Harrow & Wealdstone station
Harrow & Wealdstone station
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Harrow & Wealdstone station

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Harrow & Wealdstone station

Harrow & Wealdstone (/ˈhær ənd ˈwldstn/) is an interchange station in north-west London. It is located in both Harrow and Wealdstone in the London Borough of Harrow. The station provides southbound Bakerloo line services of the London Underground; Lioness line services of the London Overground; and National Rail services operated by London Northwestern Railway and Southern on the West Coast Main Line (WCML).

Harrow & Wealdstone is 11 miles 30 chains (18.31 km) along the WCML from London Euston station. It is located between The Bridge (which joins the southern end of High Street) and Sandridge Close, with entrances leading to both. It is one of the oldest stations in the London region still in existence. The Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash of 1952, which killed 112 people, occurred at the station and remains the worst peacetime rail disaster in the United Kingdom.

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 (2.4 km) to the south. Wealdstone was a collection of houses at the north end of what is now Wealdstone High Street, about 1 mile (1.6 km) 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 new platforms (numbers 5 and 6) to the north east; a new, larger, station building was also erected on this Wealdstone side of the station in 1912. 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 mail via lifts which were removed in the early 1970s, leaving two parcel elevators serving the DC line platforms for the remaining postal traffic.

On 18 December 1890, a short branch line known as the Stanmore branch line was opened by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR, successor to the L&BR). It ran 2.12 miles (3.41 km) north-east from the main line to Stanmore. In 1932 an intermediate halt was constructed as Belmont to serve the developing residential areas locally. The train was 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 reflect more accurately 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 – by then renamed Stanmore Village to avoid confusion with the Metropolitan Railway's (later Bakerloo, and now Jubilee) station opened in 1934 – was withdrawn. Freight traffic (particularly the storage of bananas) continued sporadically until 1964.

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 catenary cabling.

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