Stevenage Railway Station

Stevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. The station is around north of London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line. The station lies just to the north of Langley junction, a grade separated junction where the Hertford Loop Line diverges from the East Coast Main Line; the two lines re-converge at in London's northern suburbs.

Stevenage is served and managed by Govia Thameslink Railway, which operates stopping services southbound to King’s Cross, , and Moorgate; northbound services connect to and . It is also served frequently by London North Eastern Railway, which operates non-stopping services southbound to King's Cross and northbound to , and . Hull Trains and Lumo operate very limited services from the station.

The present station, built by British Rail, was opened for services on 23 July 1973. It was officially opened on 26 September 1973 by Shirley Williams, then MP for Stevenage; this replaced the previous station which was sited to the north and further away from the centre of the new town.

History

The original Stevenage railway station was built in 1850 by the Great Northern Railway, despite the apparent hostility towards the railway being built there at that time due to the inevitable decline it would cause to local coach businesses, which all ended shortly after the station was opened.

In 1946, Stevenage became one of the first New Towns, which resulted in a new town centre. In 1973, the station was relocated south, within walking distance () of the new town centre. As built, the new station had two island platforms, serving four through tracks.

In December 2013, the previous train operator, First Capital Connect, started refurbishing the station completely, introducing passenger lifts between platform and street level, and refurbishing the concourse area with retail units. The works were due to be completed by April 2014, but were delayed. After Great Northern took over the franchise in September 2014, these works were completed.

Until May 2018, most weekday trains from London on the Hertford Loop Line ran through to Letchworth, as the layout gave insufficient capacity to accommodate terminating trains at Stevenage. However, in 2018, all the loop line services were cut back to start/terminate at Stevenage. To help alleviate the capacity problem, an additional south-facing terminal platform was built, similar to the arrangement at , which allows loop line services to start and terminate there. Platform 5 was officially opened on 3 August 2020.

In 2021, a tactile map was installed, in collaboration with the Royal National Institute of Blind People, to help blind and partially sighted passengers navigate the station.

Facilities

The station has five platform tracks, which are at ground level. The westernmost track (platform 5) is a terminal track for trains to and from London via the Hertford Loop Line, and is served by a side platform. The remaining four through tracks are served by two island platforms. On this stretch of line the tracks are paired by direction, so each island platform serves trains going in one direction, with platform 1&2 serving southbound trains and platform 3&4 serving northbound trains.

The platforms are accessed by stairs and lifts from the station concourse, which spans above the tracks. There are station entrances on both sides of the station, which have stairs, lifts and ramps to the concourse. At concourse level are separate ticket offices for Great Northern and London North Eastern Railway, as well as ticket machines. Toilets are also provided at this level, but not on the platforms. All three platforms have indoor waiting rooms, along with outdoor seating along the length of the platforms. There are coffee bars on each of the two island platforms.

There are two sets of automated ticket barriers. One, on the concourse level, gives access to the two island platforms (platform numbers 1 to 4), whilst the other, at platform level, gives access to platform 5. Interchange between platform 5 and any of the other platforms requires the passenger to pass through both barrier lines. The station is a short walk on a walkway from Stevenage Bus Interchange and is opposite a leisure complex that includes the Gordon Craig Theatre.

Services

Services at Stevenage are provided by four train operating companies:

Govia Thameslink Railway

Govia Thameslink Railway operates trains here under two sub-brands:

Great Northern

Great Northern serves Stevenage with a half-hourly service to , which calls at all stations via the Hertford Loop Line. These services start and finish at Stevenage using platform 5. These services are operated using electric multiple units.

It also operates an hourly fast service during weekday peak hours between London King's Cross and . Southbound, this service runs non-stop to London King's Cross and northbound, calls only at , and . These services are operated using electric multiple units.

Thameslink

Most services at Stevenage are operated by Thameslink, using electric multiple units.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:
* 2 tph to London King's Cross (stopping)
* 2 tph to , via and (semi-fast)
* 2 tph to via London Bridge, and Gatwick Airport
* 2 tph to (all stations)
* 2 tph to , of which 1 continues to (all stations)
* 2 tph to Cambridge (semi-fast)

On Sundays, the services between Brighton and Cambridge are reduced to hourly, with no service to Horsham.

London North Eastern Railway

London North Eastern Railway generally serves Stevenage with two trains per hour in each direction during the day. There is an hourly service between London King's Cross and , with a train every two hours continuing to . There is also an hourly service from King's Cross, alternating northbound between terminating at or , via .

During peak hours, a small number of services to Leeds are extended to and from .

There are also a small number of early morning and late evening services to and from and .

Services are operated using bi-mode trains, electric multiple units and InterCity 225 electric locomotive-hauled sets.

Hull Trains

Hull Trains operates a limited service on Sunday afternoons only. The station is served by one northbound service to Hull and two southbound services to London King's Cross. Services are operated using bi-mode trains.

Lumo

Lumo operates two northbound services to Edinburgh Waverley and three southbound services to London King's Cross. Services are operated using electric multiple units.

See also

* Nala, a local cat, is popular with commuters and known to sit on the ticket barriers at the station.

Notes

References

External links

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{{Railway stations served by London North Eastern Railway

Railway stations in Hertfordshire
DfT Category C1 stations
Former Great Northern Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1850
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1973
Railway stations opened by British Rail
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1973
1850 establishments in England
Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway
Railway stations served by Hull Trains
Railway stations served by London North Eastern Railway
Railway stations served by Lumo
Stevenage
Hertford loop line