St Albans Abbey railway station

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 out 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 supported a group of local landowners to open a branch line between Hatfield and St Albans which also terminated at St Albans Abbey with an intermediate stop at St Albans (London Road), and later at Smallford (1866), Salvation Army Halt (1901), Hill End (1899), Nast Hyde Halt (1910) and Lemsford Road Halt (1942). This branch line closed to passengers in 1951. Goods services were withdrawn from the end of 1968 and the track was lifted. 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.

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.