Harrow & Wealdstone Station - History

History

The station was opened by the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) as Harrow on 20 July 1837 in what was then rural Middlesex. At the time the station was built, the area was fields and the nearest large settlement was at Harrow on the Hill about 1.5 miles to the south. Wealdstone was a collection of houses at the north end of what is now Wealdstone High Street, about 1 mile north of the station. The station buildings on the south-west (Harrow) side of the station are the older part of the station, located beside what were the fast lines until the platforms were used for the later Euston to Watford DC Line and the main line tracks were re-routed through the previous slow line platforms and newer platforms to the North-West; a newer station building was also erected on the Wealdstone side of the station. The station footbridge was originally constructed with a full-height central barrier with passengers using the "London" side and railway and postal staff using the "Country" side to move goods and mails via lifts which were removed in the early 1970s leaving two parcels elevators serving the DC line platforms for the remaining postal traffic.

On 7 August 1838 Thomas Port was fatally injured when he fell from a train and was run over about 1¼ miles south of the station.

On 18 December 1890, a short branch line was opened by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR, successor to the L&BR) to Belmont and Stanmore to the north-east of the main line. Services to Belmont on the train known affectionately as the "Belmont Rattler".

By the end of the 19th century Wealdstone had developed in size and the station was given its current name on 1 May 1897 to more accurately reflect its location.

On 16 April 1917, Bakerloo Line services were extended from Willesden Junction to Watford Junction running on the newly electrified local tracks (the "New Lines", which were originally steam-worked) and calling at Harrow & Wealdstone from that date.

On 15 September 1952, the passenger service to Stanmore was withdrawn though the service to Belmont were maintained.

On 8 October 1952, the station was the site of a serious train crash in which 112 people were killed and 340 were injured when a Scottish express train collided with the rear of a local train stopped at platform 4. Seconds later a northbound express hauled by two locomotives collided with the wreckage causing further injury and demolished one span of the footbridge and the northern end of platforms 2 and 3. A memorial plaque was placed above the main entrance on the eastern side of the station to mark the 50th anniversary in 2002.

During the early 1960s, as part of the West Coast Main Line electrification, the bridge carrying the A409 road (The Bridge/Station Approach) over the railway was rebuilt easing the previous severe road gradients and offering higher clearance over the tracks to allow for overhead cabling.

On 6 July 1964, passenger services on the branch line to Belmont were withdrawn as part of the cuts of the Beeching Axe. The track south of Harrow and Wealdstone station was removed but the disused platform 7 on the eastern side of the station was left in place as a siding for a further few years until it too was removed.

On 24 September 1982, Bakerloo Line services to Harrow & Wealdstone ended when services north of Stonebridge Park were ended. The closure was short-lived, and the Bakerloo Line to Harrow & Wealdstone was reinstated on 4 June 1984 with the station acting as the terminus.

In the 1990s major reconstruction of local roads made to by-pass High Street, Wealdstone sent a new road (Ellen Webb Drive) through what remained of the station yard and part of the forecourt of the eastern entrance to the station.