Royston railway station
Encyclopedia
Royston railway station serves the town of Royston
in Hertfordshire
, England
. The station is 44.9 mi (72.3 km) north east of London Kings Cross and 13.03 mi (21 km) south west of Cambridge
on the Hitchin-Cambridge Line. Trains serving the station are operated by First Capital Connect
.
The station is an important stop on the commuter line between King's Cross and Cambridge as the majority of semi-fast services between London and Cambridge stop at Royston - one exception being the 'Cambridge Cruiser' fast services from London. It is also the last station before Cambridge with platforms capable of handling 8-car trainsets. Therefore it is used by many commuters, not only from Royston but also from smaller stations north of Royston who transfer from stopping services to faster trains at the station.
electric trains from King's Cross terminated at Royston; passengers wishing to travel to Cambridge had to change to a connecting diesel multiple unit train. From 1988 the whole line from London to Cambridge was electrified, ending the need to change trains at Royston.
Services at Royston are now mainly operated by Class 365
electric multiple unit trains.
. Trains on these services are usually composed of Class 317
and Class 365
electric multiple units.
Trains to London King's Cross are either slow or semi-fast, departing at approximately half hour intervals. Slow services call at all major stations to King's Cross (not inner suburban-only stations), taking 62 minutes to arrive in London at an average of 43.5 mph (70 km/h) Semi-fast services call at only Baldock, Letchworth, Hitchin, Stevenage and Finsbury Park. During early morning peak-time there are some fast services running non-stop or stopping only at Letchworth, reaching London in under 40 minutes.
Two trains per hour also operate in the opposite direction to Cambridge. Slow trains call at all stations and take 26 minutes to arrive at Cambridge, operating at an average of 30.1 mph (48.4 km/h). Fast trains run non-stop to Cambridge, taking 17 minutes at an average of 46 mph (74 km/h). Some Cambridge-bound services continue to Ely and King's Lynn.
From the completion of the Thameslink Programme
in 2015 it is proposed that there will be a 2tph to Maidstone East
service.
railway stations are available for SimSig
, a signal
simulation game.
Royston station is mentioned in the novel About a Boy
by Nick Hornby.
Royston, Hertfordshire
Royston is a town and civil parish in the District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England.It is situated on the Greenwich Meridian, which brushes the towns western boundary, and at the northernmost apex of the county on the same latitude of towns such as Milton Keynes and...
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The station is 44.9 mi (72.3 km) north east of London Kings Cross and 13.03 mi (21 km) south west of Cambridge
Cambridge railway station
Cambridge railway station is a railway station serving the city of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located at the end of Station Road, off Hills Road, 1 mile south-east of the city centre...
on the Hitchin-Cambridge Line. Trains serving the station are operated by First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
.
The station is an important stop on the commuter line between King's Cross and Cambridge as the majority of semi-fast services between London and Cambridge stop at Royston - one exception being the 'Cambridge Cruiser' fast services from London. It is also the last station before Cambridge with platforms capable of handling 8-car trainsets. Therefore it is used by many commuters, not only from Royston but also from smaller stations north of Royston who transfer from stopping services to faster trains at the station.
Electrification
The railway from London King's Cross to Royston was electrified in 1978. Class 312British Rail Class 312
The British Rail Class 312 is a type of alternating current electric multiple unit built in 1975-1978 for use on outer-suburban passenger services. It was the last class of multiple unit to be constructed with the British Rail Mark 2 bodyshell, and also the last with slam doors...
electric trains from King's Cross terminated at Royston; passengers wishing to travel to Cambridge had to change to a connecting diesel multiple unit train. From 1988 the whole line from London to Cambridge was electrified, ending the need to change trains at Royston.
Services at Royston are now mainly operated by Class 365
British Rail Class 365
The British Rail Class 365 "Networker Express" are dual-voltage 25 kV AC and 750 V DC) electric multiple units built by ABB at York from 1994 to 1995. These were the last units to be built at the York factory before it closed...
electric multiple unit trains.
Services
First Capital Connect serves Royston on their Great Northern services inbound to London King's Cross and outbound to CambridgeCambridge railway station
Cambridge railway station is a railway station serving the city of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located at the end of Station Road, off Hills Road, 1 mile south-east of the city centre...
. Trains on these services are usually composed of Class 317
British Rail Class 317
The British Rail Class 317 alternating current electric multiple units were built by BREL York in two batches, from 1981-82 and 1985-87. They were the first of several classes of British Rail EMU to be based on the all-steel Mark 3 bodyshell, departing from the "PEP"-aluminium design which had...
and Class 365
British Rail Class 365
The British Rail Class 365 "Networker Express" are dual-voltage 25 kV AC and 750 V DC) electric multiple units built by ABB at York from 1994 to 1995. These were the last units to be built at the York factory before it closed...
electric multiple units.
Trains to London King's Cross are either slow or semi-fast, departing at approximately half hour intervals. Slow services call at all major stations to King's Cross (not inner suburban-only stations), taking 62 minutes to arrive in London at an average of 43.5 mph (70 km/h) Semi-fast services call at only Baldock, Letchworth, Hitchin, Stevenage and Finsbury Park. During early morning peak-time there are some fast services running non-stop or stopping only at Letchworth, reaching London in under 40 minutes.
Two trains per hour also operate in the opposite direction to Cambridge. Slow trains call at all stations and take 26 minutes to arrive at Cambridge, operating at an average of 30.1 mph (48.4 km/h). Fast trains run non-stop to Cambridge, taking 17 minutes at an average of 46 mph (74 km/h). Some Cambridge-bound services continue to Ely and King's Lynn.
From the completion of the Thameslink Programme
Thameslink Programme
The Thameslink Programme, originally Thameslink 2000, is a £6 billion project in south-east England to upgrade and expand the Thameslink rail network to provide new and longer trains between a wider range of stations to the north and to the south of London without requiring passengers to change...
in 2015 it is proposed that there will be a 2tph to Maidstone East
Maidstone East railway station
Maidstone East railway station is one of three stations in the central area of Maidstone, Kent, but currently the only one with a regular direct service to London. The station is on the Maidstone East Line, south-east of London Victoria , and is served by trains operated by...
service.
Trivia
Royston and Ashwell & MordenAshwell and Morden railway station
Ashwell and Morden railway station is a wayside railway station in Cambridgeshire, England.Close to the border with Hertfordshire, it is located in the hamlet of Odsey, slightly north of the Icknield Way, a Roman Road that is now the A505. The station is served by trains between Cambridge and...
railway stations are available for SimSig
SimSig
SimSig is a donationware Windows-based train simulator of modern railway signalling systems in Great Britain, from the point of view of a railway signaller. Users have also had success running SimSig on Linux using Wine. The program was written in Delphi 6, a dialect of Object Pascal, by Geoff Mayo...
, a signal
simulation game.
Royston station is mentioned in the novel About a Boy
About a Boy
About a Boy is a 1998 novel by British writer Nick Hornby. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 2002.-Plot summary:The novel is about Will Freeman, a 36-year-old bachelor, and Marcus, an introverted, bullied 12-year-old who lives alone with his suicidal mother, Fiona...
by Nick Hornby.