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{{Short description|
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{{Infobox rail line
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The '''Watford DC line''' is a [[Commuter rail in the United Kingdom|suburban railway line]] from [[Euston railway station|London Euston]] to [[Watford Junction railway station|Watford Junction]] in [[Greater London]] and [[Hertfordshire]]. Its services are operated by [[London Overground]] for the whole length of the line and the [[Bakerloo line]] of the [[London Underground]] between [[Harrow & Wealdstone station|Harrow & Wealdstone]] and [[Queen's Park station (
The line runs beside the [[West Coast Main Line]] (WCML) for most of its length. The rolling stock used on the line are the London Overground [[British Rail Class 710|Class 710 "Aventras"]] made by Bombardier and the [[London Underground 1972 Stock]].
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The "DC" in the title refers to line being electrified using [[direct current]]. This was done in the early twentieth century with [[third rail|conductor rails]] to be compatible with the [[Railway electrification system#Fourth rail|four-rail]] system used by the Underground and, at the time, the [[North London Line]]; currently, the line uses a [[third rail]] system, with a fourth rail available on the section shared with the Bakerloo line. By contrast, the WCML uses overhead [[alternating current]].
Since November 2024, the London Overground service has been branded the '''Lioness line''' by TfL.<ref>{{Cite web |
==History==
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The Watford New Line was opened in phases. The section of [[Double-track railway|double track]] between Willesden Junction and Harrow & Wealdstone opened on 15 June 1912 and was used for local steam train traffic.<ref>{{cite news |title=Progress of engineering works |work=Railway News |date=10 August 1912 |page=17}}</ref> The new stations at [[Harlesden station|Harlesden]], [[Stonebridge Park station|Stonebridge Park]], [[North Wembley station|North Wembley]] and [[Kenton station|Kenton]] opened on 15 June 1912.{{efn|New platforms were also provided on the new line at the existing Wembley station.}}
The section of new line between Harrow & Wealdstone and Watford High Street opened on 10 February 1913, with a new station at [[Headstone Lane railway station|Headstone Lane]].<ref name="New Line">{{cite news |title=Opening of the New Line to Watford: London and Northwestern Railway |work=Railway News |date=8 February 1913 |page=325}}</ref> Local steam trains were now able to use the new line between Watford Junction and Willesden Junction.{{efn|The line between Watford High Street and Watford Junction used the [[Watford and Rickmansworth Railway]] tracks.}} The existing station at Watford High Street received direct services to London for the first time.<ref>{{cite news |title=The New Service to Watford |work=Pall Mall Gazette |date=12 February 1913 |page=8}}</ref> The opening of this section of line coincided with the beginning of service at [[Croxley Green railway station|Croxley Green]] and [[Watford West railway station|Watford West]] stations on the Croxley Green branch line.<ref name="New Line"/>
===Electric service===
Queen's Park station became the northern terminus of the Bakerloo line on 11 February 1915. The station was due to open with Kilburn Park and Warwick Avenue stations on 31 January 1915 but was delayed because of [[World War I]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The Bakerloo Extension |work=The Evening News |date=12 February 1915 |page=4}}</ref>
The Bakerloo line was extended from Queen's Park to Willesden Junction
On 10 December 1916, trial electric services were run between Willesden Junction and Watford Junction.<ref>{{cite news |title=New Electric Line |work=Harrow Observer |date=15 December 1916 |page=5}}</ref> The Bakerloo line service was extended from Willesden Junction to Watford Junction on Monday 16 April 1917. The service over this section initially ran every 15
The final section of new line was constructed between Queen's Park and Chalk Farm, with two platforms provided at Euston for electric trains.<ref>{{cite news |title=Latest Electric Line |work=Daily Chronicle |date=8 July 1922 |page=3}}</ref> LNWR electric service from Broad Street and Euston to Watford Junction commenced on Monday 10 July 1922, following a trial service on 7 July 1922.<ref name="New Electric">{{cite news |title=New Electric Railway |work=Daily Mirror |date=8 July 1922 |page=3}}</ref> Service that had been withdrawn in 1917 was reinstated at [[South Hampstead railway station|South Hampstead]], [[Kilburn High Road railway station|Kilburn]] and [[Primrose Hill railway station|Chalk Farm]] stations.<ref name="New Electric"/> The introduction of all electric service on the line decreased the journey time for Bakerloo trains by three minutes.<ref>{{cite news |title=Quicker Watford Trains |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=10 July 1922 |page=8}}</ref> Peak services ran every 15{{nbsp}}minutes from Watford Junction to Euston, Watford Junction to Broad Street and Watford Junction to Elephant and Castle. At off-peak times the Euston and Broad Street services ran every half hour.<ref>{{cite news |title=Opening of New Electric Railway |work=St. Pancras Guardian |page=2}}</ref>
===Signalling===
The line opened with conventional semaphore [[Railway signalling|signalling]] mechanically operated from [[signal box]]es at each station, this system remained in use after electrification.
