Stevenage railway station

Stevenage
365537 heading north though Stevenage railway station on platform 3
Location
Place	Stevenage
Local authority	Borough of Stevenage
Grid reference	TL234241
Operations
Station code	SVG
Managed by	Great Northern
Owned by	Network Rail
Number of platforms	4
DfT category	C1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	4.223 million
2011/12	4.272 million
2012/13	4.339 million
2013/14	4.449 million
2014/15	4.609 million
History
Key dates	Opened 23 July 1973
8 August 1850	Original station opened by GNR
22 July 1973	Station closed
23 July 1973	Relocated 73 chains(1.5km) south to present location and opened by BR
29 September 1973	Officially opened by Shirley Williams MP
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Stevenage from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Remains of old station

Stevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. The station is 27 miles 45 chains (44.4 km) north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line.^[1] Stevenage is managed and served by Great Northern. It is also served by Hull Trains and Virgin Trains East Coast.

The present station was opened on 26 July 1973^[2] by Shirley Williams,^[3] then MP for Stevenage, replacing the previous station, which was 73 chains (1,500 m) to the north,^[1] and further away from the centre of the new town. The station was built by British Rail.

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,^[4] which all ended shortly after the station was opened. In 1946, Stevenage was one of the first communities selected to become a 'New Town' as part of the governments New Towns Act, which resulted in a new town centre. In 1973, the railway station was relocated 73 chains (1.47 km) south, within walking distance (220 yd, 200 m) of the new town centre.^[5]

Facilities

The station has two separate ticket offices (Great Northern and Virgin Trains East Coast), but in practice, each sell each other's tickets. There are also seven ticket machines. There are toilets at street level (but not on the platforms) lift access from the station to both the station's platforms.

Stevenage railway station

The station also has automatic ticket barriers, which were installed by First Capital Connect (the previous train operator) shortly after it took over the route, as a revenue protection exercise and to improve security at the station. There is a snack bar, at street level, and two coffee bars at platform level, with one per platform. The newsagent previously at street level closed in March 2014, pending the redevelopment of the station which has since been completed.

Since 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 plus retail units. The works were due to be completed by April 2014, but were delayed. Since Great Northern took over the franchise in September 2014, these works have been completed.

Both island platforms have indoor waiting rooms that were refurbished in May 2012 as part of a wider scheme to refurbish and add waiting rooms across the Great Northern Route, and there is also outdoor seating along the length of the platforms.

The station is a short walk on a walkway from Stevenage Bus Station and is opposite a leisure complex that includes the Gordon Craig Theatre.

Services

Great Northern services

Most of the trains serving Stevenage station are operated by Great Northern, lying on its Great Northern Route from London King's Cross to Peterborough and Cambridge. It is also served by trains between London and Letchworth via Hertford North; these trains use Moorgate station in London. Great Northern services mainly use the outer faces of each island platform - platform 1 for Kings Cross and Moorgate and platform 4 for Letchworth, Cambridge and Peterborough. During weekday rush hours & at weekends some trains to/from Hertford North also terminate & start from platform 4.

Off peak there are four trains per hour southbound to Kings Cross - two of these run fast, calling at Finsbury Park only and the other two stop at principle stations to Potters Bar, then Finsbury Park. Northbound there are two trains each hour to Cambridge (one semi-fast, one stopping at all local stations) & Peterborough (all stations north of Hitchin). The frequencies on both routes drops to hourly in the evening & on Sundays.^[6] The Hertford North line runs hourly off peak all week, but only runs through to Letchworth on weekdays.^[7]

Future Thameslink and Great Northern services

New services are anticipated for 2018, to destinations south of central London.^[8] In May 2014, a proposed timetable was released; the planned services are:

• Southbound:
  • 2 trains per hour to Brighton (fast) via London St Pancras, London Bridge, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport and Burgess Hill. This service would originate from Cambridge.
  • 2 trains per hour to Tattenham Corner (semi-fast) via Welwyn Garden City, London St Pancras, London Bridge, Norwood Junction, East Croydon and Purley. This service would originate from Cambridge.
  • 2 trains per hour to Horsham (fast north of London, stopping south of London) via London St Pancras, London Bridge, East Croydon, Redhill, Gatwick Airport and Crawley. This service would originate from Peterborough.
• Northbound:
  • 4 trains per hour to Cambridge (2 semi-fast, 2 stopping) via Letchworth Garden City and Royston. The semi-fast service would originate from Brighton, while the stopping service would originate from Tattenham Corner.
  • 2 trains an hour to Peterborough (stopping) via St. Neots. This service would originate from Horsham.

