Croxley Green railway station

Croxley Green is a disused railway station located on the A412 between Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, and Watford at the end of a short branch line.

Croxley Green
Station approach (1984)
Croxley Green Location of Croxley Green in Hertfordshire
Location	Croxley Green
Local authority	District of Three Rivers
Number of platforms	1
Railway companies
Pre-grouping	LNWR
Post-grouping	London Midland and Scottish Railway British Railways
Key dates
1912 (1912)	Opened
22 March 1996	Services ceased
29 September 2003	Official closure
Other information
WGS84	51.651046°N 0.428553°W / 51.651046; -0.428553
London transport portal

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.[1] 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.[2]

British Rail and Network SouthEast continued to run services until 1996. Not far from the terminus, a depot was built to maintain BR trains, and for stabling 1938 tube stock Bakerloo line trains. Seven years before closure, the original platform was removed due to safety concerns 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 Beeching cuts closed a curve, so a shuttle to Watford Junction remained. After attempts of reviving passenger usage on this branch line, services were reduced to a parliamentary train.[3] In March 1996, the line and station were closed, supposedly temporarily; the station furniture, including the lighting and the wooden platform remained in situ.

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. Both the station and the line were permanently closed on 29 September 2003.[4] In 2005, the wooden platform was in a serious state of decay and was removed.[5]

Nowadays, 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.[6]

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "Disused Stations - Croxley Green". Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Croxley Green Station 2018". Flickr. Retrieved 16 April 2018.

External links

• London's Abandoned Stations - Croxley Green branch
• Disused Stations - Croxley Green
• Pictures taken by the West Watford History Group showing the line, including Croxley Green station, shortly before and shortly after closure
• Pictures of the Croxley line, including Croxley Green station, taken in 2009

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Terminus		Network SouthEast Croxley Green Branch		Watford West