IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Crusader Way, WATFORD, WD18 6GZ

I only discovered it was a dead end road today when I went to investigate it.

Compare this view with Image taken in August 2013 to see how the trackside vegetation has been cleared in preparation for the link. Following a public consultation the name of the new station has been changed. The Croxley Rail Link is now formally known as the Metropolitan Line Extension.

Nearly three years on from Hywel's Image and about the only changes are that the scrubby vegetation has grown thicker and the red box containing the train driver's mirror has disappeared. The tracks sleepers and electrified third rail remain in situ... This was taken from the Tolpits Lane road bridge. See Image for a view of the outside of the station.

Five years on from Image] and amidst funding disputes that have caused the project to stall, vegetation is again taking over the proposed station site, although the track remains extant.

In July 2013 The Secretary of State for Transport issued a Transport and Works Act Order for the proposed Croxley Rail Link scheme granting the planning permissions, access rights and land transfers necessary for the scheme to go ahead. The £118m scheme proposes that the current London Underground Metropolitan Line branch to Watford would be re-routed from a point east of Croxley station and extended to Watford Junction station via Watford High Street station, with the closure of the original Watford station to passenger traffic. It is proposed that new stations would be provided on the new rail link at Ascot Road, where a park and ride facility would be provided, and at Vicarage Road, in order to serve Watford General Hospital, the proposed Watford Health Campus development, and Watford Football Club. Construction work is scheduled to commence in 2014 with completion planned for 2016. The Croxley Rail Link's website is here http://www.croxleyraillink.com/Default.htm This is the site of the proposed new Watford Hospital station, on the north side of the Vicarage Road bridge. As can be seen the track following the route of the former L&NWR's 1912 built Croxley Branch is still extant.

This housing was built in the 1990s on the site of the former Scammell lorry factory on Tolpits Lane. The road through the estate is Scammell Way which runs between the two white faced buildings. The Scammell factory existed on the site between 1922 and 1988.

The line and station closed in 1996, but all seems to be intact from the little that can be seen through the vegetation. The single line third rail electrified line is still there, presumably switched off; the platform edge can just be glimpsed; more clearly seen are the lamp standards on the platform. Compare with earlier views in 2005 Image and operational in 1985 Image .