Stevenage railway station

Stevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. The station is north of London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line. Stevenage is served and managed by Great Northern, who operate Thameslink stopping services southbound to King’s Cross via stations such as Welwyn Garden City and Potter’s Bar, to Brighton and Horsham via Central London and Gatwick Airport and to Moorgate via Watton-at-Stone, Hertford North and Enfield Chase and services northbound to Cambridge and Peterborough. It is also frequently served by London North Eastern Railway, who operate fast non-stopping services southbound towards London and northbound towards cities including York, Leeds and Edinburgh. Hull Trains and Lumo operate very limited services from the station.

The present station was opened for trains on 23 July 1973. It was officially opened on 26 September 1973 by Shirley Williams, then MP for Stevenage, replacing the previous station, which was to the north, 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, 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 railway station was relocated south, within walking distance () of the new town centre.

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 two separate ticket offices (Great Northern and London North Eastern Railway), but in practice, each also sells the other's tickets. There are also seven ticket machines. There are toilets at street level (but not on the platforms) and lifts from the station building to both platforms.

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

Great Northern serve 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 at the station, which opened in 2020. These services are operated using EMUs.

Great Northern also operate an hourly fast service during the weekday peak hours between and . Southbound, this service runs non-stop to London King's Cross and northbound, calls only at , and . These services are operated using EMUs.

London North Eastern Railway

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

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

The station is also served by a small number of early morning and late evening services to and from and .

Services are operated using bi-mode trains and EMUs.

Hull Trains

Hull Trains operate a limited service at Stevenage on Sunday afternoons only. The station is served by one northbound service to Hull and two southbound services to . Services are operated using bi-mode trains.

Thameslink services

As of May 2018, most services at Stevenage are operated by Thameslink using EMUs.

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 (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 and Peterborough and Horsham are reduced to hourly, with the service to Horsham terminating at London King's Cross.

Lumo

As of October 2021, Lumo operate a number of service at Stevenage. The station is served by two northbound services to and three southbound services to .VTEC and FirstGroup granted East Coast Main Line paths
''Railway Gazette International'' 12 May 2016 Services are operated using EMUs.

Additional platform

Until May 2018 most weekday trains on the Hertford Loop Line were extended to Letchworth, as there was insufficient capacity to accommodate terminating trains at Stevenage. However, in 2018, Govia Thameslink Railway cut back all services to start/terminate at Stevenage. To help alleviate the capacity problem, an additional south-facing bay platform at Stevenage which allows Great Northern trains on the Hertford Loop Line to terminate here - similar to the arrangement at Welwyn Garden City - increasing capacity on both the Hertford Loop and the East Coast Main Line, and allow for an enhanced service frequency on both routes was officially opened on 3 August 2020.New bay platform opened
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References

External links

{{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