Rickmansworth (Church Street) railway station

Rickmansworth (Church Street)
Remains of Rickmansworth (Church Street) Station, photographed from the East in 1972
General information
Location	Rickmansworth, Three Rivers England
Coordinates	51°38′09″N 0°27′55″W / 51.6359°N 0.4654°W / 51.6359; -0.4654
Grid reference	TQ062941
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Watford and Rickmansworth Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 October 1862 (1862-10-01)	Opened as Rickmansworth
25 September 1950	Renamed Rickmansworth (Church Street)
3 March 1952 (1952-03-03)	Station closed for passengers
2 January 1967	Closed for freight

Rickmansworth (Church Street) railway station was a London and North Western Railway (LNWR) station in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, UK. Opened in 1862, it was the terminus of a 4.5-mile (7.2 km) branch line which used to run from Watford. The station closed to passengers in 1952, although the line continued to be used as a goods line until 1967. Church Street station has since been demolished. Rickmansworth station is about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) northwest of the site of Church Street station. Opening on 1 September 1887, it continues to serve both the London Underground Metropolitan line and Chiltern Railways between Marylebone and Aylesbury via Harrow-on-the-Hill.

Church Street station was the terminus of the Watford and Rickmansworth Railway (W&RR), a business venture of the Whig politician, Robert Grosvenor, 1st Baron Ebury (1801–1893). It opened on 1 October 1862.^[1] The line ran from Watford Junction to Rickmansworth with many small freight branches, the most notable of which ran to Croxley Green.

Lord Ebury's plan was to extend the line south and to open a new railway to Uxbridge Vine Street on the Great Western Railway's Uxbridge branch. However, the GWR withdrew its funding for the scheme and line was never extended.^[2] The line failed to operate at a profit, the W&RR ran into financial difficulties, and eventually the operation was taken over by the London and North Western Railway in 1881.

In 1923, under the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), the Rickmansworth line and the service from Watford Junction to London Euston was converted to fourth-rail electric trains. The station was renamed Rickmansworth (Church Street) on 25 September 1950.^[1] It continued to be operated as a branch line from Watford by British Rail until the passenger service was withdrawn on 3 March 1952.^[1] The station and tracks continued to be used for goods services until the line was cut back to one of the intermediate freight sidings.

The track to Watford has since been removed; the trackbed to Watford is now the Ebury Way rail trail. The platforms and station buildings have been demolished; the site is now occupied by social housing. A new hotel now stands between the old station site and the canal.