Brent Cross West railway station

Brent Cross West is a railway station on the Thameslink route and on the Midland Main Line. The station serves Brent Cross and the northern parts of Cricklewood and Dollis Hill areas of north London. The station is part of the Brent Cross Cricklewood development, which also sees an investment to Cricklewood station further down the line.^[6][7][8] The station was opened on 10 December 2023.^[9]

Brent Cross West
The western entrance to the station, seen a day after opening
Brent Cross West Location of Brent Cross West in Greater London
Location	Brent Cross, London, England
Managed by	Thameslink
Owner	Network Rail
Station code(s)	BCZ[1]
Number of platforms	4[2]
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	3
National Rail annual entry and exit
2023–24	0.140 million[3]
Key dates
Opened	10 December 2023
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.5687°N 0.2269°W / 51.5687; -0.2269
London transport portal

History

Brent Cross Cricklewood development

Construction is underway for Brent Cross Cricklewood, a 14,000,000 square feet (1.3 km²) development of a new town centre in Brent Cross. The plan includes the new station, expanding jobs by around 27,000, building 7,500 homes, expanding Brent Cross Shopping Centre, a new hotel, cinema, a new bus station, and new roads.^[10]

Cricklewood station

The developers of the Brent Cross Cricklewood development have included in their project a plan to upgrade facilities at Cricklewood railway station which lies 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) south of the Brent Cross station site.^[6] The platforms at Cricklewood cannot accommodate longer 12-car trains, but the new Brent Cross platforms can accommodate the longer trains.^[11] Rumours that Cricklewood station would close when the new station opened were refuted by the development company.^[12]

Construction

Brent Cross West station under construction in June 2022

On 23 December 2019, VolkerFitzpatrick signed a contract with Barnet Council to design and build the station.^[13] Planning permission was granted by Barnet London Borough Council in May 2020. Work to clear the site began in June 2020 and construction of the foundations began in November 2020.^[14]

On 22 June 2023, it was announced that the station had passed essential platform tests and that an opening date was being planned for the following Autumn.^[15]

On 10 November 2023, it was announced that the station would be opening to passenger service on 10 December 2023.^[16]

Location

The station is on the former site of the Cricklewood TMD (traction maintenance depot) which was used by East Midlands Railway and Thameslink, between existing Cricklewood and Hendon stations. The depot was moved slightly south onto a bigger site.^[17]

Following the expansion of the Thameslink network under the Thameslink Programme, longer 12-carriage trains from south of the River Thames can now operate on the northern section, and Brent Cross station was constructed with longer platforms that can accommodate the longer train formations.^[18]

