The branch line to St Albans was opened in 1858 by the London and North Western Railway. Watford North station opened 52 years later, in October 1910. Originally named Callowland, the station was built to serve a developing residential and industrial area which still thrives today. It was renamed Watford North in 1927. After the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948, the line was run by British Rail. As passenger and goods usage dwindled in the 1950s and 60s, the stations on the line were downgraded to unmanned halts. In 1963, Watford North and the Abbey line were threatened with closure as part of the Beeching cuts, but the line was kept in service. In 1995, a proposal was made to run a reduced service on the Abbey line with diesel trains instead of electric trains. An advocacy group, known as Abfly, was formed to campaign for the line to be maintained and continues to lobby for improvements to the service today. After the Privatisation of British Railthe franchise for the Abbey Line was taken over by National Express who ran the line under its Silverlink Metro name until November 2007, when Govia, operating as London Midland, took over the franchise. The Community Rail Partnership for the Abbey Line, established in 2005, works to improve the Abbey Line and inspects stations such as Watford North at least once a week.
Service
Currently there is a 45-minute service in both directions Monday to Saturday, hourly on Sundays. The railway is the quickest way to get between Watford and St Albans, taking only 16 minutes.
Future
A number of possible changes to the line have been proposed, including new means of buying tickets, and the restoration of a passing loop at Bricket Wood, which would facilitate a 30-minute service. Plans were announced in October 2009 for the line to be converted to light rail. The line and stations were to be leased to Hertfordshire County Council who would run a tram-train service from Watford Junction to. Longer-term proposals envisaged extension into St Albans city centre, possibly to St Albans City railway station. It was estimated that the tram line would be in operation by 2012, but the project was cancelled due to the complications and expense of transferring the line from National Rail to the county council. For the foreseeable future, Watford North will continue to be served by heavy rail trains.
