Arlesey railway station
Encyclopedia
Arlesey railway station serves the town of Arlesey
in Bedfordshire
, England
. 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
.
Arlesey is the nearest station to the towns of Stotfold
and Shefford
and to the villages of Langford
, Clifton
and Henlow
.
(GNR) (from to a junction with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
at Grimsby
) opened on 1 March 1848; but the southern section of the main line (from to ) was not opened until 7 August 1850. One of the 1850 stations was Arlsey and Shefford Road. It was renamed Arlesey and Shefford Road in March 1860, but the shorter name of Arlesey was used between July 1893 and July 1895.
The GNR became part of the London and North Eastern Railway
(LNER) during the Grouping
of 1923. On 1 March 1933 the LNER renamed the station Arlesey and Henlow. The station passed to the Eastern Region of British Railways
on nationalisation in 1948.
The station and the adjacent Three Counties railway station
were closed to passengers on 5 January 1959 and to goods on 28 November 1960 and demolished soon after due to declining receipts.
opened on 3 October 1988 on the site of the original station in the Church End
area of Arlesey. The rebuilt station was designed to be fully accessible to wheelchairs but was initially unusable by those who couldn't leave their chair as there were no facilities for 'loading and unloading'. First Capital Connect
provided the station with ramps in 2006, and users now simply have to ring 24 hours in advance for assistance.
In 2006 Her Majesty The Queen visited the station.
The station's platforms will be lengthened to accommodate 12 car trains scheduled to serve the station upon completion of the Thameslink Programme
.
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 with a Permit to Travel Machine and a modern Touch Screen ticket machine located in front of the booking office. Cycle storage is provided on both sides of the station; although only the southbound side has secure storage. First Capital Connect
installed a help point on Platform 1.
Arlesey station does not currently have automatic ticket gates. First Capital Connect
may provide gates during the next major refurbishment if passenger usage picks up.
. There is an hourly service in each direction on Sundays.
Timetables for Arlesey can be seen and downloaded here.
Arlesey
Arlesey is a small industrial town and civil parish in the district of Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire. It is located on the border with Hertfordshire, about three miles north-west of Letchworth Garden City, four miles north of Hitchin and six miles south of Biggleswade. Arlesey railway...
in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The station is 37 miles (60 km) north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
. Arlesey is managed and served by First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
.
Arlesey is the nearest station to the towns of Stotfold
Stotfold
Stotfold is a small town and civil parish in the county of Bedfordshire.In the 19th century, Stotfold was regarded as a wealthy place. The saying was that to live in Stotfold, one has to have £100 and a pig. The town is divided by a long road, High Street, which separates the north side from the...
and Shefford
Shefford
Shefford can mean the following:*Shefford, Bedfordshire, a town in Bedfordshire, England**Shefford Town F.C., the football club based in that town*Great Shefford, a village in Berkshire, England...
and to the villages of Langford
Langford, Bedfordshire
Langford is a village and civil parish situated alongside the River Ivel in the county of Bedfordshire.-Origins:The village is of Saxon origin, first mentioned in 944AD. and at one time it had one or more fording points across the river. The name is based on the words long ford from the length of...
, Clifton
Clifton, Bedfordshire
Clifton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Bedfordshire. It is historically one of the nine hundreds of Bedfordshire.The first recorded reference to Clifton is in 944 when it is referred to as Cliftune....
and Henlow
Henlow
Henlow is a village and civil parish in the district of Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England.RAF Henlow, is located nearby, but is in fact nearer to the village of Stondon...
.
Original station
The first section of the Great Northern RailwayGreat Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
(GNR) (from to a junction with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was formed by amalgamation in 1847. The MS&LR changed its name to the Great Central Railway in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension.-Origin:...
at Grimsby
Grimsby Town railway station
Grimsby Town railway station serves the town of Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire, England. It is currently operated by First TransPennine Express, and is also served by Northern Rail and East Midlands Trains...
) opened on 1 March 1848; but the southern section of the main line (from to ) was not opened until 7 August 1850. One of the 1850 stations was Arlsey and Shefford Road. It was renamed Arlesey and Shefford Road in March 1860, but the shorter name of Arlesey was used between July 1893 and July 1895.
The GNR became part of the London and North Eastern Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
(LNER) during the Grouping
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...
of 1923. On 1 March 1933 the LNER renamed the station Arlesey and Henlow. The station passed to the Eastern Region of British Railways
Eastern Region of British Railways
The Eastern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992...
on nationalisation in 1948.
The station and the adjacent Three Counties railway station
Three Counties railway station
Three Counties railway station is a disused railway station near Arlesey in Bedfordshire, England. It served the southern environs of Arlesey. These included the Three Counties Lunatic Asylum, which was finally subsequently known as the Fairfield Hospital. The station was north of Hitchin on the...
were closed to passengers on 5 January 1959 and to goods on 28 November 1960 and demolished soon after due to declining receipts.
Present station
The line, however, remained open; and the present station built by Network SouthEastNetwork SouthEast
Network SouthEast was one of three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE principally operated commuter trains in the London area and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the network reached as far west as Exeter...
opened on 3 October 1988 on the site of the original station in the Church End
Church End, Arlesey
Church End is a former hamlet in Bedfordshire, England, which is now part of Arlesey town.Originally, Church End was a small rural settlement, named after St Peters Church which was built in the 12th century in the area by the monks of Waltham Abbey. However, the expansion of Arlesey northwards led...
area of Arlesey. The rebuilt station was designed to be fully accessible to wheelchairs but was initially unusable by those who couldn't leave their chair as there were no facilities for 'loading and unloading'. First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
provided the station with ramps in 2006, and users now simply have to ring 24 hours in advance for assistance.
In 2006 Her Majesty The Queen visited the station.
The station's platforms will be lengthened to accommodate 12 car trains scheduled to serve the station upon completion of the Thameslink Programme
Thameslink Programme
The Thameslink Programme, originally Thameslink 2000, is a £6 billion project in south-east England to upgrade and expand the Thameslink rail network to provide new and longer trains between a wider range of stations to the north and to the south of London without requiring passengers to change...
.
Facilities
The station is fully accessible to wheelchair users, and FCC installed modern LED lights on both platforms in 2009.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 with a Permit to Travel Machine and a modern Touch Screen ticket machine located in front of the booking office. Cycle storage is provided on both sides of the station; although only the southbound side has secure storage. First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
installed a help point on Platform 1.
Arlesey station does not currently have automatic ticket gates. First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
may provide gates during the next major refurbishment if passenger usage picks up.
Services
Arlesey station is served by a half-hourly service southbound to London Kings Cross and northbound to PeterboroughPeterborough railway station
Peterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, England. It is located approximately north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line...
. 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, .| 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 | - | - |