A Brief Chronology Railways in
and around Welwyn |
1845 | The Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex Junction Railway propose a route from Harlow to Luton. Traveling via Tewin - Digswell Valley - Welwyn - Ayot St. Lawrence. However the lack of financial support halted this plan |
26th June 1846 | Parliamentary assent was given for the building of a railway from London to York. William Cubitt was appointed consulting engineer by Edmund Denison who was responsible for the scheme. |
1848 | Building commences on the line. Joseph Cubitt, son of William Cubitt, is appointed as resident engineer. |
5th August 1850 | The first train crosses the viaduct a special from Maiden Lane (London's temporary terminus) to Peterborough. |
7th August 1850 | An all stations, parliamentary, train departs from the Maiden Lane to York. |
8th August 1850 | Regular passenger train services commence to York. |
1858 | The first station at Welwyn allowing passengers on the Hertford - Luton railway to connect with main line trains. This station was located where the current EMU storage sidings are located |
January 1858 | Cracks appear in the viaduct and tie rods are inserted to arrest their development and a speed limit of 15mph is placed across the viaduct. |
1884 | Knebworth Station is opened. |
1898 | Parliamentary Sanction is obtained for a line to avoid Welwyn. The route is to be built from Wood Green to Stevenage. |
1st July 1905 | Attimore Hall halt closed |
1910 | The route from Wood Green to Cuffley is opened |
1917 | Halt platforms are built just to the north of Hunters Bridge, serving both the Dunstable and Hertford Branches. |
1919 | The land for the site of the new "Garden City" in Welwyn in purchased. Resident engineer W.E. James plans a 2ft gauge system to transport building materials for construction of the houses. |
1920 | The Hertford loop is fully opened with the completion of the Cuffley to Stevenage Section. |
26th April 1920 | The first delivery of bricks arrives for the Hanside Lane Development. The narrow gauge line is then extended to the brickworks. |
1st January 1923 | The Great Northern Railway becomes a part of the London and North Eastern Railway. |
1924 | The narrow gauge railway network is extended to the new gravel pit at Digswell Water. |
5th October 1926 | The current station, albeit in it's original guise, is officially opened by the Rt. Hon. Neville Chamberlin, however the station had actually been open since 20th September. |
October 1935 | Work is completed on an outer skin of blue facing bricks. This work was required because the original red bricks proved to be to porous. |
1936 | The narrow gauge network is removed. The foot bridge from Howardsgate to the Platforms is extended to the east to reach Hyde Way |
18th June 1951 | Services to Hertford cease |
1958 | Diesel Haulage commences |
1966 | Freight Services are withdrawn from Welwyn North Station |
24th April 1965 | Services to Luton and Dunstable cease, freight continues |
1970 | Luton and Dunstable freight services cease, Electrification commences |
26th September 1971 | York road power box is opened and colour light signaling is phased in. |
16th September 1973 | Welwyn North signal box closed and subsequently demolished in December |
Autumn 1974 | Welwyn Viaduct is electrified. |
1976 | The track layout is revised for the new inner suburban electric services with the addition of a flyover at the end of the station |
6th February 1976 | Electric services commence between Kings Cross and Royston |
7th June 1977 | 313 029 becomes the first electric train to call at Welwyn North (1G03) with "The Silver Jubilee Special". |
18th October 1984 | The west side car park extension begins. |
February 1985 | Planning application C6/108/85 is placed to "create a new shopping area and railway travel center." |
1985 | The first goods station in Welwyn Garden City is closed and the site is let to UMB Freight (Welwyn) |
April 1986 | 60% of members at a parish meeting vote against changing the name of Welwyn North to Digswell. |
May 1986 | The brick goods shed is demolished. |
28th January 1986 | UMB Freight officially open there Freight terminal, The ceremony is performed by Cllr. J. McDonald |
October 1997 | Ove Arup are appointed consultant engineers to plan a method to alleviate the bottleneck between Digswell Junction and Woolmer Green |
9th November 1999 | Letters are sent out to residents along the East Coast Main Line about the planned project to build a new set of viaducts and tunnels. |
February 2003 | Line side vegetation clearing works are carried out between Woolmer Green and Digswell in preparation for 4 tracking this section |