St Albans Abbey railway station explained

St Albans Abbey
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:St Albans, St Albans
Country:England
Coordinates:51.7447°N -0.3426°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Manager:London Northwestern Railway
Platforms:1
Code:SAA
Classification:DfT category F1
Original:London and North Western Railway
Postgroup:LMS
Years:5 May 1858
Events:Opened as St Albans
Years1:2 June 1924
Events1:Renamed as St Albans Abbey
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

St Albans Abbey is one of two railway stations in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England; the other being the much larger and busier St Albans City. It is located about 0.6miles south of the city centre, in the St Stephen's area. It is the terminus of the Abbey Line from Watford Junction, with services operated by London Northwestern Railway.

The unstaffed station consists of a single open-air platform and a car park. Improvement works were carried out in 2008. It was the second UK railway station to receive a Harrington Hump to improve accessibility.[1]

History

St Albans Abbey was the first railway station in St Albans, built by the London and North Western Railway in 1858. It was, as it is now, a terminus; the company's plans to extend northwards to Luton and Dunstable never materialised. Although the Midland Railway opened their station (St Albans City) in 1868, it was not until 1924 that "Abbey" was added to the station's title to avoid confusion – by this stage, both stations were owned by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

Until November 2007 responsibility for the branch line was with Silverlink.

Restoration of the passing loop at Bricket Wood was being considered by the local authorities and Network Rail but was turned down in early 2008; this would have facilitated trains running every 30 minutes. The passing loop proposal was being reconsidered in 2020 as part of the UK government’s £500-million 'Restoring Your Railway Fund' to re-open many of the lines and stations that were closed in the 1960s.[2]

Branch to Hatfield

In 1865, the Great Northern Railway supported a group of local landowners to open a branch line from Hatfield to St Albans Abbey with an intermediate stop at St Albans London Road, and later at (1866), (1897), (1899), (1910) and (1942). This line closed to passengers in 1951.[3] Goods services were withdrawn from the end of 1968[4] and the track was lifted. In the mid-1980s, the route was opened as a cycle path, now the Alban Way. The remains of the branch can be seen to the left of the single platform when looking down the line in the direction of Watford Junction, including overgrown remnants of the second platform which would have served the branch.

Station masters

Accidents and incidents

Services

All services at St Albans Abbey are operated by London Northwestern Railway using EMUs.

The typical off-peak service on all days of the week is one train per hour to and from, increasing to a train approximately every 45 minutes in each direction during the peak hours.

Sources

Notes and References

  1. News: UK Rail Station Installs Harrington Hump. 5 December 2011. Railway-Technology.com. 14 August 2009.
  2. News: May . Adam . The Herts train line granted government funding for significant improvements . 9 November 2020 . . 26 May 2020 . en.
  3. Web site: Catford . Nick . St Albans London Road Station . Disused Stations . 30 December 2021 . 26 May 2017.
  4. Web site: The Alban Way . 28 February 2007 . St Albans Cycle Campaign . 21 July 2005 . 1 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070104220214/http://www.stacc.org.uk/albanway/AW%20Map%20v2.1.pdf . 4 January 2007 .
  5. News: . King's Langley Testimonial . Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser . England . 6 March 1875 . 7 March 2020 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  6. News: . Berkhampstead . Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette . England . 2 September 1890 . 7 March 2020 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  7. News: . Railway Changes . Herts Advertiser . England . 7 October 1893 . 7 March 2020 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  8. News: . A new Station Master . Herts Advertiser . England . 18 May 1895 . 7 March 2020 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  9. News: . Departure of Mr. W. Telfer . Herts Advertiser . England . 16 September 1905 . 7 March 2020 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  10. News: . Hertfordshire . Luton Times and Advertiser . England . 23 August 1912 . 7 March 2020 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  11. Web site: January 1988 to December 1988 . Network South East Railway Society . John P . McCrickard . 6 October 2016 . 26 June 2018.