Harlington railway station is located in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

. It is named after the village of Harlington, on the outskirts of which it is located, but serves a wide rural area including the larger villages of Toddington and

Barton-le-Clay Barton-le-Clay is a large village and a civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire Borough in Bedfordshire, England, bordering Hertfordshire. The village has existed since at least 1066 and is mentioned in the ''Domesday Book''. History Ancien ...

History

It was built by 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 ...

in 1868 on its extension to St. Pancras. The original intention had been to call it "Harlington for Toddington". The station buildings still exist and were carefully restored in the early 1980s. The station is situated on the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...

and managed 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 ...

Stationmasters

In 1909 the station master, William Drake, was killed at the station whilst directing shunting operations at the station. A verdict of accidental death was recorded. *T. Tomblin 1870 - 1875 *Frederick Christian 1875 - 1898 (afterwards station master at Shefford) *G.G. Best 1898 - 1903 *William Drake 1903 - 1909 *Ernest Joseph Clulow 1909 - ca. 1911 (formerly station master at Godmanchester) *J.J. Davies ca. 1914 - 1924 *Robert Arthur Gill 1924 - 1931 (formerly station master at Hemel Hempstead) *Frederick Charles Watson 1933 - 1940 (afterwards station master at Kenilworth) *A. Latimer from 1940 (formerly station master at Kimbolton, also station master at Leagrave)

Services

All services at Harlington are operated by

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 ...

. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 4 tph to * 2 tph to * 2 tph to Three Bridges via During the peak hours, the station is served by additional services to and from , and . The station is also served by a half-hourly night service between Bedford and on Sunday to Friday nights.

Facilities

Harlington station has the following facilities: *Shelters on each platform *1 telephone *1 Ticket Machine *Cycle storage for 44 bikes *Car park with 127 spaces The station has a PlusBus scheme where train and bus tickets can be bought together for a cheaper price. It is in the same area as

Flitwick Flitwick () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "a hamlet on the River Flitt". The spelling ''Flytwyk'' appears in 1381. The nearby River Flit runs through Flitwick Moor, a natur ...

station. As well as Harlington village itself, the station also serves the villages of

, Toddington and Westoning.

Ticket Office opening hours

The ticket office is open for just over 7½ hours per day Mondays to Friday and 6 hours per day on Saturday. In January 2009, the previous franchisee First Capital Connect proposed that the ticket office at Harlington railway station would open for just four hours per day. The proposals were for the office to open at 0645 (previously 0600) and close at 1030 (currently 1850) on weekdays. There would be no weekend opening under these proposals. The single automated ticket machine, which was stolen in summer 2008,Harlington ticket machine stolen
was replaced the same week that the proposals were announced. Subsequently, whilst a reduction in hours was agreed, although not to the degree set out in the initial proposal (see above).

References

Gallery

File:Harlington Main Building.jpg, The main station building, facing on to Platform 4. File:Harlington Southbound.jpg, Southbound view from Platform 4, outside the main station building. File:Harlington Up Platform.jpg,

train from Bedford to Brighton arriving at Platform 1.

External links

{{TSGN and SE Stations, CityFlyer=y, Ashford=y, SE None=y, SN None=y Railway stations in Bedfordshire DfT Category D stations Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1868 Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway