Ambitious plans to save Watford Met station (From Watford Observer)

Ambitious plans to save Watford Met station

9:10am Friday 10th February 2012 in News By Mike Wright

Ambitious plans to save Watford Met station

Plans are being drawn up to save the Watford Metropolitan station from closure once the Croxley Rail Link opens.

A group of councillors at Watford Borough Council is hoping to persuade London Underground chiefs to maintain a service from the station, on the Cassiobury estate, to Amersham.

The project is being spearheaded by Liberal Democrat Andy Wylie, who works for train operator First Group, as well as representatives from the area.

Councillor Wylie said retaining the service would benefit the people who used it now and that if London Underground could be convinced of its merits, it could be a realistic hope.

“What we are hoping to do is get people interested,” he said. “Then a feasibility study needs to take place.

“It would not be as frequent a service as the general Metropolitan Line, it would be somewhere in the region of every 20 minutes.”

As well as the benefits to those who lived near the station, Councillor Wylie said keeping a passenger service there could also present operational benefits for London Underground.

He said that in times of disruption, the extra station could help relieve pressure on the line.

Under the current Croxley Rail Link plans, the Watford Met looks likely to be sacrificed as the line gets redirected from Croxley station to Watford Junction.

The project, which has been talked about for decades, was set in motion in December when the government agreed the £76.24m to fund it.

As it stands, the service will run from Croxley station, to a new station on Ascot Road, a second new station in West Watford, then Watford High Street before terminating at Watford Junction.

London Underground has indicated that it plans to cease its passenger operation at Watford Met, but keep the track and platforms to use it for train storage.

The current costing of the rail link scheme have been drawn up on the basis that Watford Met is closed.

However the scheme is far from finalised and still has to go through an extensive consultation before final plans are drawn up.

Peter Jeffree, a councillor for Park ward in which the station is situated, said he supported the plan and hoped it would find support among rail users and residents.

He said: “The Croxley Rail Link is fantastic for Watford and I would not want anything to get in the way of that.

"But it seems fundamentally wrong to be closing a station when we should be encouraging people to use public transport.

“It seems like a brilliant idea and I hope it can gather a head of steam.”