Why not line between Hitchin and Luton?

[Harlequinuk]

As title - its 9 miles, yet to get a train between the 2, you need to go into London then back out!

 

[Dren Ahmeti]

As title - its 9 miles, yet to get a train between the 2, you need to go into London then back out!

There never has been a connection between the two by rail.
However the 101 bus by Arriva does it in 30 mins flat.

 

[RJ]

I saw this post on Facebook. Some journeys are just more practical to do by road, there can't be a railway line linking every two points. There used to be a far more dense rail network and many lines were done away with as it wasn't economical to operate them all.

 

[edwin_m]

I think it was looked at for East West Rail, probably also serving Luton Airport, before they settled on a route further north via Bedford and Tempsford. Looking at a map it's a very hilly area with the airport being on top of one of these hills, so would be very expensive to construct.

 

[ac6000cw]

In the distant past there was a line linking Bedford and Hitchin, built to provide the Midland Railway with a route to London via the GNR line to Kings Cross. But after the MR later built a line from Bedford direct to St. Pancras, it became a backwater and eventually closed to passengers in 1961.

 

[30907]

In the distant past there was a line linking Bedford and Hitchin, built to provide the Midland Railway with a route to London via the GNR line to Kings Cross. But after the MR later built a line from Bedford direct to St. Pancras, it became a backwater and eventually closed to passengers in 1961.

Luton was also served by the GNR, but from Hatfield, because even then traffic was London-oriented and Luton wasn't a significant destination demanding a connection from the North. Sorry

 

[LMS 4F]

In the distant past there was a line linking Bedford and Hitchin, built to provide the Midland Railway with a route to London via the GNR line to Kings Cross. But after the MR later built a line from Bedford direct to St. Pancras, it became a backwater and eventually closed to passengers in 1961.

I rode this line as a young lad of about 12. It crossed the Bedford to Bletchley line just east of Bedford St Johns on a 90 degree crossing. It also ran at the back of the first school I went to as a 5 year old. Happy Days.

 

[ac6000cw]

Luton was also served by the GNR, but from Hatfield, because even then traffic was London-oriented and Luton wasn't a significant destination demanding a connection from the North. Sorry

Wasn't the GNR line to Luton from Welwyn i.e. part of the Hertford, Luton and Dunstable Railway ?

The GNR also had a line from Hatfield to St. Albans, which closed to passenger traffic in 1951.

 

[Magdalia]

As title - its 9 miles, yet to get a train between the 2, you need to go into London then back out!

Looking at a map it's a very hilly area with the airport being on top of one of these hills, so would be very expensive to construct.

The Victorians never built a railway between Hitchin and Luton because it was too difficult and expensive. The terrain is hilly, part of the Chilterns, and a Victorian railway would have required lots of earthworks, viaducts and tunnels (I'm old enough to remember the old Hitchin-Luton road through Great Offley village). The Victorian engineers chose easier cross country routes instead, such as Welwyn-Luton in the Lea Valley and Sandy-Bedford in the Ouse Valley.

The only parts of the Chilterns that had a railway along the ridge were Hitchin-Royston, Cheddington-Aylesbury and Princes Risborough-Aylesbury/Watlington.

In the distant past there was a line linking Bedford and Hitchin, built to provide the Midland Railway with a route to London via the GNR line to Kings Cross. But after the MR later built a line from Bedford direct to St. Pancras, it became a backwater and eventually closed to passengers in 1961.

The Bedford-Hitchin line includes a tunnel at Old Warden to get through the greensand ridge, similar to Ampthill tunnel on the MML.

One of the quirks of the Beeching era closures was the elimination of all the cross country routes between the ECML and the MML between Kings Cross/St Pancras and the Peterborough-Leicester line. Sandy-Bedford (part of the Bletchley-Cambridge line) wasn't on Beeching's list, but was closed anyway.

 

[30907]

Wasn't the GNR line to Luton from Welwyn i.e. part of the Hertford, Luton and Dunstable Railway ?

Yes, but the majority of trains on both branches continued to run to/from Hatfield.

 

[TheGrew]

When I last went to London, the GN got snarled up (power failure), my wife and I hopped on a train to Luton Airport Parkway and got an Uber back to our car at Hitchin. Took about as long as the bus.

 

[stevieinselby]

There never has been a connection between the two by rail.
However the 101 bus by Arriva does it in 30 mins flat.

And between the 100 and 101, there's a direct bus every 15 minutes, which is not bad at all!

It doesn't show up on the inspiration for this topic – a journey from Cambridge to Luton – because the railway station at Hitchin is about a 15 minute walk from the town centre bus stops, and there is only an hourly bus service to the station which has a generous 15 minute connection for trains coming from Cambridge, meaning that by the time you've made all the changes it works out slower than going via London.
But if you don't mind walking just under a mile through Hitchin then by changing to the bus you can make the journey up to about 20 minutes quicker than taking the train via London.

 

[Magdalia]

It doesn't show up on the inspiration for this topic – a journey from Cambridge to Luton

If/when East West Rail opens it will be possible to do Cambridge-Luton with a change at Bedford.

 

[brad465]

Has this thread by any chance been inspired by this tweet from GB News' Tom Harwood:

https://x.com/tomhfh/status/1976668015325597922

Behold! The train journey from Cambridge to Luton!

(Image of Google Maps with train journey from Cambridge to Luton mapped out via Kings Cross to take 1h30m)

 

[PG]

If/when East West Rail opens it will be possible to do Cambridge-Luton with a change at Bedford.

However, depending on the timing of the connection, that may only be about 10 minutes faster than via London.

