Letchworth Garden City railway station, October 2020

Letchworth Garden City station serves the town of Letchworth in

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. The station is on the Cambridge Line north of

London King's Cross King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the busiest stations in the United Kin ...

, and is a stop for services between King's Cross and Cambridge. Trains which serve the station are operated by

Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great ...

History

The first station known as ''Letchworth Garden City'' was opened in 1903, with a restricted service; it gained a full passenger service on 15 April 1905. On 18 May 1913, this station was replaced by a new station on a different site. The new station was built in 1912, in the

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

style, and has since been Grade II

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

. The station was originally intended to have two island platforms, giving a total of four platforms. However, since its opening only two platforms have been used. It was known from October 1937 as ''Letchworth'', until it regained its current name on 11 June 1999 following a refurbishment scheme. Electric operation at the station was inaugurated in 1978, as part of the Kings Cross Outer Suburban scheme, though the wires initially ended at Royston. Through electric services to Cambridge began in May 1988. The platforms were extended initially for eight carriages, and further extended in December 2011 for 12-carriage trains. Passenger lifts were installed in two new towers in March 2014. To the north of the station are the sidings where trains starting or terminating at Letchworth are cleaned and stabled. Ticket barriers are in operation. The station was used as a filming location for the 2013 film The World's End; it was converted into a pub named "The Hole in the Wall".

Services

Off-peak, all services at Letchworth Garden City are operated by

Thameslink Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying ...

using

EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the ...

. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 2 tph to (stopping) * 2 tph to via and (semi-fast) * 4 tph to (2 of these runs non-stop from and 2 call at all stations) During the peak hours, the station is served by an additional half-hourly service between London King's Cross and , with an hourly service continuing to . These services run non-stop to and from London King's Cross and are operated using

using EMUs. On weekends, one of the hourly services between London and Cambridge terminates at Royston. On Sundays, the service between Brighton and Cambridge is reduced to hourly.

In popular culture

''Letchworth Station'' (Oil on canvas, 1911) by Spencer Gore is notable as an early depiction of rail commuters. From the collection of J. Peter W. Cochrane.J.B. Priestley, The Edwardians (1970), p 208. SBN 434 60332 5.

References

External links

{{Listed buildings in Hertfordshire Grade II listed buildings in Hertfordshire Railway stations in Hertfordshire DfT Category D stations Former Great Northern Railway stations Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway Grade II listed railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1903 Letchworth Buildings and structures in Letchworth