Stevenage railway station

Stevenage Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Location	Stevenage
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	First Capital Connect
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	SVG
History
Opened	23 July 1973
Key dates
8 August 1850	Original station opened by GNR
22 July 1973	Station closed
23 July 1973	Relocated ½ mile south to present location and opened by BR
29 September 1973	Officially opened by Shirley Williams MP

Stevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. The station is 27 miles 45 chains (44.4 km) north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line. Stevenage is managed and served by First Capital Connect. It is also served by East Coast and First Hull Trains.

The present station was opened on 26 July 1973 by Shirley Williams, then MP for Stevenage, replacing the previous station, which was 73 chains (1,500 m) to the north, and further away from the centre of the new town.

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, which all ended shortly after the station was opened. In 1946, Stevenage was one of the first communities selected to become a 'New Town' as part of the governments New Towns Act, which resulted in a new town centre. In 1973, the railway station was relocated a mile south, within walking distance (220 yd, 200 m) of the new town centre.

Facilities

The station has two separate ticket offices - East Coast and First Capital Connect - though in practice each will sell each other's tickets. There are also seven ticket machines. There are toilets at street level (but not on the platforms) and restricted lift access from the station to both the station's platforms.

Stevenage Railway Station

The station also has automatic ticket barriers, which were installed by First Capital Connect shortly after taking over the route, as a revenue protection exercise and to improve security at the station. There is a snack bar, coffee bar, and a dry-cleaner's at street level and two coffee bars at platform level, with one per platform. The newsagent previously at street level closed in January 2013, but re-opened temporarily in March 2013, pending a redevelopment of the station.

Since December 2013 FCC started refurbishing the station completely, introducing passenger lifts between platform and street level, and refurbishing the concourse area plus retail units.

Both island platforms have indoor waiting rooms that were refurbished in May 2012 as part of a wider scheme by First Capital Connect 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

First Capital Connect services

Great Northern route
King's Lynn Watlington Downham Market Littleport Ely Waterbeach Cambridge North Cambridge M11 motorway Foxton Shepreth Peterborough Meldreth Huntingdon Royston St Neots Ashwell & Morden St Neots South/Tempsford Sandy Baldock Biggleswade A1(M) motorway Arlesey Letchworth Garden City Hitchin Stevenage Knebworth Watton-at-Stone Welwyn North Hertford North Welwyn Garden City Bayford Hatfield Cuffley Welham Green M25 motorway Brookmans Park Crews Hill Potters Bar Gordon Hill M25 motorway Enfield Chase Hadley Wood Grange Park New Barnet Winchmore Hill Oakleigh Park Palmers Green New Southgate Bowes Park Alexandra Palace Hornsey Harringay Finsbury Park London King's Cross Drayton Park London St Pancras International Highbury & Islington Thameslink route Essex Road Old Street Moorgate

Most of the trains serving Stevenage station are operated by First Capital Connect, lying on its Great Northern Route from London King's Cross to Peterborough and Cambridge. It is also served by trains between London and Letchworth via Hertford North; these trains use Moorgate station in London on weekdays (except late evenings) and King's Cross at other times. FCC services mainly use the outer faces of each island platform - platform 1 for Kings Cross and Moorgate and platform 4 for Letchworth, Cambridge and Peterborough. During weekday rush hours & at weekends, Hertford North trains also terminate & start from platform 4.

East Coast services

East Coast Route
Inverness Carrbridge Aviemore Kingussie Newtonmore Blair Atholl Pitlochry Dunkeld & Birnam Perth Gleneagles Dunblane Stirling Falkirk Aberdeen Stonehaven Montrose Arbroath Dundee Leuchars Kirkcaldy Inverkeithing Glasgow Central Motherwell Haymarket Edinburgh Waverley Dunbar Reston Berwick-upon-Tweed Alnmouth Morpeth Newcastle Durham Darlington Northallerton York Skipton Keighley Bradford Forster Square Shipley Harrogate Horsforth Leeds Wakefield Westgate Hull Brough Selby Doncaster Retford Lincoln Newark North Gate Grantham Peterborough Stevenage London King's Cross

Stevenage is also served by some of East Coast's trains on the East Coast Main Line. Typically, these are trains between London King's Cross and Leeds or Newcastle, but there are also services to Edinburgh and Glasgow. These use platform 2 southbound and platform 3 northbound.

First Hull Trains services

Hull Trains: Beverley & Hull to London
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.

First Hull Trains offer a very limited service only calling at Stevenage on Sundays, 1 train northbound and 2 trains southbound. These services run between King's Cross and Hull.

Bus Services

Bus services are available at or near the station to various parts of the town and to nearby Hertford, Ware, Luton, Letchworth, Hitchin, Baldock, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, St Albans, Hemel Hempstead and London.

Buses SB1, SB2, SB3, SB7, SB8, SB9, SB15, SB16, SB40, SB50, 10, 55, 80, 100, 101, 102, 301, 384, 390, 391, 625, 635, and Green Line coach 797 all stop at the station, and the 777 National Express coach to Birmingham or Stansted will stop if previously requested. The station is only a short walk from the town's main bus station, which is served by a number of other bus services.

Ticket Office Opening Times & Station Staffing Hours

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

First Capital Connect Ticket Office Hours
Day	Opens	Closes
Monday to Thursday	06:15	20:30
Friday	06:15	21:45
Saturday	06:30	21:30
Sunday	08:00	20:15

Station Staffing Hours
Day	Times
Monday to Sunday	24 Hours

Routes

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Knebworth		First Capital Connect East Coast Main Line		Hitchin
Watton-at-Stone		First Capital Connect Hertford Loop Line
London King's Cross		East Coast East Coast Main Line		Peterborough
London King's Cross		First Hull Trains East Coast Main Line		Grantham

External links

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