 

[ac6000cw]

There's also direct (but not that frequent, around every 4 hours) direct coach services from Cambridge to Luton Airport, plus train to Hitchin then taxi to Luton/Luton airport options.

 

[Haywain]

Wasn't the GNR line to Luton from Welwyn i.e. part of the Hertford, Luton and Dunstable Railway ?

No, because Welwyn is north of the junction from the GN main line and Welwyn Garden City didn’t exist when it was built. Therefore it was from Hatfield.

 

[William3000]

And between the 100 and 101, there's a direct bus every 15 minutes, which is not bad at all!

It doesn't show up on the inspiration for this topic – a journey from Cambridge to Luton – because the railway station at Hitchin is about a 15 minute walk from the town centre bus stops, and there is only an hourly bus service to the station which has a generous 15 minute connection for trains coming from Cambridge, meaning that by the time you've made all the changes it works out slower than going via London.
But if you don't mind walking just under a mile through Hitchin then by changing to the bus you can make the journey up to about 20 minutes quicker than taking the train via London.

It strikes me as a rail bus link - shown on maps between Hitchin and Luton Airport and Luton given some marketing - it could be useful.

 

[ac6000cw]

Yes, but the majority of trains on both branches continued to run to/from Hatfield.

No, because Welwyn is north of the junction from the GN main line and Welwyn Garden City didn’t exist when it was built. Therefore it was from Hatfield.

OK, thanks both - I stand corrected (and I didn't zoom into OpenRailwayMap quite enough to notice exactly where the junction was at Welwyn!)

It strikes me as a rail bus link - shown on maps between Hitchin and Luton Airport and Luton given some marketing - it could be useful.

Given that some LNER services stop at Stevenage in addition to TL & GN (including the Hertford Loop services), I suspect a direct Stevenage station to Luton Airport rail-bus link might be more useful/have higher usage, even though it's about 10 minutes longer driving time (versus Hitchin station to Luton Airport).

 

[Tester]

Given that some LNER services stop at Stevenage in addition to TL & GN (including the Hertford Loop services), I suspect a direct Stevenage station to Luton Airport rail-bus link might be more useful/have higher usage, even though it's about 10 minutes longer driving time (versus Hitchin station to Luton Airport).

Yes indeed - in the same way that the Railair bus to Heathrow is from Reading, rather than a nearer station.

 

[stevieinselby]

It strikes me as a rail bus link - shown on maps between Hitchin and Luton Airport and Luton given some marketing - it could be useful.

Potentially, although I suspect it is a limited market – people in Hitchin will I'm sure know about the frequent bus to Luton and will use it any time they want to get to Luton, and without a dedicated new service running from Hitchin station (and therefore duplicating the existing Arriva service) I can't see it being marketable as a connection from Hitchin station.

 

[Magdalia]

OK, thanks both - I stand corrected (and I didn't zoom into OpenRailwayMap quite enough to notice exactly where the junction was at Welwyn!)


Given that some LNER services stop at Stevenage in addition to TL & GN (including the Hertford Loop services), I suspect a direct Stevenage station to Luton Airport rail-bus link might be more useful/have higher usage, even though it's about 10 minutes longer driving time (versus Hitchin station to Luton Airport).

Have you looked at the map? The driving route between Stevenage and Luton is via Hitchin.

 

[ac6000cw]

Have you looked at the map? The driving route between Stevenage and Luton is via Hitchin.

Yes of course I have (I've driven it a reasonable number of times too), it goes through the south and western edges of Hitchin, not via the centre of it or the railway station.

 

[bramling]

Potentially, although I suspect it is a limited market – people in Hitchin will I'm sure know about the frequent bus to Luton and will use it any time they want to get to Luton, and without a dedicated new service running from Hitchin station (and therefore duplicating the existing Arriva service) I can't see it being marketable as a connection from Hitchin station.

I suspect most people in Hitchin are quite happy there isn’t a high-capacity transport link to Luton. Indeed, in terms of links with each other, Hitchin and Luton are about as far apart as can be.

Same with any prospect of re-opening Hitchin to Bedford. That route might now generate some local traffic with Henlow Camp and Shefford having seen much development since the line was closed, and even Cardington station would now be relevant to the greatly expanded Shortstown. But, again, like Luton, Bedford has little relevance to Hertfordshire.

The local lines which I’ve always felt might be more useful are Hatfield to St Albans and Welwyn to Luton. Both these corridors are now very heavily traffic congested. But both were single-track rural branches, and in that form wouldn’t really be suitable for current needs. Half-hourly Sevenoaks to St Albans Abbey via Hatfield?

 

[Magdalia]

That route might now generate some local traffic with Henlow Camp and Shefford having seen much development since the line was closed

Arlesey, reopened in 1988, is effectively the station for these.

The old station, closed in 1959, had various names during its life, including Arlesey and Shefford Road and Arlesey and Henlow.

 

[Haywain]

I suspect a direct Stevenage station to Luton Airport rail-bus link might be more useful/have higher usage,

That's pretty much what the current bus service is, albeit going via Hitchin town centre. The airport extension is very lightly used.

 

[bramling]

Arlesey, reopened in 1988, is effectively the station for these.

The old station, closed in 1959, had various names during its life, including Arlesey and Shefford Road and Arlesey and Henlow.

Arlesey isn’t within walking distance of either of these. I agree this isn’t necessarily a problem as all the new housing is totally car-dependent (there’s virtually *nothing* in Henlow Camp apart from new housing, and Shefford isn’t massively better), however if there’s any desire to make provision without reliance on cars then Arlesey isn’t sufficient.