Potters Bar railway station

Potters Bar National Rail
The main entrance of the station
Location
Place Potters Bar
Local authority Borough of Hertsmere
Coordinates 51°41′49″N 0°11′38″W / 51.697°N 0.194°W / 51.697; -0.194Coordinates: 51°41′49″N 0°11′38″W / 51.697°N 0.194°W / 51.697; -0.194
Grid reference TL249014
Operations
Station code PBR
Managed by Great Northern
Number of platforms 4
DfT category C2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13 Increase 1.726 million
2013/14 Increase 1.782 million
2014/15 Increase 1.852 million
2015/16 Increase 1.946 million
2016/17 Increase 1.984 million
History
Key dates Opened 7 August 1850 (7 August 1850)
Original company Great Northern Railway
Pre-grouping Great Northern Railway
Post-grouping London and North Eastern Railway
7 August 1850 Opened as Potter's Bar
1 May 1923 Renamed Potter's Bar and South Mimms
3 May 1971 Renamed Potter's Bar
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Potters Bar from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Potters Bar railway station serves the town of Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, England. It is located on the Great Northern Route 12 miles 57 chains (20.5 km) north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line.[1][2] Potters Bar station is the highest on the East Coast Main Line between London King's Cross and York. The station is currently under renovation.

History

The first section of the Great Northern Railway (GNR) - that from Louth to a junction with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway at Grimsby - opened on 1 March 1848, but the southern section of the main line, between Maiden Lane and Peterborough, was not opened until August 1850. Potter's Bar was one of the original stations, opening with the line on 7 August 1850.[3][4][5]

On 1 May 1923, the station was renamed Potter's Bar and South Mimms; on 3 May 1971 it reverted to its original name of Potter's Bar.[5]

The current station building, in a "post modern" style, is the third on this site. It replaced a 1955 structure designed by J Wyatt of the Eastern Region Architect's Department (Chief Architect H Powell). Pevsner described the 1955 station as "The first of the Eastern Region's good modern stations, the style much lighter in touch than in the stations of the 1960s (cf Broxbourne). Neat brick clerestory-lit booking hall".[6]

The platform canopies were also constructed in 1955, using what was then an innovative technique of pre-stressed concrete. As the concrete set it unexpectedly curved up at either end of the long, thin canopies, unintentionally creating the "willow" look.[7]

Facilities

Potters Bar is a modern railway station spread across two floors.

On the lower floor, there are four ticket machines, located in the main booking hall and near to the entrance to the car park, a photo booth, cash machine, two ticket counters and a newsagency. Access to the platforms is controlled by a series of automatic ticket gates. Access is in the form of a ramp, meaning that wheelchair users can easily access the platforms.

On the upper floor, where the platforms are located, there are canopies running most of the length of both platforms. Each island platform has a help-point. Platforms 1&2 have both male and female toilets, as well as a cafe,[8] customer information office and a disabled access toilet. Platforms 3&4 are home to staff accommodation, including a mess room and station management office.

The station has four platforms, platforms 2 & 3 are the fast-line platforms which are used by fast line services, whilst platforms 1 & 4 are the slow-line platforms which are used by stopping services.

Services

Mondays-Fridays[9]

Saturdays

  • 2 tph to London King's Cross, calling only at Finsbury Park.
  • 2 tph all stations to Moorgate
  • 2 tph to Welwyn Garden City as above
  • 1 tph to Cambridge as above
  • 1 tph to Peterborough as above

Sundays

  • 1 tph to London King's Cross, calling only at Finsbury Park.
  • 2 tph all stations to Moorgate
  • 2 tph to Welwyn Garden City as above
  • 1 tph to Cambridge as above

Bus services

London bus routes 298, 313, school routes 626, 692, 699 and other routes, as well as non TFL routes 610, 611, 398, along with 84 and 84A commercially from Metroline serve the station.


Proposed 2018 train timetable

Govia Thameslink Railway issued a timetable consultation document in September 2016[11], describing the proposed 2018 timetables.

When this is implemented the number of peak time trains stopping at Potters Bar Station will roughly double to eight trains per hour in each direction.

The Thameslink routes will call at London St Pancras International rather than London Kings Cross and will continue through central London and on to Brighton or Sevenoaks.

Southbound timetableFrequencyRoute
Thameslink Mainline Route TL72 trains per hour / every 30 minutesFast - direct to Finsbury Park
Thameslink Metro Route TL82 trains per hour / every 30 minutesSemi-fast
Great Northern Metro Route GN54 trains per hour / every 15 minutesStopping service to Moorgate
Total8 trains per hour
Northbound timetableFrequencyRoute
Thameslink Mainline Route TL72 trains per hour / every 30 minutesStopping service to Cambridge
Thameslink Metro Route TL82 trains per hour / every 30 minutesSemi-fast to Welwyn Garden City
Great Northern Metro Route GN54 trains per hour / every 15 minutesStopping service Welwyn Garden City
Total8 trains per hour


Potters Bar rail crashes

Potters Bar has been the site of two major train crashes. On 10 February 1946 a three-train crash resulted in 2 fatalities and 17 people were hospitalised. The derailment of a fast train on 10 May 2002 resulted in 7 fatalities and 76 injured.

Ticket office opening times and station staffing hours

Below are the current opening and staffing times for Potters Bar, as of 2010.[12]

Ticket Office Hours
DayOpensCloses
Monday to Friday06:1520:10
Saturday07:1519:10
Sunday08:1519:30
Station Staffing Hours
DayFromUntil
Monday to Friday06:0020:30
Saturday07:0019:30
Sunday08:0019:50

Oyster card ticketing

Oyster cards are currently not accepted on journeys to Potters Bar. The train operating company, Govia, agreed to extend London Zonal Fares to include Potters Bar by September 2015 when they won the Great Northern franchise.[13] More recently Transport for London indicated that Welwyn Garden City and Potters Bar are two of the top four priority stations for the extension of London Zonal Fares and that introduction of the required software is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.[14]

Route

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Great Northern
Great Northern

References

  1. ↑ Baker, S.K. (April 2007) [1977]. Rail Atlas Great Britain & Ireland (11th ed.). Hersham: Oxford Publishing Co. p. 25, section A1. ISBN 978-0-86093-602-2. 0704/K.
  2. ↑ Padgett, David (October 2016) [1988]. Brailsford, Martyn, ed. Railway Track Diagrams 2: Eastern (4th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. map 15A. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
  3. ↑ Gordon, W.J. (1989) [1910]. Our Home Railways. London: Bracken Books. volume II, p. 44. ISBN 1-85170-314-4.
  4. ↑ Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. p. 135. CN 8983.
  5. 1 2 Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 190. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  6. ↑ Pevsner, Mikolaus (1977). The Buildings of England: Hertfordshire. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. p. 272. ISBN 0-300-09611-9.
  7. ↑ Coster, Peter J (2010). The Book of the Great Northern: the Main Line: An Engineering Commentary: Part One: King's Cross to Welwyn Garden City. Clophill, England: Irwell Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-1-906919-30-6.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
  9. ↑ Table 24 & 25 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  10. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
  11. ↑ http://www.southernrailway.com/download/42915.6/timetable-consultation/
  12. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 July 2010. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
  13. ↑ https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/525766/tsgn-franchise-agreement.pdf
  14. ↑ http://www.whtimes.co.uk/motoring/oyster_card_coming_to_welwyn_garden_city_hatfield_and_potters_bar_1_4614704
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