Watford: Railway line between Watford High Street and Bushey stations

Image: © Nigel Cox Taken: 20 Dec 2009

A northbound London Overground service rounds the Watford Fields curve on the approach to Watford High Street station. Watford High Street is the 17th and penultimate stop for these trains from Euston before they reach their final destination of Watford Junction. This railway has had a curious and complex history. In 1862 the railway from Watford Junction to Rickmansworth was built with an intermediate stop at Watford High Street. The train in the photo is about to join the route of that line. In about 1910 the London and North Western Railway decided to build a branch line off the Rickmansworth line to Croxley Green, and also to enable a direct route from both Croxley Green and Rickmansworth to Euston. To that end they built a line across Wiggenhall Road over Image to Bushey. The track in the photo was then built to form a triangular junction. In the event the passenger service to Rickmansworth was closed in 1952 and the railway progressively reduced so that the trackwork seen here is the only operational part of the original LNWR infrastructure. At the point at which the train is about to join the original Rickmansworth branch route the disused track is still in situ despite the Croxley Green branch having being closed in 1996. For a long time passenger services on this track were operated by the Bakerloo Line of London Underground, hence the presence of the electrified centre rail visible next to the train on the other track in the photo. For thems that need to know such things the train is Unit No. 313106. The houses on the right are in Neal Street.

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