Virgin Trains East Coast services

Virgin Trains East Coast routes
Legend
Inverness Carrbridge Aviemore Kingussie Newtonmore Blair Atholl Pitlochry Dunkeld Perth Gleneagles Dunblane Stirling Falkirk Grahamston Aberdeen Stonehaven Montrose Arbroath Dundee Leuchars Kirkcaldy Inverkeithing Glasgow Central ( St Enoch) Motherwell Haymarket Edinburgh Waverley ( St Andrew Square) Dunbar Berwick-upon-Tweed Alnmouth Morpeth Sunderland Newcastle Central Durham Darlington Northallerton York Skipton Keighley Bradford Forster Sq Shipley Harrogate Horsforth Leeds Wakefield Westgate Hull Brough Selby Doncaster Retford Lincoln Central Newark North Gate Grantham Peterborough Stevenage London King's Cross

Stevenage is also served by some Virgin Trains East Coast services on the East Coast Main Line. Typically, these are trains between London King's Cross and Leeds or Newark North Gate/York, but there are also services to Edinburgh Waverley and Newcastle.^[9] These use platform 2 southbound and platform 3 northbound.

Hull Trains services

Hull Trains Route
Legend
Beverley Hull Paragon Brough Howden Selby Doncaster Retford Grantham Stevenage London King's Cross
[10]

Hull Trains offer a very limited service, only calling at Stevenage on Sundays, 1 train northbound and 2 trains southbound. This service runs between King's Cross and Hull.^[11]

Bus Services

Bus services are available at or near the station to various parts of the town and to nearby Hertford, Ware, Luton, Letchworth, Hitchin, Baldock, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, St Albans, Hemel Hempstead and London.

Buses SB1, SB2, SB3, SB7, SB8, SB9, SB15, SB16, SB40, SB50, 10, 55, 80, 100, 101, 102, 301, 384, 390, 391, 625, 635, and Green Line coach 797 all stop at the station, and the 777 National Express coach to Birmingham or Stansted will stop if previously requested. The station is only a short walk from the town's main bus station, which is served by a number of other bus services.

Ticket Office Opening Times & Station Staffing Hours

Below are the current opening and staffing times for Stevenage, as of 2014

Great Northern Ticket Office Hours
Day	Opens	Closes
Monday to Thursday	06:15	20:30
Friday	06:15	21:45
Saturday	06:30	21:30
Sunday	08:00	20:15

There is presently also a Virgin Trains East Coast booking office adjacent to the Great Northern ticket area - this usually operates from the morning rush until the late afternoon.	Station Staffing Hours
Day	Times
Monday to Sunday	24 Hours

Routes

Future

In May 2016 ORR gave the green light to a new operator called East Coast Trains which would operate services to Edinburgh Waverley via Stevenage, Newcastle & Morpeth. The operate would begin operation in 2021.^[12][13][14]

References

1. Yonge, John (September 2006) [1994]. Jacobs, Gerald, ed. Railway Track Diagrams 2: Eastern (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 15B. ISBN 0-9549866-2-8.
2. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 219. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
3. A brass plaque in the upstairs walkway/bridge commemorates this.
4. http://www.wordoxers.com/hos/main7.htm
5. http://www.localhistories.org/stevenage.html
6. Table 25 National Rail timetable, May 2016
7. Table 24 National Rail timetable, May 2016
8. Proposed Thameslink service pattern
9. GB National Rail Timetable May 2016 Edition, Table 26
11. "Hull Trains - Our Timetables" Retrieved 23 August 2016
12. Applications for the East Coast Main Line Office of Rail and Road 12 May 2016
13. First Group to run Edinburgh to London budget rail service BBC News 12 May 2016
14. VTEC and FirstGroup granted East Coast Main Line paths Railway Gazette International 12 May 2016

External links

• Train times and station information for Stevenage railway station from National Rail

Coordinates: 51°54′07″N 0°12′25″W / 51.902°N 0.207°W