Watford High Street
Watford High Street Location of Watford High Street in Hertfordshire
Location	Watford
Local authority	Borough of Watford
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Network Rail
Station code	WFH
DfT category	D
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	8
National Rail annual entry and exit
2019–20	1.298 million[1]
2020–21	0.516 million[1]
2021–22	1.064 million[1]
2022–23	1.162 million[1]
2023–24	1.192 million[1]
Key dates
1 October 1862	Opened (W&RR)
16 April 1917	Started (Bakerloo line)
24 September 1982	Ended (Bakerloo line)
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51°39′09″N0°23′31″W / 51.652597°N 0.391812°W /51.652597; -0.391812
London transport portal

Watford High Street is a station on theLioness line of theLondon Overground, located in the centre ofWatford,Hertfordshire. It is the only station on the sole deviation of theWatford DC line away from theWest Coast Main Line, situated betweenBushey andWatford Junction stations. It is inLondon fare zone 8.

v t e London Overground
Cheshunt Theobalds Grove Enfield Town Turkey Street Romford Bush Hill Park Southbury Emerson Park Upminster Edmonton Green Silver Street Chingford White Hart Lane Highams Park Watford Junction Bruce Grove Wood Street Watford Seven Sisters Walthamstow Central High Street Harringay Blackhorse Road Walthamstow Queen's Road Bushey Green Lanes Carpenders Park Crouch Hill South Tottenham St. James Leyton Midland Road Hatch End Upper () Stamford Hill Street Leytonstone Headstone Lane Holloway Stoke Newington Clapton High Road Harrow & Kentish Town West Rectory Road Wanstead Park () Wealdstone Gospel Oak Camden Road () Hackney Woodgrange Park () Kenton () Caledonian Road Canonbury Dalston Kingsland Downs Barking South Kenton & Barnsbury Barking Riverside () North Highbury & Islington Hackney Central Wembley Hampstead Heath Dalston Wembley Finchley Road & Frognal () Junction London Fields Central West Hampstead () Haggerston Cambridge Homerton Stonebridge Brondesbury Hoxton Heath Hackney Wick Park Brondesbury Park Shoreditch High Street Bethnal Green Stratford Harlesden Kensal Rise Kensal Green Liverpool Whitechapel Willesden Queen's Park Street Shadwell () Junction Kilburn High Road Wapping South Hampstead Rotherhithe Shepherd's Bush () Euston () Canada Water Kensington (Olympia) Surrey Quays West Brompton Battersea Park Imperial Wharf () (limited service) New Cross Clapham Queens Road Peckham New Cross Gate Junction Peckham Rye Brockley Acton Central Wandsworth Road Denmark Hill Honor Oak Park South Acton ()Clapham Forest Hill Gunnersbury High Street Sydenham Kew Gardens Richmond Crystal Palace Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction West Croydon ()
Legend
Station National Rail Liberty line Accessible station Thameslink Lioness line Interchange station Elizabeth line Mildmay line Accessible interchange Docklands Light Railway Suffragette line Internal interchange London Underground Weaver line Out-of-station interchange London Trams Windrush line (   ) Nearby interchange London River Services

The station was opened by theWatford and Rickmansworth Railway (W&RR) on 1 October 1862, with services running fromWatford Junction toRickmansworth (Church Street). In 1912 a branch was opened toCroxley Green. The line came under the ownership ofLondon and North Western Railway (LNWR), which was absorbed into theLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923, following thegrouping of Britain's railway companies.

Additional rail services were introduced to Watford High Street; on 16 April 1917 theUnderground Electric Railways Company of London extended itsBakerloo line through this station toWatford Junction, and in 1922 the LNWR completed the suburban Camden to Watford Junction New Line, linking Watford High Street toLondon Euston via theWatford DC line (shared with the Bakerloo line).

