Bricket Wood railway station
{{short description|Railway station in Hertfordshire, England}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox station
| name = Bricket Wood
| symbol_location = gb
| symbol = rail
| image = Bricket Wood stn look south2.JPG
| borough = Bricket Wood, St Albans
| country = England
| grid_name = Grid reference
| grid_position = {{gbmapscaled|TL134020|25|TL134020}}
| manager = London Northwestern Railway
| platforms = 1
| code = BWO
| classification = DfT category F2
| opened = 1858
| years1 = 5 May 1858
| events1 = Station opened
| years2 = 1859
| events2 = Station closed
| years3 = 1861
| events3 = Station re-opened
| years4 = 1913
| events4 = Installation of 2nd platform and crossing loop
| years5 = 1966
| events5 = Demolition of 2nd platform and loop
| mpassengers =
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2019/20 |passengers={{decrease}} 31,022}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2020/21 |passengers={{decrease}} 4,978}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2021/22 |passengers={{increase}} 13,060}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2022/23 |passengers={{increase}} 21,708}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2023/24 |passengers={{increase}} 23,234}}
| footnotes = Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
}}
File:Passing Loop Bricketwood.jpg at Bricket Wood station in the 1960s]]File:Bricket Wood Station 1895278 9af81019.jpg in 1961]]
File:Bricket Wood 2 Station 1895274 9cd248e3.jpg in 1961]]
Bricket Wood railway station is in the village of Bricket Wood, Hertfordshire, England, on the Abbey Line 3{{frac|1|4}} miles (5 km) east of Watford Junction. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Northwestern Railway.
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 is the only surviving original building on the line. Long disused, the building has been restored and turned into a tea room and cafe. 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,{{cite web |title=Film locations for Night of the Demon (Curse of the Demon) |url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/n/nightofdemon.html |url-status=dead |website=www.movie-locations.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921182010/http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/n/nightofdemon.html |archive-date=21 September 2008}} Impact and She'll Have to Go.{{Citation needed|date=October 2013}}
=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{{cite book |last=McCamley |first=Nick |title=Cold War Secret Nuclear Bunkers: The Passive Defence of the Western World During the Cold War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhzOAwAAQBAJ&q=Emergency+Railway+Control+Centre+bricket+wood&pg=PA283 |publisher=Pen and Sword |date=31 May 2013 |isbn=9781844155088 |via=Google Books}} away from expected target areas. Only five{{cite web|url=https://research.historicengland.org.uk/redirect.aspx?id=7010%7C%2020th%20Century%20Air-Raid%20Precaution%20Railway%20Control%20Centres|title=Search Research Reports | Historic England}} were completed; the one at Bricket Wood is situated in the trees between the station and Railway Cottages. It was built {{circa}} 1954 in order, in the event of war, to take over the running of the railway network from the London Euston control room.{{cite web |title=Archived copy |url=https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/20th-century-air-raid-precaution-railway-control-centres/RailwayControlCentres.pdf/ |url-status=dead |access-date=12 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216035457/https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/20th-century-air-raid-precaution-railway-control-centres/RailwayControlCentres.pdf/ |archive-date=16 February 2016}}
As of 2014, only two remained 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
All services at Bricket Wood are operated by London Northwestern Railway using {{brc|350}} EMUs.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}
The typical off-peak service on all days of the week is one train per hour in each direction between {{stnlnk|Watford Junction}} and {{stnlnk|St Albans Abbey}}. This is increased to a train approximately every 45 minutes in each direction during the peak hours.{{NRtimes|December 2022|61}}
{{Adjacent stations|noclear=y
|system1=National Rail
|line1=London Northwestern Railway|type1=Abbey Line|left1=Garston Hertfordshire|right1=How Wood
}}
Future
Installation of Oyster card readers on the stations along the branch is a possibility, although other ticketing options exist.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}
Restoration of the crossing loop, which would facilitate trains running every 30 minutes, is being considered by the local authorities and Network Rail.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Bricket Wood railway station}}
{{stn art lnk|BWO|AL23PQ}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060219133723/http://www.abbeyline.org.uk/BricketWood.htm Bricket Wood station] at abbeyline.org.uk
{{Hertfordshire railway stations}}
{{coord|51.7058|-0.359|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=title}}
Category:Railway stations in Hertfordshire
Category:DfT Category F2 stations
Category:Former London and North Western Railway stations