Stevenage railway station



Stevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. The station is around 44.4 kilometres (27.6 miles) north of London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line. Stevenage is served and managed by Great Northern, who operate Thameslink stopping services southbound to King’s Cross via stations such as Welwyn Garden City and Potters Bar, to Brighton and Horsham via central London and Gatwick Airport and to Moorgate via Watton-at-Stone, Hertford North and Enfield Chase and services northbound to Cambridge and Peterborough. It is also frequently served by London North Eastern Railway, who operate fast non-stopping services southbound towards London and northbound towards cities including York, Leeds and Edinburgh. Hull Trains and Lumo operate very limited services from the station.

The present station was opened for trains on 23 July 1973. It was officially opened on 26 September 1973 by Shirley Williams, then MP for Stevenage, replacing the previous station, which was 73 chain to the north, and further away from the centre of the new town. The station was built by British Rail.

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 became one of the first New Towns, which resulted in a new town centre. In 1973, the railway station was relocated 73 chain south, within walking distance (220 yd) of the new town centre.

In 2021, a tactile map was installed, in collaboration with the Royal National Institute of Blind People, to help blind and partially sighted passengers navigate the station.

Facilities
The station has two separate ticket offices (Great Northern and London North Eastern Railway), but in practice, each also sells the other's tickets. There are also seven ticket machines. There are toilets at street level (but not on the platforms) and lifts from the station building to both platforms.

The station also has automatic ticket barriers, which were installed by First Capital Connect (the previous train operator) shortly after it took over the route, as a revenue protection exercise, and to improve security at the station. There is a snack bar, at street level, and two coffee bars at platform level, with one per platform. The newsagent previously at street level closed in March 2014, pending the redevelopment of the station which has since been completed. Since December 2013, the previous train operator, First Capital Connect started refurbishing the station completely, introducing passenger lifts between platform and street level, and refurbishing the concourse area plus retail units. The works were due to be completed by April 2014, but were delayed. Since Great Northern took over the franchise in September 2014, these works have been completed.

Both island platforms have indoor waiting rooms that were refurbished in May 2012 as part of a wider scheme 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 Interchange and is opposite a leisure complex that includes the Gordon Craig Theatre.

Great Northern
Great Northern serve Stevenage with a half-hourly service to Moorgate which calls at all stations via the Hertford Loop Line. These services start and finish at Stevenage using Platform 5 at the station, which opened in 2020. These services are operated using EMUs.

Great Northern also operate an hourly fast service during the weekday peak hours between London King's Cross and Peterborough. Southbound, this service runs non-stop to London King's Cross and northbound, calls only at Biggleswade, St Neots and Huntingdon. These services are operated using EMUs.

London North Eastern Railway
London North Eastern Railway generally serve Stevenage with two trains per hour in each direction during the day. The station is served by an hourly service between London King's Cross and Leeds, with a train every two hours continuing to Harrogate. The station is also served by an hourly service from London King's Cross, alternating northbound between terminating at Lincoln or York via Retford.

During the peak hours, a small number of the services to Leeds are extended to and from Bradford Forster Square.

The station is also served by a small number of early morning and late evening services to and from Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley.

Services are operated using bi-mode trains and  EMUs.

Hull Trains
Hull Trains operate a limited service at Stevenage on Sunday afternoons only. The station is served by one northbound service to Hull and two southbound services to London King's Cross. Services are operated using bi-mode trains.

Thameslink services
As of May 2023, most services at Stevenage are operated by Thameslink using EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:
 * 2 tph to London King's Cross (stopping)
 * 2 tph to Brighton via London Bridge and Gatwick Airport (semi-fast)
 * 2 tph to Horsham via London Bridge, Redhill and Gatwick Airport
 * 2 tph to Peterborough (all stations)
 * 2 tph to Letchworth Garden City of which 1 continues to Cambridge (all stations)
 * 2 tph to Cambridge (semi-fast)

On Sundays, the services between Brighton and Cambridge are reduced to hourly, with the service to Horsham not operating.

Lumo
As of October 2021, Lumo operates a number of services at Stevenage. The station is served by two northbound services to Edinburgh Waverley and three southbound services to London King's Cross. Services are operated using EMUs.

Additional platform
Until May 2018 most weekday trains on the Hertford Loop Line were extended to Letchworth, as there was insufficient capacity to accommodate terminating trains at Stevenage. However, in 2018, Govia Thameslink Railway cut back all services to start/terminate at Stevenage. To help alleviate the capacity problem, an additional south-facing bay platform was built at Stevenage, similar to the arrangement at Welwyn Garden City, which allows Hertford loop line services to start and terminate here. It was officially opened on 3 August 2020.