Croxley Green railway station is a disused

terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Geography *Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...

between

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in southwest Hertfordshire, England, about northwest of central London and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) and ...

and

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

on the

A412 road The A412 is a road in England between Slough and Watford. It was the main artery for this corridor and used to continue to St Albans prior to the construction of the M25. It provides interchange to the A4 in Slough, the A40/ M40 at the Den ...

at the end of a short branch line.

History

The station was opened in 1912 by the London and North Western Railway as the terminus of the branch line of the Watford-Rickmansworth line. The original wooden station building was burned in the early hours of 10 March 1913 by a group of Suffragettes. A goods yard opened just to the east of the station shortly after, which by 1939 it was expanded and a loop constructed from the southern to the northern siding. The

London Midland Region of British Railways The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...

, and later

Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the net ...

after sectorisation, continued to run services until 1996. Not far from the terminus, a

depot Depot ( or ) may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica * Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica * Depot Island Formation, Greenland Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...

was built to maintain BR trains, and for stabling 1938 tube stock

Bakerloo line The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that goes from in suburban north-west London to in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs partly ...

trains which closed in 1985. Seven years before closure, the original platform was removed due to safety concerns in 1989 and a wooden platform was built on the other side of the track. Originally, there were some services direct to Broad Street and Euston. The station and branch line were earmarked for closure by the first Beeching report, but as the proposal was refused, the southern curve of the triangle junction was instead closed, so the shuttle to

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 ...

remained. After attempts of reviving passenger usage on the branch line, services were reduced to a

parliamentary train A parliamentary train was a passenger service operated in the United Kingdom to comply with the Railway Regulation Act 1844 that required train companies to provide inexpensive and basic rail transport for less affluent passengers. The act req ...

. The last train ran on 22 March 1996 and the line and station were closed, supposedly temporarily; the station furniture, including the lighting and the wooden platform remained in situ. A substitute bus service commenced on 25th March. A section of the embankment just east of the Grand Union Canal bridge was removed to make way for a new Ascot Road to improve traffic flow to the nearby business park. It was considered uneconomical to bridge the road, and so the station remains breached from the rest of the line. The Department of Transport authorised permanent closure in a letter dated November 2002. Both the station and the line were permanently closed on 29 September 2003. In 2005, the wooden platform was in a serious state of decay and was removed. Today, little of the station furniture remains and the station is almost completely overgrown. The original track is still in place, though all electrical equipment has been removed. The station gates have fallen into disrepair, and have been replaced with temporary security fencing. Steps up to platform level are still in-place with their handrails, alongside the faded Network Southeast-red lamp posts. Access to the viaduct across the Grand Union Canal is restricted with permanent fencing and locked gates.

References

External links

London's Abandoned Stations - Croxley Green branchDisused Stations - Croxley GreenPictures taken by the West Watford History Group showing the line, including Croxley Green station, shortly before and shortly after closure
{{Closed stations Hertfordshire Disused railway stations in Hertfordshire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1912 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1996 1912 establishments in England 1996 disestablishments in England Former London and North Western Railway stations Croxley Rail Link