Hitchin railway station serves the town of
Hitchin in
Hertfordshire. It is located approximately north east of the town centre and north of
London King's Cross on the
East Coast Main Line.
Until the current
Stevenage station opened in 1973, many Intercity services stopped at Hitchin.
In August 2007 Hitchin was awarded
Secure Station status after improvements to station security were made by
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect (FCC) was a British train operating company, owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Thameslink and Great Northern sectors from April 2006 to September 2014 which later became the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (T ...
, including new lighting, extra CCTV and the installation of automatic ticket gates.
History
The first section of the
Great Northern Railway (GNR) - that from to a junction with the
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...
at
Grimsby
Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...
- opened on 1 March 1848, but the southern section of the main line, between and , was not opened until August 1850. Hitchin was one of the original stations, opening with the line on 7 August 1850.
On 21 October 1850 Hitchin became a junction station with the opening of the first section of the
Royston and Hitchin Railway
The Royston and Hitchin Railway was an English railway company; it built a line from the Great Northern Railway at Hitchin to Shepreth. A Shepreth branch line was built by the Eastern Counties Railway from Shelford Junction (later called She ...
, between Hitchin and (it was extended to on 3 August 1851). The
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 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 its headquarters. It ama ...
(MR) opened a route from via to Hitchin on 1 February 1858, by which MR trains used the GNR to reach London.
After the opening of the Midland Railway's own line from Bedford via to London, and the line's terminus at in 1868, their line between Bedford and Hitchin was reduced to branch status. It lost its passenger service in 1961 and was closed completely in 1964, with the exception of a stub from Bedford to Cardington which itself was closed in 1969. In May 1964 part of the line was used for the railway scene in the film ''
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines
''Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines; Or, How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes'' is a 1965 British period comedy film that satirizes the early years of aviation. Directed and co-written by Ken Annakin, the film ...
''. The embankment for the line could, until early 2012, still be walked from just north of the station, through the fields to
Ickleford
Ickleford is a large village situated on the northern outskirts of Hitchin in North Hertfordshire in England. It lies on the west bank of the River Hiz and to the east of the main A600 road. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 1, ...
, but this section is now closed off. Opened in June 2013 a new embankment now carries a single-track line onto a viaduct for Letchworth-bound trains over the
East Coast Main Line as part of the
Hitchin Flyover project.
Accidents and incidents
*On 14 April 1949, the solicitor and historian
Reginald Hine
Reginald Leslie Hine (25 September 1883 – 14 April 1949) FSA, FRHS was a solicitor and historian whose writings centred on the market-town of Hitchin in Hertfordshire and its environs. He committed suicide in 1949 by jumping in front of a t ...
died by suicide here by jumping in front of the slow train from Cambridge.
*On 19 November 1958, a freight train overran signals and was in a rear-end collision with another. A third freight train ran into the wreckage.
Facilities
There are platforms on only the two 'Slow' lines; they are long enough for 12-car trains.
Following a refurbishment of the station by
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect (FCC) was a British train operating company, owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Thameslink and Great Northern sectors from April 2006 to September 2014 which later became the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (T ...
in 2007, the station's subway was refurbished at a cost of £300k. The refurbishment also involved general cosmetic work throughout the station and a new high quality waiting room in the existing station buildings on Platform 2. This waiting room is fully accessible at all times through automatic doors.
The station has a large booking office with touch-screen ticket machines. The station has help points throughout.
A small shop is located by the stairs on Platform 2 and there are vending machines throughout the station.
Automatic ticket gates at the station entrance were installed by
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect (FCC) was a British train operating company, owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Thameslink and Great Northern sectors from April 2006 to September 2014 which later became the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (T ...
during 2007.
The station's bicycle facilities were completely upgraded in 2007 and now include sheltered spaces for 68 bicycles next to the station buildings.
In 2013,
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
proposed plans for new lifts, one on each platform, to improve access via the existing subway for those with pushchairs or disabilities, funded through the Department for Transport's Access for All scheme. The new lifts opened in September 2014 after a two-month delay, giving step-free access to the southbound number 1 platform.
Platforms and services
Platforms
Hitchin railway station is managed by
Great Northern Great Northern may refer to:
Transport
* One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation).
* Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway.
* Great ...
and has two platforms situated on the slow lines. Platform 1 is used for trains towards London and a few starting/terminating services to/from London. Platform 2 is used for trains towards Peterborough and Cambridge. Platform 1 also provides access to the sidings, used for removing stone and scrap metal.
Current services
All services at Hitchin are operated by
Thameslink
Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying ...
using
EMUs
Emus may refer to:
* Emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...
.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:
* 2 tph to (stopping)
* 2 tph to via and (semi-fast)
* 2 tph to via London Bridge, and Gatwick Airport
* 2 tph to
* 4 tph to (2 of these are semi-fast services and 2 call at all stations)
On weekends, one of the hourly services between London and Cambridge terminates at Royston. On Sundays, the services between Brighton and Cambridge and Peterborough and Horsham are reduced to hourly, with the service to Horsham terminating at London King's Cross.
Future services
It is proposed that a two trains per hour service from Cambridge to via and will begin operating once the
Thameslink Programme
The Thameslink Programme, originally Thameslink 2000, was a £6billion project in south-east England to upgrade and expand the Thameslink rail network to provide new and longer trains between a wider range of stations to the north and to the ...
is fully complete.
[Timetable consultation : Southern](_blank)
/ref> This would see the existing Cambridge to London service extended through the Thameslink Core and down to Maidstone.
It was initially proposed that this service would run to . However this proposal was cancelled and replaced with the Maidstone East service.
This service was due to commence in December 2019 but has now been postponed to an unknown date.
Junction development
Down trains from London to Cambridge used to use a ladder crossing over the up lines in order to reach the Cambridge Line, which often caused significant delays to trains in both directions. Together with the Digswell Viaduct
The Digswell Viaduct, also called Welwyn Viaduct, is a railway viaduct that carries the East Coast Main Line over the River Mimram in the county of Hertfordshire in England. A prominent local landmark, it is located between Welwyn Garden City ...
some to the south, the flat junction just north of Hitchin was a major bottleneck
Bottleneck literally refers to the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle near its opening, which limit the rate of outflow, and may describe any object of a similar shape. The literal neck of a bottle was originally used to play what is now known as ...
.
In June 2013 Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
completed a flyover to carry Down trains to Cambridge over the top of the main line, built at a final cost of £47million
References
External links
Hitchin: Here we explain our plans to improve the rail links between London, Hitchin and Cambridge
on Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
website
{{TSGN and SE Stations, Peterborough=y, Northern City=y, SN None=y, SE None=y
Railway stations in Hertfordshire
DfT Category C2 stations
Former Great Northern Railway stations
Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1850
Hitchin
Buildings and structures in Hitchin
Rail junctions in England
Train driver depots in England