Northwood tube station

Northwood
Station entrance
Northwood Location of Northwood in Greater London
Location	Northwood
Local authority	London Borough of Hillingdon
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	6
London Underground annual entry and exit
2019	2.74 million[1]
2020	1.52 million[2]
2021	1.27 million[3]
2022	2.04 million[4]
2023	2.16 million[5]
Key dates
1 September 1887	Opened
14 November 1966	Goods yard closed[6]
Other information
External links	TfL station info page
Coordinates	51°36′39″N 0°25′28″W / 51.6109°N 0.4244°W / 51.6109; -0.4244
London transport portal

Northwood is a London Underground station. It is on the Metropolitan line between Moor Park and Northwood Hills stations, and is in Travelcard Zone 6. It is situated just off the main road through the town, Green Lane. The line serves as the sole continuous link between the town of Northwood and London, key for a region known as Metro-Land.

The station is located on a four-track section of the Metropolitan line. The two platforms are on the slow lines. There are no platforms on the fast lines, as fast services do not stop at this station.

History

The station was opened on 1 September 1887 on the Metropolitan Railway's extension from the previous terminus at Pinner, en route to Rickmansworth. Northwood was rebuilt in the 1960s so that platforms would be on the Watford slow lines rather than the Amersham fast lines.^[7] In the original Crossrail plans, Crossrail would have connected to Aylesbury via the fast lines from Harrow to Rickmansworth and Northwood would have been an interchange with two extra platforms (meaning that the fast platforms at Moor Park would have been demolished) built on the fast lines. However, plans for this were dropped during the late 1990s.

Northwood used to be a terminus for many Metropolitan trains, similar to the status of Harrow-on-the-Hill and Neasden, due to the placement of two sidings. Nowadays when there are engineering works or delays near Northwood, trains would turn around there. The goods depot has been demolished and the station car park has replaced it. The sidings were also a role to load A60/A62 Stock and C69/C77 Stock trains onto lorries, where they went to scrap.^[8][9]

1945 accident

On 31 December 1945, two Metropolitan line trains collided in fog between Northwood and Northwood Hills. The driver of the second train had passed a danger signal under the "Stop and Proceed" rule but did not see the preceding train soon enough to stop; the Inspecting Officer concluded that he was travelling too fast, though at reduced speed. Two coaches of the front train were partly telescoped. A fire was started by electrical arcing; traction current could not be cut off for 12 minutes as short-circuiting bars and tunnel wires were not available on open-air trains and sections. 3 people trapped in the damaged compartments were killed due to smoke inhalation.^[10]

Services

Northwood station is on the main branch of the Metropolitan line between Moor Park to the north and Northwood Hills to the south. In the northbound direction, the station is served by trains to Watford (4tph), Amersham (2tph) and Chesham (2tph) trains (at peak times, 'fast' trains do not stop at stations between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Moor Park). In the southbound direction, off-peak services generally run 4tph to Baker Street and 4tph to Aldgate.

Connections

London Buses routes 282, 331, H11 and non-TFL LSP route 508 serve the station.

References

1. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
2. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2020. Transport for London. 16 April 2021. Archived from the original on 11 April 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
3. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Archived from the original on 6 April 2025. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
4. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Archived from the original on 19 March 2025. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
5. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2023. Transport for London. 8 August 2024. Archived from the original on 31 May 2025. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
6. Hardy, Brian, ed. (March 2011). "How it used to be – freight on The Underground 50 years ago". Underground News (591). London Underground Railway Society: 175–183. ISSN 0306-8617.
7. "Refine your search".
8. "A60 5014 + A62 5151 Arriving at Northwood Siding for the Road trip to the scrapyard". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021.
9. "Underground C Stock Removal to Northwood for Scrap". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021.
10. "Report on the Collision which occurred on the 31st December 1945, at Northwood on the Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Railway" (PDF). The Railways Archive. Ministry of Transport. 1946. Retrieved 2 October 2010.

Gallery

• 
  Northbound platform looking north
• 
  Northbound platform looking south
• 
  Station roundel

External links

Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Moor Park towards Amersham, Chesham or Watford		Metropolitan line		Northwood Hills towards Baker Street or Aldgate