Further plans

v t e Thameslink services
Past, present and future
Legend
East Coast Main Line to Edinburgh and Leeds Birmingham to Peterborough Line Fen line to King's Lynn Peterborough Cambridge North Cambridge Ely–Peterborough line West Anglia Main Line to London Liverpool Street Nene Valley Heritage Railway M11 motorway Huntingdon A10 road St. Neots Cambridgeshire Hertfordshire Cambridgeshire Bedfordshire Royston Sandy Baldock Biggleswade A1(M) motorway Arlesey Letchworth Garden City Bedfordshire Hertfordshire Midland Main Line to Sheffield Hitchin Bedford Stevenage Hertford Loop Line Marston Vale line to Bletchley Knebworth Wixams Welwyn North Tunnel Ampthill Tunnel 715 yd (654 m) Welwyn South Tunnel Flitwick Welwyn North Harlington Welwyn Garden City Leagrave Hatfield Luton Welham Green Luton Airport Parkway Brookmans Park Bedfordshire Hertfordshire Potters Bar Harpenden Potters Bar Tunnel under M25 motorway St Albans City Hertfordshire Greater London M25 motorway Hadley Wood North Tunnel Radlett Hadley Wood Elstree & Borehamwood Hadley Wood South Tunnel Elstree Tunnel 1,072 yd (980 m) New Barnet Hertfordshire Greater London Oakleigh Park M1 motorway Barnet Tunnel Mill Hill Broadway New Southgate Hendon Wood Green Tunnel Brent Cross West Hertford Loop Line Dudding Hill Freight Line Alexandra Palace Cricklewood Hornsey West Hampstead Thameslink Harringay Belsize Tunnel 1,771 yd (1,619 m) Gospel Oak to Barking line Lismore Circus Tunnel 88 yd (80 m) to Gospel Oak to Barking line Finsbury Park Kentish Town Northern City Line to Moorgate Camden Road Tunnel 308 yd (282 m) Copenhagen Tunnel North London line North London line High Speed 1 to Paris and Brussels Midland Main Line East Coast Main Line Regent's Canal Gasworks Tunnel Kings Cross Tunnel 1,704 yd (1,558 m) Canal Tunnels London St Pancras London King's Cross King's Cross Thameslink Clerkenwell Tunnel No 1 Clerkenwell Tunnel No 2 Clerkenwell Tunnel No 3 overhead AC only dual electrification Farringdon link lifted Snow Hill Tunnel 770 yd (700 m) Smithfield Tunnel 292 yd (267 m) City Thameslink Barbican dual electrification third rail DC only Barbican Tunnel 690 yd (630 m) Holborn Viaduct Moorgate London Blackfriars River Thames Blackfriars Railway Bridge Elephant & Castle London Bridge Greenwich line to Rainham Deptford Greenwich Greenwich College Tunnel 450 yd (410 m) Maze Hill Westcombe Park North Kent Line to South Eastern Main Line Charlton Woolwich Arsenal Plumstead Abbey Wood Slade Green Bexleyheath Line River Cray Greater London Kent Dartford Loop Line Dartford River Darent A282 road Stone Crossing Greenhithe Greenhithe Tunnel 253 yd (231 m) Swanscombe High Speed 1 to St Pancras International Northfleet High Speed 1 to Channel Tunnel Gravesend West Line Gravesend Higham Higham and Strood Tunnels 3,931 yd (3,595 m) Strood Chatham Main Line to London Victoria Medway Valley Line to Maidstone West River Medway Rochester Fort Pitt tunnel 428 yd (391 m) Chatham Chatham tunnel 297 yd (272 m) Gillingham tunnel 897 yd (820 m) Gillingham Rainham Chatham Main Line to Dover & Ramsgate Loughborough Junction Denmark Hill Herne Hill Peckham Rye Tulse Hill Nunhead Crystal Palace line limited service Crofton Park Norwood Junction Catford Leigham Tunnel 302 yd (276 m) Bellingham Streatham Tunnel 220 yd (200 m) Beckenham Hill Streatham Ravensbourne limited service Shortlands Tooting Mitcham Eastfields Haydons Road Mitcham Junction Wimbledon Hackbridge Wimbledon Chase Carshalton South Merton Sutton Morden South West Sutton St Helier Sutton Common East Croydon Greater London Surrey Bromley South Bickley Merstham tunnel 1,830 yd (1,670 m) South Eastern Main Line to London Bridge Quarry tunnel 2,113 yd (1,932 m) M25 motorway Petts Wood Redhill │ Redhill Tunnel 502 yd (459 m) Orpington South Eastern Main Line to Sevenoaks Surrey West Sussex St Mary Cray Gatwick Airport Greater London Kent Three Bridges Swanley Balcombe tunnel 1,168 yd (1,068 m) Chatham Main Line to Rochester Balcombe M25 motorway Haywards Heath Eynsford Tunnel 828 yd (757 m) Haywards Heath Tunnel 249 yd (228 m) Eynsford Wivelsfield Shoreham Burgess Hill Otford Hassocks Maidstone line to Ashford International Clayton Tunnel 2,259 yd (2,066 m) Bat & Ball West Sussex East Sussex South Eastern Main Line to Orpington Patcham Tunnel 488 yd (446 m) Preston Park Sevenoaks West Coastway line to Littlehampton South Eastern Main Line to Dover Brighton
indicates limited service

v t e West London Orbital
Legend
Proposed route
Midland Main Line to Bedford Hendon A406 North Circular Brent Cross West Dudding Hill Line (currently freight only) Cricklewood West Hampstead Thameslink Midland Main Line to St Pancras Dudding Hill closed 1902 Neasden Jubilee line Metropolitan line Chiltern Main Line   Harlesden { Lioness & Bakerloo lines West Coast Main Line Grand Union Canal Mildmay Line to Willesden Junction Old Oak Common Lane GWML Central line Acton Central South Acton Mildmay Line to Richmond District line Piccadilly line A406 North Circular M4 motorway Hounslow Loop Line to Waterloo via Chiswick Lionel Road proposed Hounslow Loop Line to Waterloo via Kew Bridge Brentford Syon Lane Isleworth Hounslow Hounslow Loop Line & Chertsey branch line

