Girtford Halt railway station explained

Girtford Halt
Status:Disused
Borough:Sandy, Central Bedfordshire
Country:England
Grid Name:Grid reference
Platforms:1
Original:London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Years:1 January 1938[1]
Events:Opened as Girtford
Years1:July 1938
Events1:Renamed Girtford Halt
Years2:17 November 1940
Events2:Closed to passengers
Years3:1 November 1951[2]
Events3:Closed to goods

Girtford Halt was a short-lived railway halt on the Varsity Line which served the Girtford area of Sandy in Bedfordshire, England. It was opened by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1938, but closed to passenger traffic two years later in 1940. The line itself closed in 1968, and the site of the railway station has been obliterated by a roundabout.

History

In January 1938, the LMSR opened Girtford Halt at the point where the A1 crossed the Varsity Line, a little to the north of the small hamlet from which it took its name. A siding for vegetable traffic had existed on the station site since 1863 and this remained open. Passenger facilities consisted of little more than a raised concrete platform; access was via a field to the rear of the station; tickets had to be purchased from a nearby garage. The station was, however, little used[3] and passenger services were withdrawn in November 1940, the station remaining open for freight until 1951.[4]

Present day

No trace of the station remains and its site has been taken over by a roundabout on Georgetown Road, a new road skirting the London Road Industrial Estate.[5]

External links

52.1392°N -0.2998°W

Notes and References

  1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford,, p. 177.
  2. Book: Clinker, C.R. . Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977 . October 1978 . Avon-AngliA Publications & Services . Bristol . 0-905466-19-5 . 52.
  3. Book: Simpson, Bill . The Oxford to Cambridge Railway: Forty Years On 1960-2000 . Lamplight Publications . Witney, Oxford . 2000 . 120 . 1-899246-05-3 .
  4. Book: Davies, R. . Grant, M.D. . Forgotten Railways: Chilterns and Cotswolds . 1984 . David St John Thomas . Newton Abbot, Devon . 0-946537-07-0 . 120.
  5. http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/g/girtford_halt/index.shtml Subterranea Britannica, "Girtford Halt".