Welwyn Garden City railway station

Welwyn Garden City railway station serves the town of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. It is 20 miles 25 chains (32.69 km) from London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line.[2] Train services are currently provided by Thameslink and Great Northern.

Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City Platform 3
Welwyn Garden City
Location of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire
LocationWelwyn Garden City
Local authorityBorough of Welwyn Hatfield
Grid referenceTL240129
Managed byGreat Northern
Station codeWGC
DfT categoryC1
Number of platforms4
AccessibleYes
National Rail annual entry and exit
2015–16 2.796 million[1]
2016–17 2.951 million[1]
2017–18 2.964 million[1]
2018–19 2.868 million[1]
– interchange  58,267[1]
2019–20 2.739 million[1]
– interchange  55,171[1]
Railway companies
Original companyLondon and North Eastern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 September 1920First station Welwyn Garden City Halt opened
20 September 1926First station closed; present station Welwyn Garden City opened
Other information
External links
WGS8451.801°N 0.204°W / 51.801; -0.204
 London transport portal

History

A station named Welwyn Junction was opened with the Hertford and Welwyn Junction Railway on 1 March 1858. This station ceased to be used for services on 1 September 1860.[3]

A halt named Welwyn Garden City Halt opened on 1 September 1920,[3] shortly after the town was incorporated; this was on the now defunct Luton/Dunstable branch line,[4] slightly further north than the present station. This line cuts west and north through Sherrardspark Wood, and on towards Wheathampstead via what is now Ayot Greenway.

The present Welwyn Garden City station opened on 20 September 1926; Welwyn Garden City Halt was closed at the same time.[3][5] Prior to this, services to Luton and the Hertford line, which cut east through the town, were handled from nearby Hatfield. The Hertford branch line was closed to rail passenger traffic in 1951 and to goods in 1966, whilst the Dunstable line fell victim to the Beeching Axe in April 1965 (although goods traffic survived until 1971).[6]

When the Howard Centre shopping centre was opened in October 1990, the original ticket hall was demolished. It is now inside the Howard Centre with steps linking down to the original bridge and then platforms.

The line near the station has seen two serious train crashes, one in 1935, and another in 1957.

Facilities

Welwyn Garden City was semi-refurbished by First Capital Connect during 2007, which saw improved lighting installed, new bus -shelter-style waiting rooms and improved toilets on each platform island. The refurbishments also saw the installation of Ticket Gates.[7] There is also a station cafe located on Platforms 1 and 2, recently reopened as "The Garden Line".

The station has direct access to the Howard Centre. The shopping centre also incorporates the station's ticket office on the first floor. There are 4 ticket machines; 3 standard touch screen machines and one "card only" machine. There are also help-points located within the station.[8]

Towards the end of 2007 Welwyn Garden City was awarded "Secure Station" status, along with many other stations along the Great Northern route as part of a stations improvement programme. As part of this award, many additional cameras were installed at the station.[9]

Services

Monday to Saturdays, trains operate half-hourly on Thameslink's "London-Cambridge" line south towards London Kings Cross and north towards Cambridge (with alternate trains extended to Cambridge North). London-bound trains normally call only at Hatfield, Potters Bar and Finsbury Park en route to the capital, whilst northbound trains call at all stations beyond here. On Sundays there is an hourly service.[10]

Welwyn Garden City is a terminus for Great Northern's "London - Welwyn line" stopping service. Trains depart every 15 minutes to Moorgate in London on weekdays until 10pm, then running every half-hour.[11] A few weekday peak services to/from Kings Cross serving intermediate stations also operate.

A rail flyover was constructed south of the station in 1977 when the line was electrified to allow the Moorgate trains to arrive and depart from Platform 4 without conflicting with main line trains. The stopping trains used to run to Kings Cross in the late evening and at weekends until the December 2015 timetable change, but now serve the Moorgate branch at all times.[12]

The station is also served by various buses operated by Arriva Shires & Essex, Centrebus and Uno.

After the completion of the Thameslink Programme in 2018 a 2tph service from Maidstone East to Welwyn Garden City was proposed,[13] but its introduction has subsequently been delayed until December 2019.

Station layout

The Up Yard sidings[14] at Welwyn Garden City consists of 6 unelectrified roads, currently used for the twice-weekly reversal of empty gypsum wagons returning from Hitchin to Peak Forest along occasional Rail tamper units and departmental wagon storage.

Welwyn Garden City railway station Platform 1 viewed from the footbridge in May 2017

The EMU sidings,[14] just north of the station, consists of 9 electrified roads with the 8-car 365s or 700s able to use only 5 of the sidings because if they used the other sidings, they would block the siding next to it.[5]

Platforms 2 (southbound) and 3 (northbound) are in regular use for services to/from London Kings Cross and Cambridge. Platform 3 is also used for terminating trains for the carriage sidings and where trains from the carriage sidings form into passenger service - a few southbound trains start from here at peak times rather than platform 4 as they can access the flyover onto the Up Slow line.

Platform 4 is used for services to/from Moorgate, terminating trains for the carriage sidings and where trains from the carriage sidings form into passenger service.[5]

Platform 1 (the outer face of the up island) sees only occasional use as it has no direct access for northbound (down) terminating trains or empty units coming into service from the carriage sidings. The latter must cross over the flyover into the up reversing siding and then shunt back into the platform via the reversing line.

The West exit off the passenger footbridge leads into the Howard centre where the main station ticket office is located on the first floor while the East exit leads to the Broadwater industrial area.

Route
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Hatfield   Thameslink
Great Northern Route		   Welwyn North
Hatfield   Great Northern
Northern City Line		   Terminus
Disused railways
Hatfield
Line and station open		   Great Northern Railway
Dunstable Branch		   Ayot
Line and station closed
  Great Northern Railway
Hertford and Welwyn Junction Railway		   Cole Green
Line and station closed

Oyster card ticketing

Oyster cards are currently not accepted on journeys to Welwyn Garden City. The train operating company, Govia, agreed to extend London Zonal Fares to include Potters Bar by September 2015 when they won the Great Northern franchise. More recently Transport for London indicated that Welwyn Garden City and Potters Bar are two of the top four priority stations for the extension of London Zonal Fares and that introduction of the required software is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.[15]

References
  1. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
  2. Padgett, David (October 2016) [1988]. Brailsford, Martyn (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 2: Eastern (4th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. map 15A. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
  3. Butt 1995, p. 244
  4. Conolly 1976, p. 11, section F2
  5. Disused Stations - Welwyn Garden City Halt Disused Stations; Retrieved 2014-02-11
  6. Body 1986, p. 176
  7. http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/Main.php?sEvent=News&sFileName=News.php&iId=82
  8. http://www.howardcentre.co.uk/getting-here/find-us
  9. http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/Main.php?sEvent=News&sFileName=News.php&iId=58
  10. Table 25 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  11. Table 24 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  12. "Seven-day-a-week service to the City better for late-returning commuters and weekend shoppers"Great Northern/Thameslink website article 5 November 2015; Retrieved 22 August 2016
  13. London and South East Route Utilisation Strategy page 72
  14. Network Rail (6 June 2015). London North Eastern Route Sectional Appendix. Module LN2. p. 18.
  15. http://www.whtimes.co.uk/motoring/oyster-card-coming-to-welwyn-garden-city-hatfield-and-potters-bar-1-4614704

Bibliography
  • Body, G. (1986). PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 1. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 0-85059-712-9.
  • Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  • Conolly, W. Philip (January 1976). British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer (5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3. EX/0176.
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