St Albans Abbey railway station

St Albans Abbey
Location
Place	St Albans
Local authority	St Albans
Operations
Station code	SAA
Managed by	London Midland
Platforms in use	1
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	0.175 million
2005/06 *	0.187 million
2006/07 *	0.207 million
2007/08 *	0.222 million
History
Original company	London and North Western Railway[1]
Post-grouping	LMS
5 May 1858	Opened as St Albans[1]
2 June 1924	Renamed as St Albans Abbey[1]
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at St Albans Abbey from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.
UK Railways Portal

v • d • e Railways around St. Albans
Legend  Midland Main Line  St Albans City St Albans Abbey St Albans London Road Park Street  Abbey Line  Sanders Siding Salvation Army Halt Hertfordshire County Mental Hospital Hill End  Hatfield to St Albans Line   Midland Main Line

St Albans Abbey railway station serves the city of St Albans, in Hertfordshire, England, being situated about 1 km south of the city centre in the St Stephen's area of the city. It is the terminus of the Abbey Line from Watford Junction, which is part of the London Midland franchise. It is one of two stations in St Albans, the other being the much larger and busier St Albans City station.

The unstaffed station consists of a single open-air platform and a car park. Improvement works were carried at the station in 2008.

History

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

Branch to Hatfield

In 1865, the Great Northern Railway opened a branch line between St Albans and Hatfield which also terminated at St Albans Abbey with an intermediate stop at St Albans (London Road), and later at Smallford (1866), Salvation Army Halt (1897, originally Sanders Siding), Hill End (1899), Nast Hyde Halt (1910) and Lemsford Road Halt (1942). This branch line closed to passengers in 1951.^[2] Freight transport finally stopped in 1969^[3] and the track was removed. In the mid 1980s, the route was opened as a cycle path, now known as 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.

Services

Trains operate to Watford Junction every 45 minutes during Monday to Saturday daytimes, and every 60 minutes during weekday evenings and on Sundays. These services are all operated by London Midland.

Future

In November 2007 responsibility for the branch line, including St Albans Abbey, passed from Silverlink trains to Govia London Midland trains. Installation of Oyster Card readers on the stations along the branch is a possibility, although there are other ticketing options too.

Restoration of the old passing loop at Bricket Wood was being considered by the local authorities and Network Rail but was turned down in early 2008; if implemented, this would have facilitated trains running every 30 minutes, instead of the current 45-minute service.

See also

• List of rail trails

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Butt (1995), page 202
2. ^ Nick Catford (2006-03-23). "Subterranea Britannica: SB-Sites: St. Albans London Road". http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/s/st_albans_london_road/index.shtml. Retrieved 2007-02-28. 
3. ^ "The Alban Way" (PDF). St Albans Cycle Campaign. 2005-07-21. p. 1. http://www.stacc.org.uk/albanway/AW%20Map%20v2.1.pdf. Retrieved 2007-02-28. 

Sources

• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. 
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137. 
• Abbeyline.org.uk
• The Alban Way

External links

• Train times and station information for St Albans Abbey railway station from National Rail

Coordinates: 51°44′41″N 0°20′33″W / 51.74472°N 0.3425°W / 51.74472; -0.3425