Station code PBR DfT category C2 Number of platforms 4 | Grid reference TL249014 Managed by Great Northern 2011/12 1.646 million | |
 | ||
Similar Welwyn Garden City railw, Welwyn North railway st, Hadley Wood railway st, Knebworth railway station, New Barnet railway st | ||
Potters Bar railway station serves the town of Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, England. It is located on the Great Northern Route between London Kings Cross and Hatfield on the East Coast Main Line. Potters Bar station is the highest on the East Coast Main Line between (London King's Cross) and York.
Contents
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.
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.
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".
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.
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, 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
Saturdays
Sundays
Bus services
London bus routes 298, 313, school routes 626, 692, 699 and other routes, along with 84 and 84A commercially from Metroline
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.
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. More recently Transport for London has 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.