Great Northern Branch Lines : Hatfield to St. Albans

The Hatfield & St. Albans Railway opened for traffic in October 1865. Reliant on GNR backing and operation, its short-lived importance was further nullified when the Midland Railway opened the southward extension from Bedford via St. Albans to London in 1868. The decades before WW I found branch trains conveying commodities as varied as orchids, bricks, building materials, potatoes and manure. After hostilities, competitive bus services increased on the busy main road between Hatfield and St. Albans, requiring economies in passenger train working and the withdrawal of Sunday services. Nationalisation from 1948 saw the branch divided between BR Eastern and London Midland regions; passenger service was withdrawn in 1951. Freight services continued until contracts expired and the branch closed in 1968. With local enthusiasm for the line a group formed the Smallford Station & Alban Way Heritage Trust; as a result, much of the trackbed is available for walkers and cyclists to enjoy where once locomotives ran.