Watton-at-Stone railway station

Watton-at-Stone railway station serves the village of Watton-at-Stone in Hertfordshire, England. It is 23 miles 72 chains (38.46 km) down the line from London King's Cross[1] on the Hertford Loop Line between Hertford North and Stevenage and is served by trains operated by Great Northern.

Watton-at-Stone
LocationWatton-at-Stone, District of East Hertfordshire
England
Coordinates51.8569°N 0.1198°W / 51.8569; -0.1198
Grid referenceTL295192
Managed byGreat Northern
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeWAS
ClassificationDfT category E
History
Original companyLondon and North Eastern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
2 June 1924Opened
10 September 1939Closed
17 May 1982Reopened
Passengers
2015/16 0.175 million
2016/17 0.168 million
2017/18 0.163 million
2018/19 0.154 million
2019/20 0.133 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

According to the Watton-at-Stone Parish Council,[2] a proposal for a rail route between London and Stevenage was approved by Parliament in 1898, though construction did not begin until 1906. A single-track section through Watton-at-Stone opened on 4 March 1918, with the track later being dualled.

The station saw its first passenger train run through on 6 February 1920, but did so only when a train was diverted from the East Coast Main Line as the result of an accident. Scheduled passenger services of four trains per day started on 2 June 1924, stopping on request at Watton-at-Stone.

The station's life as a passenger service was short-lived however, and it closed just 15 years later on 10 September 1939, despite the famed locomotive engineer Nigel Gresley's residency in the village.

The nationalised British Railways considered reopening the station in the 1960s, but it was not until 1981 that a campaign to reopen the station gathered momentum. The bulk of the £120,000 costs were paid for by Hertfordshire County Council and British Rail, but villagers and the parish council responded to a public appeal for funds, and together contributed £8,000. On 17 May 1982, a small crowd gathered to board the 06:23 service from Watton-at-Stone to Moorgate, the first passenger train to serve the village in almost 43 years.

Services

Prior to the May 2019 timetable change, the station was served by two trains per hour towards Moorgate and 1 tph to Stevenage; however during peak times this increases up to three trains an hour in each direction. Southbound trains for London run to Moorgate, whilst northbound trains generally terminate at the next stop on the line, Stevenage, apart from selected weekday trains which continue to Hitchin before terminating at Letchworth Garden City.

Since then, Great Northern has stopped running through to Stevenage and beyond on weekdays whilst upgrade works (to add an additional running line and terminal platform) are carried out at Stevenage station. An hourly replacement bus is in operation until the work is completed in spring 2020.[3] An hourly train service continues to operate over this section at weekends. The twice-hourly service to Hertford North and Moorgate continues as normal on weekdays.[4]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Hertford North   Great Northern
Hertford Loop Line		   Stevenage
  Historical railways  
Stapleford
Line open, station closed		   London and North Eastern Railway
Hertford Loop Line		   Stevenage
Line and station open

The Finishing Line

In 1977, track in the vicinity of the then closed station was used by British Transport Films as a set to film the notorious public information film The Finishing Line.[5] Using shock tactics to deter children from playing near railway lines, the film was staged as a dream sequence of a parody school sports day with 'events' on and around the track. Local schoolchildren were drafted as actors. The film was broadcast on the nightly Nationwide TV show, and the liberal quantities of stage blood and graphic depiction of injuries became a matter of some controversy.

References
  1. Padgett, David (October 2016) [1988]. Brailsford, Martyn (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 2: Eastern (4th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. map 24B. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
  2. Watton-at-Stone Parish Council: Transport
  3. "From 20 May 2019 buses replace trains from Monday-Friday between Stevenage and Watton-at-Stone"Great Northern website news article; Retrieved 24 July 2019
  4. Table 21 National Rail timetable, May 2019
  5. British Transport Films: The Finishing Line
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