Stevenage railway station

Stevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. The station is 27¼ miles (43 km) north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line. Stevenage is managed and served by First Capital Connect. It is also served by the East Coast Main Line Company, as well as First Hull Trains.

The present station dates from 1973, replacing the previous station, which was half a mile to the north, and further away from the centre of the new town.

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, ^[1] which all ended shortly after the station was opened. In 1946, Stevenage was the first community selected to become a "New Town" as part of the governments "New Town Act", which resulted in a new town centre at the heart of the new town. In 1973, the railway station was relocated half a mile south, within a short walking distance of the new town centre.^[2]

Facilities

The station has two separate ticket offices operated by both First Capital Connect and the East Coast Main Line Company, however, in practice, tickets for either train operator, as well as tickets for First Hull Trains can be purchased at both vendors. It is only possible to collect advance purchase tickets from the East Coast office. Similarly, both companies have their own separate ticket machines (1 x East Coast, 6 x First Capital Connect); there is a East Coast FastTrack machine available for picking up East Coast tickets and 6 Touch-Screen First Capital Connect machines for purchasing tickets on the day. There are gents, ladies and disabled toilets at street level (but not on the platforms), and restricted lift access from the station to both the stations platforms.

The station also has automatic ticket barriers, which were installed by First Capital Connect shortly after taking over the route, as a revenue protection exercise and to improve security at the station. There is a newsagent, a snack bar, coffee bar, and a dry-cleaner's at street level and two coffee bars at platform level, with one per platform.

Both platform have indoor waiting rooms that were recently refurbished as part of a wider scheme by First Capital Connect 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

First Capital Connect services

Most of the trains serving Stevenage station are operated by First Capital Connect, lying on its Great Northern Route from London King's Cross to Peterborough and Cambridge. It is also served by trains between London and Letchworth via Hertford North; these trains use Moorgate station in London on weekdays (except late evenings) and King's Cross at other times.^[3]

Timetables for First Capital Connect services that serve the station can be found here.

East Coast services

Stevenage is also served by some of East Coast's trains on the East Coast Main Line. Typically, these are trains between London King's Cross and Leeds or Newcastle, but there are also services to Edinburgh and Glasgow. ^[4]

The East Coast timetables that include Stevenage services can be found here.

First Hull Trains services

First Hull Trains offer a limited service of 2 trains per weekday northbound and 3 trains per weekday southbound, except on bank holidays, when there are only two southbound and one northbound. There are four southbound services on Saturdays and Sundays, although they are "drop-down" only, and there are four northbound services on a Saturday, and five on a Sunday, which are all "Pick-Up" only. These services run between King's Cross and Hull. ^[5]

Timetables for First Hull Trains services can be found here.

Bus Services

Buses SB1, SB2, SB3, SB7, SB8, SB9, SB10, SB15, SB16, SB40, SB50, 22, 55, 80, 100, 101, 102, 301, 384, 625, 635, 700, and 797 all stop at the station. The station is also only a short walk from the town's main bus station, which is served by a number of other bus services.

Ticket Office Opening Times & Station Staffing Hours

Below are the current opening and staffing times for Stevenage, as of 2010^[update].^[6]

Route

References

External links

• Train times and station information for Stevenage railway station from National Rail