In 2017 a proposal to extend the London Overground network to Hendon via Brent Cross West was announced by the London Assembly and Transport for London.^[19] The scheme, known as the West London Orbital envisages re-opening the Dudding Hill Line to passenger services and running trains from West Hampstead Thameslink and Hendon to Hounslow via the planned Old Oak Common Lane station. The plans are currently at public consultation stage with TfL,^[20] although enabling works to make the station compatible with a future upgrade have been delayed.^[21]

An earlier proposal to construct a light rail system serving Brent Cross, Harlesden and Brent Cross tube station was put forward in 2010, but the scheme, known as the North and West London Light Railway, did not go ahead.^[10]

Services

All services at Brent Cross West are operated by Thameslink using Class 700 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[22]

• 4 tph to St Albans City (all stations)
• 2 tph to Luton (all stations except Hendon)
• 2 tph to Rainham via Dartford
• 4 tph to Sutton (2 of these run via Mitcham Junction and 2 run via Wimbledon)

During the peak hours, the station is served by additional services between Luton and Orpington via Catford, as well as some late evening services to and from Bedford.

The station is also served by a night service between Bedford and Three Bridges on Sunday to Friday nights.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Hendon		Thameslink Thameslink		Cricklewood

Connections

London Buses routes 189 and 316 serve the station.^[23]

Gallery

• 
  Eastern entrance
• 
  Footbridge
• 
  Platform 1
• 
  Platform 2
• 
  Western entrance

References

1. "Brent Cross West Station | National Rail". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
2. "The New Station". Transforming Brent Cross Cricklewood. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
3. "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
4. "Brent Cross West Station | National Rail". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
5. "Brent Cross West Station | National Rail". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
6. Brent Cross Cricklewood: The benefits Archived 8 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 20 December 2010
7. "Brent Cross West". Barnet Council. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
8. Ahdash, Hajer (10 November 2023). "Brent Cross West opening date announced". Transforming Brent Cross Cricklewood. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
9. Floyd, David (11 December 2023). "Opening of Brent Cross West Station hailed as "major milestone" for area". Barnet Post. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
10. "Brent Cross: Better Transport" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2010.
11. "Thameslink Programme - FAQ". Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
12. Brent Cross Cricklewood: Myths about the project Archived 8 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 20 December 2010
13. "Housing and Growth Committee Brent Cross Cricklewood Update Report" (PDF). 27 January 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
14. "Foundations milestone at new Brent Cross railway station". 10 November 2020.
15. Ahdash, Hajer (22 June 2023). "Next Stop: Brent Cross West". Transforming Brent Cross Cricklewood. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
16. Ahdash, Hajer (10 November 2023). "Brent Cross West opening date announced". Transforming Brent Cross Cricklewood. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
17. Brent Cross Crickelwood: Transport Archived 29 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 20 December 2010
18. "Thameslink Programme: FAQs - Why aren't Kentish Town and Cricklewood platforms being extended?". Archived from the original on 6 February 2009.
19. "Mayor's Transport Strategy 2018". London City Hall. 5 January 2015. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
20. "West London Orbital". Transport for London. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
21. "Setback for West London Orbital railway plans". ianVisits. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
22. Table 52 National Rail timetable, December 2023
23. "Brent Cross West Station". TfL. Retrieved 11 December 2023.

External links

• Train times and station information for Brent Cross West railway station from National Rail
• "Brent Cross London: The Wider Masterplan". brentcrosslondon.co.uk. Hammerson plc/Aberdeen Standard Investments. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
• "Take a preview of Brent Cross West station ahead of Sunday’s opening", 8 December 2023