Potters Bar railway station serves the town of Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, England. It is located on the Great Northern Route 12 mi north of London King's Cross 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.

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 James 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

The station has a ticket office which is staffed for most of the day. The station is on two levels. On the lower level are ticket machines in the booking hall and near the entrance to the car park, a photo booth, cash machine, two ticket counters and a cafe. Ramped access to the platforms is controlled by automatic ticket barriers. On the upper level, canopies run most of the length of both platforms. Each island platform has a help-point. Platforms 1 & 2 have toilets refreshment kiosk, and customer information office. Platforms 3 & 4 are home to staff facilities, including a mess room and station manager's office. Platforms 2 & 3 are used by express services, and platforms 1 & 4 on the slow lines are used by local services.

Services

Current services

Off-peak, all services at Potters Bar are operated by Great Northern using and EMUs. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: Additional services, including a number of Thameslink operated services to and from Sevenoaks via Catford call at the station during the peak hours.

Thameslink Programme

In September 2016, Govia Thameslink Railway released a consultation for their May 2018 timetables, following the completion of the Thameslink Programme. It was proposed that the local Great Northern services between Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City would be increased from 3 to 4 tph with the Cambridge to London King's Cross services transferred to Thameslink and extended to Maidstone East via London Bridge. The peak hour Welwyn Garden City to London King's Cross were also to be transferred to Thameslink and extended to Sevenoaks via Catford. In May 2018, the local Great Northern services were increased to 4 tph as planned, although they have subsequently been reduced to 2 tph due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cambridge to London service was also transferred to Thameslink, but were not extended to Maidstone East as planned. The service was transferred back to Great Northern in May 2023. The Welwyn Garden City to London services were transferred to Thameslink in May 2018 as planned and were subsequently extended to Sevenoaks in May 2022.

Connections

The station is served by London Buses routes 298 and 313, Metroline routes 242 and PB1, Sullivan Buses routes 84 and 398 and Uno route 610.

Accidents and incidents

The station has been the site of two major train crashes, one in 1946 and one in 2002.

Oyster card ticketing

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. In 2016, 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. The station came under Transport for London's Oyster card fare system during summer 2019.