Watton-at-Stone railway station

Watton-at-Stone
General information
Location	Watton-at-Stone, District of East Hertfordshire England
Coordinates	51.8569°N 0.1198°W / 51.8569; -0.1198
Grid reference	TL295192
Managed by	Great Northern
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	WAS
Classification	DfT category E
History
Original company	London and North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
2 June 1924	Opened
10 September 1939	Closed
17 May 1982	Reopened
Passengers
2019/20	0.133 million
2020/21	42,870
2021/22	0.114 million
2022/23	0.142 million
2023/24	0.159 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Watton-at-Stone railway station serves the village of Watton-at-Stone in Hertfordshire, England. It is 23 miles 72 chains (23.90 miles, 38.46 km) down the line from London King's Cross on the Hertford Loop Line between Hertford North and Stevenage and is served by trains operated by Great Northern.

History

According to the Watton-at-Stone Parish Council, 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

All services at Watton-at-Stone are operated by Great Northern using Class 717 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:

• 2 tph to Moorgate via Hertford North
• 2 tph to Stevenage

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

Cultural references

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. 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.

External links

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