The [[London, Midland and Scottish Railway]] introduced an automatic electric signalling system in the early 1930s over most of the route and some signal boxes were abolished.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LMSR New Lines signalling |url=https://www.davros.org/rail/signalling/lmsr/newlines.html |access-date=2024-02-11 |website=www.davros.org}}</ref> A similar system was also used for a shorter period between [[Bromley-by-Bow tube station|Bromley-by-Bow]] and [[Upminster station|Upminster]] now part of the [[District line]]. The very closely spaced mix of automatic and semi-automatic signals, repeater signals, and auxiliary calling-on aspects was intended to let trains to proceed, after a set delay, at low speed past "failed" signals on track with no junctions without the need to contact a signalman, but this could lead to a nose-to-tail queue of trains as they all reached the location of a real line blockage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LMS Watford New Line Signalling |url=http://railsigns.uk/info/watnew1.html |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=railsigns.uk}}</ref>
[[Train stop]]s were provided (except at repeater signals) to allow [[London Electric Railway]] (LER) trains to operate over the line without the special provision of a second man; this enabled the same practice to be continued with all other Underground and main line stock subsequently allocated to this line and which was provided with trip equipment.
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Signal boxes remaining in use in the early 1970s included:
* Kilburn High Road (closed when the crossover moved to the down side of the station)
*
* Willesden New Station
* Stonebridge Power House (abolished after LU Bakerloo line depot opened)
* Harrow No.2
Normally Kilburn High Road and Stonebridge Power House which controlled only plain track with crossovers were switched out and only
In 1988, the LMS system was replaced by a more standard system controlled from a new signal box, Willesden Suburban, and the remaining local boxes were abolished.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stacy |first=Mungo |date=2014-02-25 |title=25 years after Clapham - Pride turns to despair |url=https://www.railengineer.co.uk/years-clapham-despair/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Rail Engineer |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=1988 |url=https://www.nsers.org/1988.html |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Network SouthEast Railway Society |language=en}}</ref> The new system had solid state interlocking, but far fewer signals; as a consequence the maximum traffic capacity of the line was severely reduced. In the early 1960s, there were headways of less than
In the early 2000s, Willesden Suburban was closed and control passed to Wembley Main Line Signalling Centre.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2000-12-28 |title=Signal work on track |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1091129.stm |access-date=2024-11-03 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>Errata sheet for Volume 8 Signal Box Register London Transport - Index pages 49 and 64 https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/downloads/RegcorrsLT.pdf</ref>
===Electrification===
[[File:Oerlikon electric train at Harrow and Wealdstone.jpg
The original electrification was on a [[fourth rail]] system, similar to that now used by London Underground, which allowed LER trains to use the new line. Power was supplied from the railway's own power station at [[Stonebridge Park power station|Stonebridge Park]] until the 1960s when it was closed, after which it has been obtained from public supplies. As originally installed, there was provision for interconnection of the high voltage section of the power station to adjacent public supplies for output or intake but this ceased when national supplies were standardised at 50 Hz.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marsden |first=Colin J. |title=The DC Electrics |year=2008 |isbn=9780860936152 |oclc=318668763}}</ref>
In the late 1950s, the [[LNWR electric units|original electric multiple units]] built for the line were replaced by new [[British Rail Class 501|Class 501]] rolling stock. These were in turn displaced in the mid 1980s by [[British Rail Class 313|Class 313]] units. The line is now operated by London Overground [[British Rail Class 710|Class 710 "Aventra"]] units.
