Watton-at-Stone railway station

Watton-at-Stone
Location
Place	Watton-at-Stone
Local authority	District of East Hertfordshire
Coordinates	51°51′25″N 0°07′11″W / 51.8569°N 0.1198°WCoordinates: 51°51′25″N 0°07′11″W / 51.8569°N 0.1198°W
Grid reference	TL295192
Operations
Station code	WAS
Managed by	Great Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.102 million
2005/06	93,188
2006/07	0.108 million
2007/08	0.124 million
2008/09	0.127 million
2009/10	0.128 million
2010/11	0.125 million
2011/12	0.120 million
2012/13	0.141 million
2013/14	0.159 million
2014/15	0.168 million
History
Original company	London and North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
2 June 1924	Opened
10 September 1939	Closed
17 May 1982	Reopened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Watton-at-Stone from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Watton-at-Stone railway station serves the village of Watton-at-Stone in Hertfordshire, England. It is on the Hertford Loop branch line between Hertford North and Stevenage and is served by trains operated by Great Northern.

History

According to the Watton-at-Stone Parish Council,^[1] a proposal for a rail route between London and Stevenage was approved 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 11 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

Generally, the station is served by one train per hour in each direction, however during peak times this increases up to three trains an hour in each direction.Up trains largely operate towards Moorgate, whilst Down (away from London) trains call at Stevenage and weekday services continue to Hitchin before terminating at Letchworth Garden City.

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.^[2] 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. Watton-at-Stone Parish Council: Transport
2. British Transport Films: The Finishing Line

External links

• Train times and station information for Watton-at-Stone railway station from National Rail
• Other map sources for grid reference TL296192 (coordinates 51°51′24″N 0°07′09″W / 51.8566°N 0.1192°W)
• Movie of steam train Duke of Gloucester passing through Watton-at-Stone