Primrose Hill railway station

Primrose Hill was a railway station at Primrose Hill, in the London Borough of Camden, London, England.

It was opened on 5 May 1855 as Hampstead Road,^[1] replacing an earlier station of that name (opened 9 June 1851). It was renamed Chalk Farm on 1 December 1862^[2] and became Primrose Hill on 25 September 1950.^[3] The station closed on 28 September 1992.^[3]

History

The station was at the junction of the line west from Camden Road on the North London Line and the West Coast Main Line. There were platforms on both lines; they could be seen from trains using Euston. The platforms serving Euston closed in 1915. The remaining passenger service was, usually peak hours only, between Broad Street and Watford Junction. After Broad Street closed in 1986 the service ran to Liverpool Street, and by the time Primrose Hill station closed only one passenger train a day was using the line.

When the sweep of the North London Line through Hampstead Heath is closed for emergencies or engineering work, the route through Primrose Hill is a viable diversion for North London Line services to access Willesden Junction (Low Level).

The area is served by the nearby Chalk Farm station on the Northern Line of the London Underground.

The station building still exists, and is occupied by a shop. It is on Bridge Approach at one end of the pedestrianised bridge over the railway tracks. Nearby is The Roundhouse, an 1847 turntable engine shed, now used as an entertainment venue.

Future plans

It has been proposed to re-open Primrose Hill station by bringing the short stretch of line between South Hampstead and Camden Road stations back into the regular passenger service by incorporating it into the London Overground network.

Transport for London have suggested that the Bakerloo Line might take over the Watford DC Line entirely (currently a National Rail route which is shared with the Bakerloo line for part of the route). This would leave the Kilburn High Road and South Hampstead stations with no service. Thus it is suggested new services run on the North London Line between Queen's Park and Stratford via Primrose Hill and Camden Road.^[4].

The platform canopies and the buildings supporting them were demolished by Network Rail in December 2008.^[5]

References

Notes

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. 
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137. 
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 0-9068-9999-0. OCLC 228266687. 
• London's Abandoned Stations - Primrose Hill BR - photos of the station

See also

• List of closed railway stations in London
• North London Railway
• West Coast Main Line
• London Overground