Luton railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Location
Luton
Place	Luton
Local authority	Luton
Operations
Managed by	First Capital Connect
Platforms in use	5
Annual entry/exit 04/05	3.064 million **
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
** based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at Luton. Disclaimer (PDF)

Luton railway station is located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The station is near to the town centre, about three minutes' walk from the Arndale Shopping Centre. It is situated on the Midland Main Line and is operated by First Capital Connect.

It was built by the Midland Railway in 1868 on its extension to St. Pancras. For some years it was known as Luton Midland Road to distinguish it from the earlier Luton Bute Street, built in 1858 on the GNR line from Hertford North.

In order to build the line a public area known as the "Great Moor" had to be built through. The remainder of the land was bought for development by John Crawley, who provided a replacement in what is known as the "People's Park." This proved a worthwhile investment because, as the town's staple trade in straw hats diminished as they went out of fashion, it was replaced by engineering works. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the population had nearly trebled., and the station had become an important stop for main line expresses. The station was modernised in 1937 then again in 1960 when a further platform was added for the suburban services to and from St. Pancras.

[edit] Services

Luton station is served by First Capital Connect and Midland Mainline trains. From Luton, trains go north to Bedford, Kettering, Leicester, Loughborough and Nottingham. Southbound trains go to Luton Airport Parkway, St Albans, London, Gatwick Airport, Brighton, Wimbledon and Sutton.

The typical off peak service from this station is as follows:

4 trains per hour (tph) to Bedford (operated by First Capital Connect)
4 tph to Brighton via Luton Airport Parkway, St Albans, London and Gatwick Airport (First Capital Connect)
2 tph to Sutton via Luton Airport Parkway, St Albans, London and Wimbledon (First Capital Connect)
1 tph to Nottingham via Bedford, Kettering, Leicester and Loughborough (Midland Mainline)
1 tph to London St Pancras (Midland Mainline)

First Capital Connect trains serve several stations in Central London, including Kings Cross Thameslink and Blackfriars.

There was previously a shuttle bus service from the station to nearby London Luton Airport. However, this ceased following the construction of Luton Airport Parkway station.