Hemel Hempstead railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Hemel Hempstead
code = HML


manager = London Midland
locale = Hemel Hempstead
borough = Dacorum
usage0405 = 1.382
usage0506 = 1.464
usage0607 = 1.577
platforms = 5
start = 1912

Hemel Hempstead railway station is on the West Coast Main Line, on the western edge of the town of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England.The station is 39 km (24½ miles) north west of London Euston on the West Coast Main Line. Hemel Hempstead is managed and train services are operated by London Midland.

The railway station is in an area called Boxmoor. Bus services run from there to the town centre. Also in the vicinity of the station are two pubs and the Grand Union Canal, about 100 m away.

There are 4 full length (12 car) through platforms and one south facing bay (on the slow lines).

History

Hemel Hempstead station opened with the line as Boxmoor. It has also been called "Boxmoor and Hemel Hempstead" (1912 - 1930) and "Hemel Hempstead and Boxmoor" (1930 - 1963).

For many years, Hemel Hempstead station was almost a junction - a railway embankment on the south (down) side of the station led to the end of the "Nicky Line", a branch line through the town centre to Harpenden. However, due to arguments between the Midland Railway and the London & North Western Railway, no direct connection was made between the two lines. Nicky Line trains terminated in the town centre, at Heath Park Halt, with only occasional freight trains running down to Boxmoor. Only in the last months of the Nicky Line's operations did regular (goods) trains run along the connection. No passenger service was ever provided.

The nearby crossover at Bourne End was the site of a serious accident on 30 September 1945, when a Scottish express derailed after passing over the junction at excessive speed. The coaches rolled down a high embankment, and 43 lives were lost.

Services

From Hemel Hempstead, Monday to Saturdays there are 4 trains per hour southbound to London Euston, and an half-hourly service northbound to both Tring and Milton Keynes Central and an hourly service to Northampton. (Saturdays 4 per hour to Milton Keynes, half-hourly to Northampton).

Sundays there is a half-hourly service towards both London Euston and Northampton.

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