Arlesey railway station

Arlesey
General information
Location	Central Bedfordshire
Managed by	First Capital Connect
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	ARL
Key dates
7 August 1850	Station opens as Arlsey and Shefford Road
March 1860	Station renamed Arlesey and Shefford Road
July 1893	Station renamed Arlesey
July 1895	Station renamed Arlesey and Shefford Road
1 March 1933	Station renamed Arlesey and Henlow
5 January 1959	Station closes
3 October 1988	Rebuilt station opens

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Arlesey Railway Station is a railway station in the town of Arlesey in Bedfordshire, England. It is also the nearest station to the towns of Stotfold, Shefford and the villages of Clifton and Henlow. The station is 37 miles (60 km) north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line. Arlesey is managed and served by First Capital Connect.

History

Original station

Arlsey railway station was opened by the Great Northern Railway, which became part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station then passed on to the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

The station that was originally named Arlesey and Henlow was closed to passengers on 5 January 1959 and goods on 28 November 1960 (source: Bedfordshire Libraries), together with the adjacent Three Counties station. This was not as a result of the "Beeching Report", which was not published until 1963, but was due rather to declining receipts. It was demolished soon after closure. The line, however, remained open and the station eventually re-built and re-opened in 1988.

Present station

The present station opened on 3 October 1988 on the site of the original station in the Church End area of Arlesey, and was built by Network SouthEast. It was designed to be fully accessible to wheelchairs but until 2006, the rebuilt station couldn't be used by wheelchair users who couldn't leave their chair as there were no facilities for 'loading and unloading'. However First Capital Connect have since provided the station with ramps, and users simply have to ring 24 hours in advance for assistance.

In 2006 Her Majesty The Queen visited the station.

The station's platforms are about to be lengthened so that they can cope with 12 car trains, which will serve the station following the completion of the Thameslink Programme.

Facilities

Passenger infrastructure

The station is fully-accessible to wheelchair users.

The station now has two small shelters on both platforms. The station is currently (as of 2010) served by a small portable cafe in the mornings.

There is a ticket office on the southbound platform and there is a modern Touch Screen ticket machine located in front of the booking office, and there is also a Permit to Travel Machine. Cycle storage is provided on both sides of the station, although secure storage is only on the southbound side. The station also has a help point on Platform 1, which was installed by First Capital Connect.

Arlesey station does not currently have automatic ticket gates, and is unlikely to do so in the future, at least until its next major refurbishment. There are no current plans for this, however, if passenger usage picks up First Capital Connect may change that.

Train services

Arlesey station is served by a half-hourly service southbound to London Kings Cross and northbound to Peterborough. There is an hourly service in each direction on Sundays.

Timetables for Arlesey can be seen and downloaded here.

Ticket Office Opening Times & Station Staffing Hours

Below are the current opening and staffing times for Arlesey, as of 2010.

Ticket Office Hours
Day	Opens	Closes
Monday to Friday	06:45	12:10
Saturday	07:45	13:10
Sunday	-	-

Station Staffing Hours
Day	From	Until
Monday to Friday	06:30	12:30
Saturday	07:30	13:30
Sunday	-	-

Route

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Hitchin		First Capital Connect Great Northern Peterborough Line		Biggleswade
Historical railways
Three Counties Line open; Station closed		Great Northern Railway East Coast Main Line		Biggleswade Line and station open

References

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 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. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.

External links

• Station on navigable O.S. map

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