Primrose Hill railway station


Primrose Hill was a railway station in Primrose Hill, in the London Borough of Camden opened by the North London Railway as Hampstead Road in 1855. It was named Chalk Farm from 1862 until 1950, when it was given its final name. From the 1860s to 1915, it was linked with a formerly separate station opened by the London and North Western Railway in 1852. The station closed in 1992, and the platform buildings and canopies were removed in 2008.

History

The North London Railway opened the station as Hampstead Road on 5 May 1855 replacing an earlier station of the same name to the east. The station was renamed Chalk Farm on 1 December 1862, and resited to the west with four new platforms completed on 24 May 1872.
The London and North Western Railway opened its station as Camden on 1 May 1852. It replaced an earlier station of the same name to the south that had opened on 1 November 1851. The station was the first station out of Euston on the West Coast Main Line. In 1866, the LNWR's station's name was changed to Camden and it was resited to the north on 1 April 1872 to provide a better connection to the NLR's station. In 1876, the name was changed to Chalk Farm to match the NLR's station.
From the 1860s the two stations were linked with a footbridge across the tracks. The LNWR platforms closed on 10 May 1915 and the NLR platforms closed on 1 January 1917 for wartime economy measures. Two of the NLR station's platforms reopened on 10 July 1922.
On 25 September 1950, the station was renamed Primrose Hill.
After the station's reopening in 1922, the passenger service was usually provided during peak hours only running between Broad Street and Watford Junction. After Broad Street closed in 1986 the service ran from Liverpool Street. The station was scheduled to close when the Liverpool Street to Watford Junction service was discontinued, but ended early due to flooding. The last eastbound train called at Primrose Hill on 18 September 1992 and the last westbound train called on 22 September 1992. The area is served by the nearby station on the London Underground's Northern line.
The station building remains and is occupied by a business. It is on Regent's Park Road at one end of the pedestrianised bridge over the railway tracks. The platform canopies and the buildings supporting them were demolished by Network Rail in December 2008.