The station was opened in 1912 by the London and North Western Railway as the terminus of the branch line of the Watford-Rickmansworth line. The original wooden station building was burned in the early hours of 10 March 1913 by a group of Suffragettes. A goods yard opened just to the east of the station shortly after, which by 1939 it was expanded and a loop constructed from the southern to the northern siding. British Rail and Network SouthEast continued to run services until 1996. Not far from the terminus, a depot was built to maintain BR trains, and for stabling 1938 tube stockBakerloo line trains. Seven years before closure, the original platform was removed due to safety concerns and a wooden platform was built on the other side of the track. Originally, there were some services direct to Broad Street and Euston. The Beeching cuts closed a curve, so a shuttle to Watford Junction remained. After attempts of reviving passenger usage on this branch line, services were reduced to a parliamentary train. In March 1996, the line and station were closed, supposedly temporarily; the station furniture, including the lighting and the wooden platform remained in situ. A section of the embankment just east of the Grand Union Canal bridge was removed to make way for a new Ascot Road to improve traffic flow to the nearby business park. It was considered uneconomical to bridge the road, and so the station remains breached from the rest of the line. Both the station and the line were permanently closed on 29 September 2003. In 2005, the wooden platform was in a serious state of decay and was removed. Nowadays, little of the station furniture remains and the station is almost completely overgrown. The original track is still in place, though all electrical equipment has been removed. The station gates have fallen into disrepair, and have been replaced with temporary security fencing. Steps up to platform level are still in-place with their handrails, alongside the faded Network Southeast-red lamp posts. Access to the viaduct across the Grand Union Canal is restricted with permanent fencing and locked gates.