After nationalisation in 1948, the Watford DC line was run byBritish Rail (from 1986 under itsNetwork SouthEast brand). At the height of operation around the 1950s, Watford High Street was served by the Bakerloo line, and by British Rail trains on both the Croxley Green and Rickmansworth branches, a local all-stations service to Euston and another local service toBroad Street viaPrimrose Hill.^[2] Over the years, most of these services were gradually withdrawn. The Rickmansworth branch was a poorly used service and passenger services were terminated by BR in 1952. Croxley Green services continued asParliamentary trains until the line closed fully in 1996.^[3] On 24 September 1982, London Transport cut back the Bakerloo line to run only as far north asStonebridge Park (reinstating the service as far asHarrow & Wealdstone in 1984).^[4] London Broad Street station was closed in 1986 and trains on the Primrose Hill route were diverted toLiverpool Street until 1992, when passenger services on the Primrose Hill line were withdrawn completely. After the withdrawal of the Croxley, Bakerloo and Broad Street routes, the only remaining service running from Watford High Street was British Rail's Watford DC line to Euston.^[2]

Following theprivatisation of British Rail the franchise for the Watford DC line was taken over byNational Express who ran the line under itsSilverlink Metro name. In 2007 the line was brought under the control ofTransport for London, who today operate it as part of theLondon Overground network under theLioness line name; this service uses the750 V DC lines for its all-stations local service with the 4th rail presently redundant except as part of the electrical return circuit.

Watford High Street station is located in the Lower High Street in Watford town centre. In the immediate vicinity around the station are a number of retail and civic amenities including theWatford Museum, containing a gallery of fine art and displays of local heritage, and the 1.4-million-square-foot (130,000 m²)atria Watford Shopping Centre (also known as theHarlequin Centre), the largest shopping centre inHertfordshire, which attracts more than 17 million customers each year.^[5] Various other shopping parks are also close to the station, including a largeTesco Extra, Waterfields Shopping Park (containing large stores such asSports Direct andNext), as well as many stores situated on the High Street.

Watford town centre has many popular bars and clubs, such asPRYZM; the only producing theatre inHertfordshire, theWatford Palace Theatre; as well as numerous restaurants and cafes, both chain and independent.

To the east of the railway line is the site ofBenskins Brewery, the office building for which is nowWatford Museum. The brewery was rail-served by sidings until 1956.^[6][7]The station is situated in a deep cutting covered by a single platform canopy. The roof of the canopy is connected to the concrete sided cutting by ornamental metal trusses.

All services to this station are operated byLondon Overground. It is on theLioness line of the network and operates with a frequency of four trains per hour, approximately every fifteen minutes from Monday to Sunday.^[8]

Preceding station	London Overground			Following station
Watford Junction Terminus		Lioness line Watford DC line		Bushey towardsEuston
Disused railways
Watford Junction		British Rail Rickmansworth Branch		Rickmansworth (Church Street)
		Network SouthEast Croxley Green Branch		Watford Stadium Halt
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Former services
Watford Junction Terminus		Bakerloo line (1917–1982)		Bushey towardsElephant & Castle
Abandoned Plans
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Watford Junction Terminus		Metropolitan line Croxley Rail link		Watford Vicarage Road towardsBaker Street orAldgate

The station is served by local bus routes142, 258, 306, 321, 328, 346, 602, 635, 832, 885 and W20.

Other services to alternate destinations operate from Watford town centre bus stops, which are a short distance from the station.

In 2011, a project to extend theLondon Underground'sMetropolitan line to Watford Junction was announced. The plannedCroxley Rail Link would have diverted the Metropolitan line branch across the town along a reinstated stretch of disused track of the former Watford and Rickmansworth Railway; the link would then have joined the Watford DC line just south of Watford High Street, and Underground trains would have shared track with London Overground through to Watford Junction.^[9][10] The scheme was cancelled in 2018 due to funding difficulties.^[11]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toWatford High Street railway station.

• "Historical photographs of Watford High Street LNWR station".Photo archive. London Transport Museum.Archived from the original on 11 August 2013.
• Train times andstation information for Watford High Street railway station fromNational Rail

• Rail transport stations in London fare zone 8
• DfT Category D stations
• Railway stations in Watford
• Former London and North Western Railway stations
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1862
• Railway stations served by London Overground
• Proposed London Underground stations
• 1862 establishments in England
• Lioness line stations

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