In the 1970s, the track and the rolling stock used on this line and the [[North London Line]] were changed to use a modified version of the BR standard [[third rail]] system, with the fourth rail (now bonded to the running rail used for returning traction current) left in place on the sections of line shared with LU Bakerloo line trains. North of Harrow & Wealdstone, now the limit of LU operation, the fourth rail has in most places been dropped onto the sleepers and remains bonded, thus leaving the resistance of the current return path unaltered. The fourth rail remains in the normal position from
A consequence of converting to third rail with the fourth rail provided only for LU use was that both planned and emergency use of the line by other third-rail-capable trains was possible. Ignoring recent use of [[British Rail Class 508|Class 508]] trains, this last took place when [[British Rail Class 416|Class 416]] trains were diverted to Willesden Junction Low Level station when part of the North London Line was closed for a number of weeks in the late 1980s.
The electricity grid Willesden substation in Acton Lane, [[Park Royal]] supplies 11 kV, three-phase power to ten substations on the line, located at Camden, South Hampstead,
===Decline===
Evening services between Queen's Park and Watford Junction were reduced from every 10{{nbsp}}minutes to every 15{{nbsp}}minutes from 17 June 1963, due to a drop in passengers.<ref>{{cite news |title=More trains at Park, less at Central |work=Wembley News |date=7 June 1963 |page=1}}</ref>
During 1965, there was a significant reduction of services with off-peak Bakerloo line trains withdrawn north of Queen's Park and services to Broad Street cut in July.<ref>{{cite news |title=Restore Trains |work=Harrow Observer |date=21 October 1965 |page=8}}</ref>
===Operators===
The line was operated by [[British Rail]]
In April 1994, in preparation for [[Privatisation of British Rail|rail privatisation]], the line became part of the North London Railways train operating unit.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Briddon |first1=Christine |title=Huge shake-up on trains hale end of an era |work=Harrow Informer |date=8 April 1994 |page=5}}</ref> From March 1997 until November 2007, the line was operated by [[Silverlink]]. In November 2007, [[Transport for London|Transport for London (TfL)]] took full management control of all the intermediate Watford DC line stations as part of the London Overground (LO) service with staffing during opening hours, automatic ticket gates and planned station refurbishment to the standard of the Tube network.<ref name="silverlink">{{cite web
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[[File:1972 Stock at Harlesden.JPG|thumb|200px|The line is shared with the Bakerloo line]]
===London Overground===
The London Overground operates over the full length of the line from Watford Junction to Euston. In July 2023, TFL announced that it would be giving each of
===London Underground===
The Bakerloo line of the London Underground operates over part of the line from Harrow & Wealdstone to Queen's Park. From
===List of stations===
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*[[South Hampstead railway station|South Hampstead]]
*[[Kilburn High Road railway station|Kilburn High Road]]
*[[Queen's Park station (England)|
*[[Kensal Green station|Kensal Green]]
*[[Willesden Junction station|Wilesden Junction]]
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{{main|Croxley Rail Link}}
Another proposal to bring London Underground service to Watford Junction was the [[Croxley Rail Link]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/improvements-and-projects/croxley-rail-link|title=Croxley Rail Link|website=tfl.gov.uk|access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref> which envisaged diverting the Watford branch of the Metropolitan line along a re-opened stretch of track to the west of Watford, effectively reinstating the former Croxley Green to Watford Junction service. Underground trains would then join the DC line at Watford High Street, potentially forming an interchange either with London Overground or the Bakerloo line, depending on the outcome of other projects. Funding for this project was agreed during November 2015,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/news/europe/single-view/view/metropolitan-line-extension-funding-agreed.html|title=Metropolitan Line Extension funding agreed|first=DVV Media|last=UK|website=railwaygazette.com|access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref> however after cost overruns and disagreements over funding sources, work on the project stopped in 2017, and it was confirmed in 2018 that the project would not be going ahead in its current form.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McIntyre |first=Fiona |date=2018-01-26 |title=London mayor 'effectively abandons' £284M Met line extension |url=https://www.newcivilengineer.com/archive/london-mayor-effectively-abandons-284m-met-line-extension-26-01-2018/ |access-date=2024-02-11 |website=New Civil Engineer |language=en}}</ref><ref name="wo-croxley">{{Cite news |last=Russell |first=Rachel |title=The story of the Met Line extension project so far |url=http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/15897580.the-story-of-the-met-line-extension-project-so-far/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416151853/http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/15897580.the-story-of-the-met-line-extension-project-so-far/ |archive-date=16 April 2018 |access-date=16 April 2018 |work=Watford Observer |language=en}}</ref>
{{clear}}
==Notes==
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