Bricket Wood railway station is in the village of Bricket Wood, Hertfordshire, England, on the Abbey Line 31⁄4 miles (5 km) east of Watford Junction. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Northwestern Railway, and the services operate with a 4-car Class 319.

Bricket Wood
General information
Location	Bricket Wood, St Albans England
Grid reference	TL134020
Managed by	London Northwestern Railway
Platforms	1
Other information
Station code	BWO
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Opened	1858
Key dates
5 May 1858	Station opened
1859	Station closed
1861	Station re-opened
1913	Installation of 2nd platform and crossing loop
1966	Demolition of 2nd platform and loop
Passengers
2016/17	27,640
2017/18	28,618
2018/19	36,840
2019/20	31,022
2020/21	4,978
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The station once had a crossing loop and a second platform that could accommodate long excursion trains. Many Edwardian families from London came here to enjoy the fresh air, woodland, and two large funfairs that once stood nearby.

The station building, long disused, is the only surviving original building on the line. Responsibility for the line, including Bricket Wood, passed in November 2007 from Silverlink to London Midland.

The station was used in the films The Cuckoo Patrol, Victoria the Great, Poison Pen, Double Confession, Night of the Demon,[1] Impact and She'll Have to Go.^{[citation needed]}

Emergency Railway Control Centre

In the 1950s, in response to fears of Soviet military action, plans were prepared for the construction of twenty-five atom-bomb-proof control bunkers[2] away from expected target areas. Only five[3] were completed; the one at Bricket Wood is situated in the trees between the station and Railway Cottages. It was built c. 1954 in order, in the event of war, to take over the running of the railway network from the London Euston control room.[4]

As of 2014, only two remained[3] in England. The control centre built at Bricket Wood is a post-war Standard District Control Building Type L built, measuring roughly 11m x 29m. Of reinforced concrete construction, it has a single protected doorway in each of the shorter walls. This would appear to be the sole surviving example of this type in England; one other survives in Scotland, at Burntisland.

Services

Trains operate between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey every 45 minutes in each direction Monday to Saturday, and every hour on Sundays, and are operated by London Northwestern Railway.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Garston		London Northwestern Railway Abbey Line		How Wood

Future

Installation of Oyster card readers on the stations along the branch is a possibility, although other ticketing options exist.

Restoration of the crossing loop, which would facilitate trains running every 30 minutes, is being considered by the local authorities and Network Rail.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bricket Wood railway station.

References

External links

• Train times and station information for Bricket Wood railway station from National Rail
• Bricket Wood station at abbeyline.org.uk