Bushey Railway Station
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Bushey is an
interchange station An interchange station or a transfer station is a train station for more than one railway route in a public transport system that allows passengers to change from one route to another, often without having to leave a station or pay an additional ...
in
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
which serves
Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It had a population of 25,328 in the 2011 census, rising to 28,416 in the 2021 census, an increase of 12.19%. This makes Bushey the second most populated town ...
and
Oxhey Oxhey is a suburb of Watford, under the jurisdiction of the Watford Borough Council in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the Oxhey ward of Watford Borough Council. The wider locations which comprise the modern Oxhey area are Oxhe ...
. It is located on an embankment where the
Watford DC line The Watford DC line is a suburban railway line from London Euston to Watford Junction in Greater London and Hertfordshire. The line is shared by services on London Underground's above-ground section of the Bakerloo line between Harrow & Weald ...
, operated as the
Lioness line The Watford DC line is a suburban railway line from London Euston to Watford Junction in Greater London and Hertfordshire. The line is shared by services on London Underground's above-ground section of the Bakerloo line between Harrow & Wealds ...
of the
London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...
, diverges from the
West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
(WCML).
National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...
services along the WCML are operated by
London Northwestern Railway West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a British train operating company. It operates passenger trains on the Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain, West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trading names: within t ...
. The station is situated north of Harrow & Wealdstone along the WCML. Immediately north of the station, the WCML crosses Watford's Lower High Street over
Bushey Arches Viaduct Bushey Arches Viaduct is a railway bridge on the West Coast Main Line immediately north of Bushey railway station, between Bushey and Watford, in Hertfordshire, Eastern England, just north-west of London. Design The viaduct consists of five arches ...
and shortly afterwards crosses the River Colne on another viaduct.


History

The
London and Birmingham Railway The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR). The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...
first ran through here on 20 July 1837. A station was not initially provided, as the area was then sparsely populated. A station was provided later in a similar red brick style to others along the route, larger than most although smaller than that at Harrow & Wealdstone.
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
's
Bakerloo line The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that runs between in suburban north-west London and 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 par ...
trains served the station from 16 April 1917 until 24 September 1982. During the war years of 1939–1945 the station was often known as "Ampersand" – this was due to a typically bureaucratic application of emergency regulations. To hinder enemy troops in the event of an invasion it was ordered that all station names should be painted out on station name-boards, and this was interpreted at Bushey & Oxhey to mean the words 'Bushey' and 'Oxhey' but not the '&'. For the duration of the war, therefore, the station bore the designation '&'. Also during wartime a concrete
pillbox Pillbox may refer to: * Pill organizer, a container for medicine * Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat crown, straight upright sides, and no brim * Pillbox (military) A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, often ...
(a small gun fortification) was provided under the viaduct, between platforms 2 and 3. The station was renamed from "Bushey & Oxhey" to "Bushey" on 6 May 1974, even though it is actually sited in the neighbouring town of Oxhey, and the nearest part of Bushey (Bushey Village) is over away. It was late in the 1980s before signage at the station reflected this change.


Notable incidents

On 16 February 1980, faulty trackwork caused nine coaches of an express
London Euston Euston railway station ( ; or London Euston) is a major central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station managed by Network Rail in the London Borough of Camden. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line ...
to
Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchest ...
passenger train to derail as it passed through the station. Three coaches were overturned and 19 passengers were seriously injured. The track required extensive repairs and did not reopen fully until 25 February 1980.Accident report
by Department of Transport, 1981
The little used platform 3 was extensively damaged in the accident and remained closed until 2011. On 20 April 1980, a passenger train heading for derailed immediately before Bushey station after hitting track maintenance machinery. The leading bogie of the Class 310
EMU The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...
derailed, but the train remained upright and damage was slight. One member of the track maintenance team sustained a broken pelvis.Accident report
by Department of Transport, 16 June 1981
On 8 August 1996, the Watford rail crash occurred around north of the station.


Design

The local London Overground DC service that loops to the west to serve Watford High Street before Watford Junction makes platforms 1 & 2 curve away from the main line route. There are four main line platforms: one for the down (northbound) fast line (platform 3), two for the up (southbound) fast and the down (northbound) slow lines (platforms 4 & 5) which form an island platform; one serving the up (southbound) slow line (platform 6). Platforms 3 and 4 are by far the least used, since these fast main line tracks are normally used by trains not stopping at Bushey. Platform 3 is accessed via the stairway for platform 2 and is fitted with a remotely operated gate to prevent access when the platform is not in operation. Platforms 3 and 4 were brought back into use for the December 2011 timetable, which marks some services as "front four coaches only for Bushey", allowing an improved late evening and weekend connection with London.New London train services for Bushey Station
Watford Observer, 24 March 2011
Prior to this reinstatement, engineering works frequently meant that late-evening London Midland services could not stop at Bushey as a northbound platform was not available. It was overgrown after having fallen into disuse many years earlier and boarded off following its partial destruction during the crash of February 1980: the locomotive and leading two coaches passed through the station before coming to a stand having destroyed the platform face.Accident archive
from Railways Archive.
Between 2000 and 2007, a storage yard and redundant buildings were converted into a high-voltage substation to supply the significantly higher current required for the new, higher speed,
Pendolino Pendolino (from Italian language, Italian "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of high-speed tilting trains (and non-tilting) used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic, ...
express trains.


Station Improvements

Starting in December 2007,
Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...
began a significant upgrade programme at the station. During the following four years, the underpass was relined with plasterboard walls and corrugated steel ceilings and repainted. The doors and windows were repainted, and the orange railings replaced the old green and blue railings. A non-slip surface had been added to areas of the floor and all of the stairways. Extensive CCTV was installed throughout and signage was changed to London Overground standards, as at other Overground stations. The alleyway linking the entrance of the station to Kingsfield Road was upgraded, replacing the repeatedly vandalised wooden fences with metal palisade. The level access from Platform 1 to the Kingsfield Road footpath was closed permanently. The bicycle shed was moved from the front of the station on Pinner Road to the Eastbury Road entrance. The space at the front was converted to a shop and newsagents which is soon to be made into a
WHSmith WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service s ...
.Planning Update , OVEG
/ref>


Services

Services at Bushey are operated by
London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...
on the
Lioness line The Watford DC line is a suburban railway line from London Euston to Watford Junction in Greater London and Hertfordshire. The line is shared by services on London Underground's above-ground section of the Bakerloo line between Harrow & Wealds ...
and
London Northwestern Railway West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a British train operating company. It operates passenger trains on the Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain, West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trading names: within t ...
. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 6 tph to
London Euston Euston railway station ( ; or London Euston) is a major central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station managed by Network Rail in the London Borough of Camden. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line ...
(4 of these call at all stations and 2 call at only) * 4 tph to * 2 tph to During the peak hours, the station is served by an additional half-hourly service between London Euston and , which usually passes through Bushey without stopping.


Connections

London Bus Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London ...
routes
142 142 may refer to: * 142 (number), an integer * AD 142, a year of the Julian calendar * 142 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 142 Polana, a main-belt asteroid {{numberdis ...
,
258 Year 258 ( CCLVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tuscus and Bassus (or, less frequently, year 1011 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 258 for this yea ...
,Bushey - Bus
/ref> and London Service Permit route 8 also serve the station and non-London Bus Routes 306, 306B, 602 and W19 serve the station.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bushey Railway Station Railway stations in Watford DfT Category E stations Proposed London Underground stations Former London and North Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1841 Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains Railway stations served by London Overground 1841 establishments in England Stations on the West Coast Main Line Lioness line stations