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Potters Bar & South Mimms Railway Station

At the time of railway construction Potters Bar was little more than a village centred on the northern end of the High Street. It is strange then, that despite the villages location, the railway station was built at Darkes Lane - a quiet country lane a mile away from Potters Bar and further still from South Mimms. The name of the railway station was 'Potters Bar & South Mimms', something to justify its location perhaps as its site would be in a central position to both of the villages? The location of the new station just went to show how little thought went into what must have been considered then to be a quiet rural station which would attract few customers from the local community.

The Great Northern Railway, when constructed was aimed at long distance travel for both goods and passengers. You can understand then, why Potters Bar was not thought of as a major stop along the route and why little thought would have been given to its station location.

Train approaches Potters Bar
Train approaching Potters Bar
It may be that this station just north of London was thought more of as a staging post for goods to be collected and transported to the City by the Great North Road however this is just my own personal opinion.

Railway Station, Potters Bar
Railway Station circa 1950		 The original railway station, built at the start of the railway line in 1850 was of course very different to the one we see today. In fact the present day railway station is the third station to have been built on that site. The original station survived until 1954
with very few changes, in fact it was still lit by gas upon demolition! The station only had 2 lines running through it up until 1954 and work only started to construct an additional 2 lines when the new station was started. It had two platforms and up until around 1872 each platform had to be accessed by separate entrances, it was not until circa 1872 when an overbridge was built that passengers could enter using the one entrance. An entrance still existed south of the bridge for ticket holders to access the north (down) platform.

In 1955 a new station was built to meet the demands of an up and coming town. Potters Bar was growing in size and so the origional station must have long been inadequate for the town. A house for the station master and signal box was built, these buildings were demolished in

Railway Ticket, Potters Bar & South Mimms Railway Station
the 1980's to make way for the present day car park. With the new station also came a new bridge over Darkes Lane, the dip in the road was made to increase maximum head room under the bridge. A car park for 20 cars was built in the forecourt (now the bus and taxi rank). A car park of this size was more than adequate for that time, it would have little use now!

Further topics on the Great Northern Railway
Potters Bar & South Mimms Railway Station
Rail Crashes