Arlesey railway station

Arlesey railway station serves the town of Arlesey in Bedfordshire, England. It is 37 miles 3 chains (59.61 km) from London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line.[1] Arlesey is managed by Great Northern, but from December 2019 all services to the station have been operated by Thameslink, due to significant rebranding across their network.

Arlesey
LocationArlesey, Central Bedfordshire
England
Grid referenceTL190378
Managed byGreat Northern
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeARL
ClassificationDfT category E
Key dates
7 August 1850Opened as Arlsey and Shefford Road
March 1860Renamed Arlesey and Shefford Road
July 1893Renamed Arlesey
July 1895Renamed Arlesey and Shefford Road
1 March 1933Renamed Arlesey and Henlow
5 January 1959Closed
3 October 1988Reopened as Arlesey
Passengers
2015/16 0.668 million
2016/17 0.694 million
2017/18 0.674 million
2018/19 0.663 million
2019/20 0.697 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Arlesey is the nearest station to the towns of Stotfold and Shefford and to the villages of Langford, Clifton and Henlow.

History

Original station

The first section of the Great Northern Railway (GNR) (from Louth to a junction with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway at Grimsby) opened on 1 March 1848; but the southern section of the main line (from Maiden Lane to Peterborough) was not opened until 7 August 1850. One of the 1850 stations was Arlsey and Shefford Road.[2][3][4] It was renamed Arlesey and Shefford Road in March 1860, but the shorter name of Arlesey was used between July 1893 and July 1895.[4]

The GNR became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) during the grouping of 1923. On 1 March 1933 the LNER renamed the station Arlesey and Henlow.[4] The station passed to the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

The station and the adjacent Three Counties railway station were closed to passengers on 5 January 1959[4] and to goods on 28 November 1960, and demolished soon after due to declining receipts.[4][5]

Present station

The line, however, remained open; and the present station built by Network SouthEast opened on 3 October 1988 on the site of the original station in the Church End area of Arlesey. The rebuilt station was designed to be fully accessible to wheelchairs but was initially unusable by those who could not leave their chair as there were no facilities for 'loading and unloading'. First Capital Connect provided the station with ramps in 2006, and users now simply have to ring 24 hours in advance for assistance.

Queen Elizabeth II visited the station in 2006.

The station's platforms are currently being lengthened to accommodate 12 car trains scheduled to serve the station upon completion of the Thameslink Programme.[6]

Platform view 1991

Facilities

The station is fully accessible to wheelchair users but is not accessible platform to platform. There is no access to ticket machines or help point on the down (Peterborough) platform. FCC installed modern LED lights on both platforms in 2009.[7]

The station has two small shelters on both platforms.

There is a ticket office on the southbound platform and 2 modern Touch Screen ticket machines located adjacent to the booking office. Cycle storage is provided on both sides of the station; although only the southbound side has secure storage. First Capital Connect installed a help point on Platform 1. Arlesey station does not currently have automatic ticket gates. Train running information is provided via digital CIS displays, automated announcements and a customer help point on platform 1.[8]

Services

As of December 2019, the typical off-peak service from Arlesey is:

On Sundays an hourly service operates, with one train to Peterborough as normal and one train to King's Cross rather than Horsham.[9]

Ticket Office Opening Times & Station Staffing Hours

Below are the current opening and staffing times for Arlesey, as of 2017.[8]

Ticket Office Hours
DayOpensCloses
Monday to Friday06:4512:10
Saturday07:4513:10
Sunday——
Station Staffing Hours
DayFromUntil
Monday to Friday06:3012:30
Saturday07:3013:30
Sunday——

Route
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Thameslink
Peterborough to Horsham
Historical railways
Line open; Station closed
Great Northern Railway
Line and station open

Notes
  1. Padgett, David (October 2016) [1988]. Brailsford, Martyn (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 2: Eastern (4th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. map 15B. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
  2. Gordon 1989, volume II, p. 44
  3. Awdry 1990, p. 135
  4. Butt 1995, p. 18
  5. source: Bedfordshire Libraries
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 August 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. Arlesey station facilities National Rail Enquiries
  9. "Thameslink Timetable 10 - Peterborough and Arlesey to London" (pdf). Thameslink. 15 December 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.

References
  • Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. CN 8983.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Gordon, W.J. (1989) [1910]. Our Home Railways. London: Bracken Books. ISBN 1-85170-314-4.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.

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