Chesham tube station

Chesham is a London Underground station in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. The station opened on the 8 July 1889 by the Metropolitan Railway (MR). It is the terminus station of the Chesham branch of the Metropolitan line, which runs from Chalfont & Latimer. The station, a Grade II listed building, is in London fare Zone 9 (previously zone D).

Chesham station is northwest of Charing Cross, making it the furthest London Underground station from central London. It is both the northernmost and westernmost station in the system. The distance between Chesham and Chalfont & Latimer is the longest between adjacent stations on the network at .

History

The station was opened on 8 July 1889 by the Metropolitan Railway as the company's temporary northern terminus when the railway was extended from . The line had been intended to extend to Tring railway station with connections to the London and North Western Railways West Coast Main Line. However, before work was begun, the MR chose an alternative route across the Chilterns via Aylesbury. The line to Chesham was retained as a branch from the new route and construction began in late 1887. Although the MR continued to buy land between Chesham and Tring for some years after the station's opening, the route was never extended further. The station building complex has remained almost unchanged.

The station originally had a goods yard, which closed in July 1966. The goods yard site by 1994 was the car park for the station and a Waitrose supermarket. When the line was electrified a bay platform was added, but proved unnecessary and closed in November 1970.

On 16 and 17 August 2014 the branch line celebrated its 125th anniversary of operating. It was celebrated using London Underground's first steam locomotive, Metropolitan 1. It ran from Rickmansworth to Chesham (with the first and last service of each day starting or ending at to allow stabling of the set at Ruislip), meaning that the line from Chalfont and Latimer to Chesham had to be closed for a period of time to allow for the special service.

Grade II listed building

The station is a Grade II listed building. The reasons for listing the station at this level were:
* Architectural interest: the most complete surviving example of a late-C19 rural Metropolitan station
* Historic interest: a vivid reminder of the Metropolitan Railway's early expansion into London's rural hinterland
* Ensemble value: the station building, signal box and water tower form an unusually coherent and intact group.

Services

Since 12 December 2010, Chesham has had an 8-car train every 30 minutes direct to Aldgate. In the morning and evening peak, trains run non-stop between Moor Park and Harrow-on-the-Hill, then calling at Finchley Road and all stations to Aldgate. During off-peak times trains now call at all stations to . For Chesham residents this is a major improvement to the timetable, as previously Chesham was served in the off-peak solely by a 4-car shuttle train to Chalfont & Latimer, where passengers had to change onto a train to or from Amersham. Although the reasons for the new service pattern were largely technical (the S8 Stock, whilst designed as two four car trains, cannot be split into four-car trains as they only have driving cabs at the outer end of each unit), it was expected to ease congestion on local roads by increasing Chesham's attractiveness to park-and-ride commuters.

Gallery

File:Chesham Tube Station.jpg, The single platform and floral display
File:Chesham station entrance geograph-3303188-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg, Station approach pictured in 1984
File:Chesham station Buckinghamshire.jpg, In 1957 a 4-4-2T locomotive of LNER class C13 (GCR Class 9K) waits at Chesham with a train for Chalfont & Latimer
File:Chesham station look south.jpg, View of the platform towards Chalfont & Latimer, the signal box building on the left
File:Chesham station garden and water tower.jpg, Chesham station garden, water tower and signal box (looking north towards the station building)
File:Metropolitan Line railway at Chesham - geograph.org.uk - 131684.jpg, The approach to the station, looking north, showing (left and right) where tracks were formerly laid
File:Chesham station 20180119 123432 (49788227117).jpg, Chesham tube station main entrance
File:Chesham Signal Box - geograph.org.uk - 1011694.jpg, Chesham signal box in 2008, with a sign "CHESHAM" not in the TfL standard Johnston typeface
File:Celebration dinner menu for Metropolitan Railway extension to Chesham 1889.jpg, Celebration dinner menu for Metropolitan Railway extension to Chesham 15th May 1889 by Spiers & Pond Ltd

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

Transport for London


Chesham Town Council

{{Use dmy dates, date=December 2013

Metropolitan line stations
Tube stations in Buckinghamshire
Former Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Railway stations
London Underground stations located above ground
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1889
Single platform tube stations
Chesham
Grade II listed buildings in Buckinghamshire