Stevenage railway station

Stevenage
Southbound view of the station from Platform 2 in January 2015
Location	Stevenage, Borough of Stevenage England
Grid reference	TL234241
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Great Northern
Platforms	5
Other information
Station code	SVG
Classification	DfT category C1
History
Opened	23 July 1973
Key dates
8 August 1850	Original station opened by GNR
22 July 1973	Station closed
23 July 1973	Relocated 73 chains(1.5km) south to present location and opened by BR
29 September 1973	Officially opened by Shirley Williams MP
Passengers
2016/17	4.847 million
2017/18	4.838 million
2018/19	4.795 million
Interchange	2.452 million
2019/20	4.634 million
Interchange	1.654 million
2020/21	1.228 million
Interchange	0.238 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Remains of old station

Stevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. The station is 27 miles 45 chains (44.4 km) north of London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line.^[1] 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 Royston, 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.^[2] It was officially opened on 26 September 1973 by Shirley Williams,^[3] then MP for Stevenage, replacing the previous station, which was 73 chains (1,500 m) to the north,^[1] 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,^[4] 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 73 chains (1.47 km) south, within walking distance (220 yd, 200 m) of the new town centre.^[5]

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.^[6]

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.

Stevenage railway station

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[]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
London King's Cross		Great Northern London-Peterborough/Huntingdon (fast)		Biggleswade
Watton-at-Stone		Great Northern London-Stevenage		Terminus
London King's Cross		London North Eastern Railway London-North East & Scotland		Peterborough
London King's Cross		London North Eastern Railway London-Leeds and West Yorkshire		Peterborough
				Grantham
London King's Cross		Hull Trains London-Hull/Beverley		Grantham
Finsbury Park		Thameslink Horsham to Peterborough		Hitchin
Finsbury Park		Thameslink Brighton to Cambridge
Knebworth		Thameslink London to Cambridge
London King's Cross		Lumo London to Edinburgh		Newcastle

Great Northern[]

Before May 2018, most of the trains serving Stevenage station were operated by Great Northern, lying on its Great Northern Route from London King's Cross to Peterborough and Cambridge. It was served by trains between Moorgate and Letchworth via Hertford North; these trains use Moorgate station in London. In May 2018 however, most Great Northern services were swapped with Thameslink services, and now the only Great Northern trains are two southbound departures per hour to Moorgate on Sundays only calling at all stations via Hertford North, and some weekday peak-hour trains between London King's Cross and Peterborough.

Some Kings Cross to King's Lynn/Ely/Peterborough services do call at Stevenage.

Since August 2020, trains to Moorgate via the Hertford Loop Line have terminated at the station's platform 5.

• 2 trains per hour south to Moorgate via Hertford North, calling at all stations en route.

London North Eastern Railway[]

v t London North Eastern Railway
Legend
Glasgow Central Motherwell Inverness Aviemore Kingussie Pitlochry Perth Gleneagles Stirling Falkirk Grahamston Aberdeen Stonehaven Montrose Arbroath Dundee Leuchars Kirkcaldy Inverkeithing Haymarket Edinburgh Waverley Dunbar Berwick-upon-Tweed Alnmouth Morpeth Sunderland Newcastle Durham Darlington Middlesbrough Thornaby Northallerton York Skipton Keighley Bradford Forster Square Shipley Hull Paragon Brough Selby Harrogate Horsforth Leeds Wakefield Westgate Doncaster Retford Lincoln Newark North Gate Grantham Peterborough Stevenage London King's Cross

Stevenage is also served by some London North Eastern Railway services on the East Coast Main Line. During the day, there is an hourly service between London King's Cross and Leeds and an hourly service between King's Cross and extended to York and Lincoln every 2 hours unless of Engineering Works; at other times there are also services to Edinburgh Waverley and Newcastle.^[7] These services use platform 2 southbound and platform 3 northbound.

Hull Trains[]

v t Hull Trains: Beverley & Hull to London
Legend
Beverley Cottingham Hull Paragon Brough Howden Selby Doncaster Retford Grantham Stevenage London King's Cross
Most trains run fast between Grantham and London King's Cross.

Hull Trains offer a very limited service, only calling at Stevenage on Sunday afternoons, 1 train northbound and 2 trains southbound. This service runs between King's Cross and Hull.^[8]

Thameslink services[]

New services were rolled out in 2018 under the Thameslink Programme. The East Coast Mainline/Great Northern routes, from Peterborough and Cambridge and stations in between, including Stevenage, became connected to Thameslink via the Canal Tunnels and destinations south of central London.^[9]

• Southbound:
  • 2 trains per hour to Brighton (fast) via London St Pancras, London Bridge, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport and Burgess Hill. These services originate at Cambridge.
  • 2 trains per hour to Horsham (fast north of London, stopping south of London) via London St Pancras, London Bridge, East Croydon, Merstham, Redhill, Gatwick Airport and Crawley. These services originate at Peterborough.
  • 2 trains per hour to London Kings Cross (stopping). These services originate at Cambridge.
• Northbound:
  • 4 trains per hour to Cambridge (4 semi-fast, 2 stopping) via Letchworth Garden City and Royston. The semi-fast services originate at Brighton, while the stopping services originate at London Kings Cross.
  • 2 trains an hour to Peterborough (stopping) via St Neots. These services originate at Horsham.

Lumo[]

Since October 2021, Lumo have operated services between Edinburgh Waverley & Kings Cross via Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth.^[10][11][12]

Additional platform[]

Until May 2018 most weekday trains on the Hertford Loop Line were extended to Letchworth,^[13] 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.^[14]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stevenage railway station.

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

Coordinates: 51°54′07″N 0°12′25″W / 51.902°N 0.207°W / 51.902; -0.207