Garston railway station (Hertfordshire)

This article is about the station in Hertfordshire. For the former station on Merseyside, see Garston railway station (Merseyside).

Garston railway station serves the Garston area of Watford in Hertfordshire, England. It is the third station on the Abbey Line after Watford Junction and Watford North. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Northwestern Railway.

Garston
General information
Location	Garston, Watford England
Grid reference	TQ119999
Managed by	London Northwestern Railway
Platforms	1
Other information
Station code	GSN
Classification	DfT category F2
Key dates
7 February 1966	Opened
Passengers
2019/20	75,218
2020/21	8,796
2021/22	18,412
2022/23	41,946
2023/24	45,030
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Like all the other stations on the branch, Garston is an unstaffed railway halt. At opening by British Rail in 1966 it was a welcome addition to a branch which was otherwise being heavily rationalised.

History

The station was opened by the Mayor of Watford on 7 February 1966. It consisted of just a short wooden platform, and was probably the first new station (as opposed to a relocation) in Great Britain following the Beeching Report of 1963,^{[citation needed]} which led to the closure of many stations.

In 2010 the station was improved with new signage, a new shelter, new lighting & artwork by children from Berry Grove Primary School^[1] (now The Grove Academy) - a local school located at the end of Fourth Avenue.

Services

All services at Garston are operated by London Northwestern Railway using Class 350 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service on all days of the week is one train per hour in each direction between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey. This is increased to a train approximately every 45 minutes in each direction during the peak hours.^[2]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Watford North towards Watford Junction		London Northwestern Railway Abbey Line		Bricket Wood towards St Albans Abbey

Connections

The station is served by the Uno route 635 which provides connections to Watford, Hatfield, Stevenage and Hitchin.^[3]

Future

Possible changes on the line include new means of buying tickets, and the restoration of a passing loop at Bricket Wood, which would facilitate a 30-minute train service. In October 2009 the Department for Transport announced plans to convert the line to light rail.