The Hertford and Welwyn Junction Railway is a former railway in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England, which merged in 1858 with the Luton, Dunstable and Welwyn Railway to form the

Hertford, Luton and Dunstable Railway The Hertford, Luton and Dunstable Railway was a railway affiliated to the Great Northern Railway (Great Britain), Great Northern Railway. It was formed when the Hertford and Welwyn Junction Railway (opened 1858) merged with the Luton, Dunstable a ...

, which was then taken over by the Great Northern Railway in 1861. The Hertfordshire and Welwyn Junction Railway company was formed on 25 June 1853. The line opened to goods traffic on 29 February 1858 and the first passenger services ran on 1 March 1858. The line connected

Hertford Cowbridge railway station Hertford Cowbridge railway station was a station on the Hertford and Welwyn Junction Railway, and was situated in Hertford, England. History The station was opened on 1 March 1858, originally being named ''Hertford Cowbridge''. It was situate ...

and

Welwyn Junction railway station Welwyn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The parish also includes the villages of Digswell and Oaklands. It is sometimes referred to as Old Welwyn or Welwyn Village, to distinguish it from the much newer and larger se ...

. There were stations at Hertingfordbury and Cole Green. Two halts, at Hatfield Hyde and Attimore Hall, were opened in 1905 and closed the same year. The line was closed to passengers in 1951, the last scheduled train running on 18 June 1951. The line was used for the shooting of several films until 1967. Goods services continued until 1962 and most of the track was lifted in June 1967, leaving a short stretch to serve two factories near the former Attimore Hall halt; this section was last used on 12 November 1981 and the track lifted soon afterwards. The

Cole Green Way The Cole Green Way is a rail trail which runs east-west from the eastern edge of Welwyn Garden City to Hertford in Hertfordshire. Part of National Cycle Network Route 61, and the Lea Valley Walk, it runs for more than six miles along the for ...

footpath and cycle trail follows the track of the railway and forms part of Route 61 of the National Cycle Network.

References

External links

Cole Green Way leaflet
(pdf) Rail transport in Hertfordshire Closed railway lines in the East of England 1853 establishments in England {{England-rail-transport-stub