St Albans Abbey railway station

Image: © Nigel Cox Taken: 29 May 2009

There was a discussion on Radio 4's Today programme that touched on the subject of the drabness and unappealing look of some of the country's railway stations that serve tourist attractions. The tourist attraction here is obviously the Abbey and this is the eponymous station that serves it, at the end of the Abbey Flyer branch line from Watford Junction. Network Rail would argue that the minimalist facilities are essential in maintaining the economies necessary to keep the line open. Whatever, the station was the first in St Albans, being opened in 1858 by the London & North Western Railway some ten years before the Midland Railway built their separate main line to London through what is now St Albans City station. The railway line to Hatfield, which was completed in 1865, peeled off to the left about 400 metres away in the distance. Ordnance Survey maps of the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century show a large terminus station with a goods yard and sidings, including one to the nearby gasworks. Under the current timetable arrangements there is a train every 45 minutes or so to Watford Junction with a scheduled journey time of 16 minutes.

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