Letchworth Garden City railway station

Letchworth Garden City station serves the town of Letchworth in Hertfordshire, England. The station is on the Cambridge Line 34 miles 50 chains (55.7 km) north of London King's Cross,[1] and is a stop for services between King's Cross and Cambridge. Trains which serve the station are operated by Great Northern.

Letchworth Garden City
The entrance to the station
Location
PlaceLetchworth
Local authorityDistrict of North Hertfordshire
Grid referenceTL217327
Operations
Station codeLET
Managed byGreat Northern
Owned byNetwork Rail
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryD
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 1.752 million
2015/16 1.862 million
2016/17 1.890 million
2017/18 1.901 million
2018/19 1.857 million
History
1903Opened (restricted service)
15 April 1905Opened (full service)
18 May 1913Station relocated
October 1937Renamed Letchworth
11 June 1999Renamed Letchworth Garden City
National Rail – UK railway stations
  • Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Letchworth Garden City from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The first station known as Letchworth Garden City was opened in 1903, with a restricted service; it gained a full passenger service on 15 April 1905.[2] On 18 May 1913, this station was replaced by a new station on a different site.[2] The new station was built in 1912, in the Arts and Crafts style, and has since been Grade II listed.[3]

The station was originally intended to have two island platforms, giving a total of four platforms. However, since its opening only two platforms have been used. It was known from October 1937[2] as Letchworth, until it regained its current name on 11 June 1999 following a refurbishment scheme.[4] Electric operation at the station was inaugurated in 1978, as part of the Kings Cross Outer Suburban scheme, though the wires initially ended at Royston. Through electric services to Cambridge began in May 1988.[5]

The platforms were extended initially for eight carriages, and further extended in December 2011 for 12-carriage trains.

Passenger lifts were installed in two new towers in March 2014.[6]

To the north of the station are the sidings where trains starting or terminating at Letchworth are cleaned and stabled.

Ticket barriers are in operation.

The station was used as a filming location for the 2013 film The World's End; it was converted into a pub named "The Hole in the Wall".[7]

Services

Daily (including Sundays) there are two trains per hour towards Finsbury Park & London King's Cross and two per hour northbound towards Cambridge - one limited stop semi-fast service and one stopper serving all stations northbound and most major stations southbound.[8]

Certain weekday peak period and evening services beyond Cambridge to/from Ely & Kings Lynn also call, along with a few trains that start or terminate here or at Royston.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Hitchin   Great Northern
Great Northern Express		   Baldock
Thameslink
Brighton to Cambridge
Thameslink
London King's Cross to Cambridge

Letchworth Station (Oil on canvas, 1911) by Spencer Gore is notable as an early depiction of rail commuters. From the collection of J. Peter W. Cochrane.[9]

References
  1. Yonge, John (September 2006) [1994]. Jacobs, Gerald (ed.). 2: Eastern. Railway Track Diagrams (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 24C. ISBN 0-9549866-2-8.
  2. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 142. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  3. "Planning Committee Referral" (PDF). July 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  4. Mitchell, Vic (2006). Eastern Main Lines: Potters Bar to Cambridge. Midhurst: Middleton Press. p. 64. ISBN 1-904474-70-5.
  5. "Cambridge - Its Railways & Station"Disused Stations Site Record; Retrieved 23 August 2016
  6. Lucas, Julie (25 October 2013). "Letchworth train station car park closed as work starts on lifts". The Comet. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  7. Davies, Alan (21 July 2013). "The World's End pub crawl locations revealed". Welwyn & Hatfield Times. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  8. Table 25 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  9. J.B. Priestley, The Edwardians (1970), p 208. SBN 434 60332 5.


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