 ...

. The station and all trains serving it are operated by

London Northwestern Railway West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...

History

The station once had a crossing loop and a second platform that could accommodate long excursion trains. Many Edwardian families from London came here to enjoy the fresh air, woodland, and two large funfairs that once stood nearby. The station building, long disused, is the only surviving original building on the line. Responsibility for the line, including Bricket Wood, passed in November 2007 from

Silverlink Silverlink was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the North London Railways franchise from March 1997 until November 2007. At the end of 2007 Silverlink Metro services were taken over by Lond ...

London Midland London Midland was a train operating company in England which operated the West Midlands franchise between 11 November 2007 and 10 December 2017. It was owned by the British transport group Govia. London Midland was created as a result of Gov ...

. The station was used in the films ''The Cuckoo Patrol'', ''

Victoria the Great ''Victoria the Great'' is a 1937 British historical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Anton Walbrook and Walter Rilla. When Laurence Housman's play ''Victoria Regina'' was banned by the Lord Chamberlain (in 1935 the royal ...

'', ''

Poison Pen A poison pen letter is a letter or note containing unpleasant, abusive, or malicious statements or accusations about the recipient or a third party. It is usually sent anonymously. In the term "poison pen" (or poisoned pen), the word poison is u ...

'', '' Double Confession'', ''

Night of the Demon ''Night of the Demon'' (in the United States, released as ''Curse of the Demon'') is a 1957 British horror film, produced by Hal E. Chester and Frank Bevis, directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacG ...

'', ''

Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impac ...

'' and '' She'll Have to Go''.

Emergency Railway Control Centre

In the 1950s, in response to fears of Soviet military action, plans were prepared for the construction of twenty-five atom-bomb-proof control bunkers away from expected target areas. Only five were completed; the one at Bricket Wood is situated in the trees between the station and Railway Cottages. It was built 1954 in order, in the event of war, to take over the running of the railway network from the

London Euston Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...

control room. As of 2014, only two remained in England. The control centre built at Bricket Wood is a post-war Standard District Control Building Type L built, measuring roughly 11m x 29m. Of reinforced concrete construction, it has a single protected doorway in each of the shorter walls. This would appear to be the sole surviving example of this type in England; one other survives in Scotland, at Burntisland.

Services

All services at Bricket Wood are operated by

. The typical off-peak service on all days of the week is one train per hour in each direction between and . This is increased to a train approximately every 45 minutes in each direction during the peak hours. Services are operated using EMUs.

Future

Installation of

Oyster card The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London (and certain areas around it) in England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smart card. It is promoted by Transport ...

readers on the stations along the branch is a possibility, although other ticketing options exist. Restoration of the crossing loop, which would facilitate trains running every 30 minutes, is being considered by the local authorities and

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

References

External links

Bricket Wood station
at abbeyline.org.uk {{coord, 51.7058, -0.359, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Railway stations in Hertfordshire Former London and North Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1858 Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains