railroad.wikisort.org - Station

Potters Bar railway station serves the town of Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, England. It is located on the Great Northern Route 12 miles 57 chains (20.5 km) north of London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line.[3][4] Potters Bar station is the highest on the East Coast Main Line between London King's Cross and York.

Potters Bar
The main entrance of the station
Potters Bar Location of Potters Bar in Hertfordshire
Location	Potters Bar
Local authority	Borough of Hertsmere
Grid reference	TL249014
Managed by	Great Northern
Station code	PBR
DfT category	C2
Number of platforms	4
Accessible	Yes[1]
Fare zone	B
National Rail annual entry and exit
2016–17	1.984 million[2]
2017–18	1.997 million[2]
2018–19	2.043 million[2]
2019–20	2.091 million[2]
2020–21	0.562 million[2]
Railway companies
Original company	Great Northern Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Northern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
7 August 1850	Opened as Potter's Bar
1 May 1923	Renamed Potter's Bar and South Mimms
3 May 1971	Renamed Potter's Bar
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51.697°N 0.194°W / 51.697; -0.194
London transport portal

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Legend
King's Lynn Watlington Downham Market Littleport Ely Waterbeach Cambridge North Cambridge M11 motorway Foxton Shepreth Peterborough Meldreth Huntingdon Royston St. Neots Ashwell and Morden St Neots South/Tempsford Sandy Baldock Biggleswade A1(M) motorway Arlesey Letchworth Garden City Hitchin Stevenage Knebworth Watton-at-Stone Welwyn North Hertford North Welwyn Garden City Bayford Hatfield Cuffley Welham Green M25 motorway Brookmans Park Crews Hill Potters Bar Gordon Hill M25 motorway Enfield Chase Hadley Wood Grange Park New Barnet Winchmore Hill Oakleigh Park Palmers Green New Southgate Bowes Park Alexandra Palace Hornsey Harringay Finsbury Park London King's Cross Drayton Park London St Pancras Highbury & Islington Thameslink route Essex Road Old Street Moorgate

History

The first section of the Great Northern Railway (GNR) - that from Louth to a junction with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway at Grimsby - opened on 1 March 1848, but the southern section of the main line, between Maiden Lane and Peterborough, was not opened until August 1850. Potter's Bar was one of the original stations, opening with the line on 7 August 1850.[5][6][7]

On 1 May 1923, the station was renamed Potter's Bar and South Mimms; on 3 May 1971 it reverted to its original name of Potter's Bar.[7]

The current station building, in a "post modern" style, is the third on this site. It replaced a 1955 structure designed by James Wyatt[8] of the Eastern Region Architect's Department (Chief Architect H Powell). Pevsner described the 1955 station as "The first of the Eastern Region's good modern stations, the style much lighter in touch than in the stations of the 1960s (cf Broxbourne). Neat brick clerestory-lit booking hall".[9]

The platform canopies were also constructed in 1955, using what was then an innovative technique of pre-stressed concrete. As the concrete set it unexpectedly curved up at either end of the long, thin canopies, unintentionally creating the "willow" look.[10]

Facilities

The station has a ticket office which is staffed for most of the day.[11]

The station is on two levels. On the lower level are ticket machines in the booking hall and near the entrance to the car park, a photo booth, cash machine, two ticket counters and a cafe. Ramped access to the platforms is controlled by automatic ticket barriers.

On the upper level, canopies run most of the length of both platforms. Each island platform has a help-point. Platforms 1 & 2 have toilets refreshment kiosk,[12] and customer information office. Platforms 3 & 4 are home to staff facilities, including a mess room and station manager's office.

Platforms 2 & 3 are used by express services, and platforms 1 & 4 on the slow lines are used by local services.

Services

Current Services

Services at Potters Bar are operated by Thameslink and Great Northern using Class 700 and 717 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[13]

• 2 tph to London King's Cross (calls at Finsbury Park only)
• 2 tph to Moorgate (all stations)
• 2 tph to Welwyn Garden City (all stations)
• 2 tph to Letchworth Garden City of which 1 continues to Cambridge

During the peak hours, the service to Letchworth Garden City is extended to Cambridge and the service between Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City is increased to 4 tph.

The station is also served by a small number of Thameslink operated services between Welwyn Garden City snd Sevenoaks via the Thameslink Core.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Hadley Wood		Great Northern Great Northern Route Stopping Services		Brookmans Park
Finsbury Park		Thameslink Great Northern Route		Hatfield
New Barnet Peak Hours Only

Thameslink Programme

In September 2016, Govia Thameslink Railway released a consultation for their May 2018 timetables, following the completion of the Thameslink Programme.[14]

It was proposed that the local Great Northern services between Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City would be increased from 3 to 4 tph with the Cambridge to London King's Cross services transferred to Thameslink and extended to Maidstone East via London Bridge. The peak hour Welwyn Garden City to London King's Cross were also to be transferred to Thameslink and extended to Sevenoaks via Catford.

In May 2018, the local Great Northern services were increased to 4 tph as planned, although they have subsequently been reduced to 2 tph due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cambridge to London services were also transferred to Thameslink but were not extended to Maidstone East and this extension has now been postponed to an unknown date.[15]

The Welwyn Garden City to London services were transferred to Thameslink in May 2018 as planned and were subsequently extended to Sevenoaks in May 2022.[13]

Connections

The station is served by London Buses routes 298 and 313, Metroline routes 242 and PB1, Sullivan Buses routes 84 and 398 and Uno route 610.[16]

Accidents and incidents

The station has been the site of two major train crashes, one in 1946 and one in 2002.

• On 10 February 1946, a local passenger train travelling towards London King's Cross crashed into the barriers at Potters Bar Station causing debris to foul the fast lines. The debris was then hit by two express trains on the fast lines causing two deaths and 17 injuries.[17]
• On 10 May 2002, a northbound express train derailed whilst passing through the station resulting in seven deaths and 76 injuries.[18]

Oyster card ticketing

As of 30/08/2019 Oyster cards are accepted on journeys to Potters Bar. The train operating company, Govia, agreed to extend London Zonal Fares to include Potters Bar by September 2015 when they won the Great Northern franchise.[19] More recently Transport for London indicated that Welwyn Garden City and Potters Bar are two of the top four priority stations for the extension of London Zonal Fares.[20] The station came under Transport for London's Oystercard fare system during summer 2019.[21]

References

External links

• Train times and station information for Potters Bar railway station from National Rail

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