Girtford Halt railway station

Girtford Halt
Location
Place Girtford nr Sandy
Area Central Bedfordshire
Grid reference TL164503
Operations
Original company London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Platforms 1
History
1 January 1938[1] Opened as Girtford
July 1938 Renamed Girtford Halt
17 November 1940 Closed to passengers
1 November 1951[2] Closed to goods
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Girtford Halt was a railway station on the Varsity Line which served the hamlet of Girtford near Sandy in Bedfordshire, England. A short-lived railway halt, it was opened by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1938, only to close to passenger traffic two years later in 1940. The line itself closed in 1968 and the site of the station has been obliterated by a roundabout.

Contents

History

In January 1938, the LMSR opened Girtford Halt at the point where the A1 crossed the Varsity Line, a little to the north of the small hamlet from which it took its name. A siding for vegetable traffic had existed on the station site since 1863 and this remained open. Passenger facilities consisted of little more than a raised concrete platform, access to which was had via the field to the rear of the station; tickets had to be purchased from a nearby garage. The station was, however, little used[3] and passenger services were withdrawn in November 1940, the station remaining open for the purposes of freight until 1951.[4]

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Blunham   British Railways
Varsity Line		   Sandy

Present day

No trace of the station remains and its site has been taken over by a roundabout on Georgetown Road, a new road skirting the London Road Industrial Estate.[5]

References

  1. ^ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 177.
  2. ^ Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977. Bristol: Avon-AngliA Publications & Services. p. 52. ISBN 0-90546-619-5. 
  3. ^ Simpson, Bill (2000). The Oxford to Cambridge Railway: Forty Years On 1960-2000. Witney, Oxford: Lamplight Publications. p. 120. ISBN 1-89924-605-3. 
  4. ^ Davies, R.; Grant, M.D. (1984). Forgotten Railways: Chilterns and Cotswolds. Newton Abbot, Devon: David St John Thomas. p. 120. ISBN 0-946537-07-0. 
  5. ^ Subterranea Britannica, "Girtford Halt".

External links