page_title: Harrow & Wealdstone station
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Harrow & Wealdstone station / History
caption_attribution_description: 'Oerlikon' electric train at Harrow and Wealdstone, Middlesex. These heavy electric trains, which were in use at this time on the services from Watford Junction to Euston and Broad Street, and also from Broad Street to Richmond, had electrical equipment by the Swiss firm of Oerlikon. They were both reliable and fast, but they caused considerable wear to the tracks, which were shared with London Transport's 'Bakerloo' tube trains. The Oerlikon trains were replaced during 1957-58 with more modern (but much less interesting) stock. These services still continue, nowadays using Class 313 and Class 508 trains.
context_page_description: Harrow & Wealdstone is a railway station on the Watford DC line and West Coast Main Line in Harrow and Wealdstone in the London Borough of Harrow. It is served by
  London Underground Bakerloo line, London Overground, London Northwestern Railway, and Southern services. The station is located between The Bridge, and Sandridge Close, Harrow with entrances leading to both.
  The Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash of 1952, which killed 112 people, occurred at the station. It remains Britain's worst peacetime rail disaster.
context_section_description: 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. 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.
  On 5 October 1964, all services on the branch line to Belmont were withdrawn as part of the cuts of the Beeching Axe. The permanent way north 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. However 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 goods yard and part of the forecourt of the eastern entrance (1917) to the station.
caption: Oerlikon electric train at Harrow & Wealdstone, 11 March 1956
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