The Dunstable Branch Lines were railway

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

s that joined the English town of Dunstable to the main lines at

Leighton Buzzard Leighton Buzzard ( ) is a market town in Bedfordshire, England, in the southwest of the county and close to the Buckinghamshire border. It lies between Aylesbury, Tring, Luton/ Dunstable and Milton Keynes, near the Chiltern Hills. It is nor ...

and

Welwyn Welwyn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The parish also includes the nearby villages and settlements of Digswell, Mardley Heath and Oaklands. The village is sometimes referred to as Old Welwyn or Welwyn Village, to ...

. The two lines were under separate ownership and joined just east of the Dunstable North station. The line from Leighton Buzzard to Dunstable North was authorised by the ( 8 & 9 Vict. c. xxxvii), and built by the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

. This opened in 1848. The Luton, Dunstable and Welwyn Junction Railway planned a connecting line from the Great Northern Railway at Welwyn. The line between Dunstable and

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

opened in 1858. The company then amalgamated with the Hertford and Welwyn Junction Railway to form the Hertford, Luton and Dunstable Railway. The track to Welwyn was completed in 1860 and the line was taken over by the Great Northern in the following year. It became part of the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...

from 1923 until

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

was formed in 1948. Passenger services were withdrawn in 1965 under the Beeching Axe, and the track between Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard was removed. The line between Dunstable and the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line (MML), sometimes also spelt Midland Mainline, is a major Rail transport in Great Britain, railway line from London to Sheffield in Yorkshire via the East Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras railway ...

at Luton remained open for freight until 1990. Dunstable is now one of the largest towns in the South East without a railway connection.

Stations

Leighton Buzzard

Stanbridgeford

Stanbridgeford railway station () was close to the village of Stanbridge.

Dunstable North

Dunstable North railway station was originally the terminus of the line from Leighton Buzzard.

Dunstable Town

Dunstable Town railway station () (originally Dunstable Church Street) was the terminus station on the spur off the Great Northern Railway from Hatfield. It served the town of Dunstable until closure in 1965. The station was immortalised in 1964 in the song " Slow Train" by

Flanders and Swann Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo and musicians. Michael Flanders (1922–1975) was a lyricist, actor, and singer. He collaborated with Donald Swann (1923–1994), a composer and pianist, in writing and performing comedy music, comic ...

. The station was on Station Road.

Luton Bute Street

Luton Bute Street railway station () was the first to be built in Luton. It was opened in 1858. It was valuable to Luton people not only for passengers but also facilitating the London market for the town's trade in plaited straw goods. The station closed in 1965.

Luton Hoo

Luton Hoo railway station () was opened in 1860 and originally called New Mill End. The name changed to Luton Hoo in 1891 and the station closed in 1965. It served

Luton Hoo Luton Hoo is an English country house and estate near Luton in Bedfordshire and Harpenden in Hertfordshire. Most of the estate lies within the civil parish of Hyde, Bedfordshire. The Saxon word Hoo means the spur of a hill, and is more comm ...

house and the village of New Mill End. It was close to the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

station of Chiltern Green and the GNR and Midland lines took a parallel course from Luton. The station building and platform still exist, sited next to a

sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewerage, sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged fro ...

works.

Harpenden East

Harpenden East () was one of two stations serving the town of

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,674 in the 2021 census, while the population of the civil parish was 31,128. Harpe ...

, the other station which remains open being Harpenden Central. Originally named Harpenden, the East suffix was added in 1950 to distinguish it from the

station. The line was single track with a crossing loop. The station opened in 1860 and closed in 1965. Since closure it has been demolished and housing has been built both on the site of the station and on the line in the immediate area.

Wheathampstead

Wheathampstead railway station () served Wheathampstead.

Ayot

Ayot railway station () served the village of Ayot St Peter. It opened as Ayott St Peters on 2 July 1877, and was named Ayott from 1 April 1878 until October 1878. The station was destroyed by fire in 1948 and never rebuilt.Countryside Management Service
A Circular Ride from Welwyn
. It closed on 26 July 1948.

Welwyn Junction

Trains initially ran to temporary wooden platforms at Welwyn (on the site of the present Welwyn Garden City railway station). From 1 September 1860 trains ran on to Hatfield, and the temporary platforms were closed. The present station was opened in 1926.

Passenger services

The last passenger train, packed with enthusiasts, was hauled by Brush Type 2 D5589 on 24 April 1965.

Freight services

A goods service serving the Bedford Trucks factory in Dunstable continued until well into the 1980s.

Subsequent use of the line

Within Leighton Buzzard, the line is now used as a footpath and cycleway which crosses the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...

and

River Ouzel The River Ouzel , also known as the River Lovat, is a river in England, and a tributary of the River Great Ouse. It rises in the Chiltern Hills and flows north to join the Ouse at Newport Pagnell. It is usually called the ''River Ouzel'', e ...

. Between Leighton Buzzard and Stanbridgeford, it was used to build part of the A505 Leighton-Linslade Southern Bypass.

National Cycle Route 6 Route Parts of the route are currently incomplete and some sections follow other routes. London to Milton Keynes The proposed route is to begin in central London, running from via Paddington railway station to the Grand Union Canal. The ...

follows the line between Stanbridgeford and Dunstable, including Sewell Cutting, which is managed as a nature reserve by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. The line between Dunstable and Luton has never been legally decommissioned. The track has been removed and a guided busway was constructed on the old

trackbed The track bed or trackbed is the groundwork onto which a railway track is laid. Trackbeds of disused railways are sometimes used for recreational paths or new light rail links. Background According to Network Rail, the trackbed is the layers of ...

, the Luton to Dunstable Busway, which opened in 2013. Buses run on this route as far as Dunstable Town and then divert via the old cement works. The Lea Valley Walk follows the line between Luton Hoo and Harpenden. East of Wheathampstead, heading towards

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...

, the trackbed was converted to a path called the Ayot Greenway.

References

External links

* Greenleas Rail History CLUTCH Club
Dunstable Branch
* Lost Lines

(photos taken between 1989 and 2007) * J. F. Williams

* Dunstable Gazette
Picture the Past, Dunstable Bygones
{Dead link, date=December 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes (photos of Church Street Station and the bridge over High Street North) * Disused Stations
Luton Bute Street
* Disused Stations
Luton Hoo
* Disused Stations
Harpenden East
* Disused Stations
Wheathampstead
* Luton Council
Luton Dunstable Busway
* Cinefilm of Luton Bute Street station to Welwyn Garden City statio
Bute Street to Welwyn Garden City Railway
on YouTube Dunstable Rail transport in Bedfordshire Rail transport in Hertfordshire Closed railway lines in South East England Transport in Luton/Dunstable Urban Area Railway lines opened in 1848 Beeching closures in England Welwyn Garden City