Girtford Halt railway station

Girtford Halt was a short-lived railway halt on the Varsity Line which served the Girtford area of Sandy in Bedfordshire, England. It was opened by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1938, but closed to passenger traffic two years later in 1940. The line itself closed in 1968, and the site of the railway station has been obliterated by a roundabout.

Girtford Halt
General information
Location	Sandy, Central Bedfordshire England
Grid reference	TL164503
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 January 1938[1]	Opened as Girtford
July 1938	Renamed Girtford Halt
17 November 1940	Closed to passengers
1 November 1951[2]	Closed to goods

History

In January 1938, the LMSR opened Girtford Halt at the point where the A1 crossed the Varsity Line, a little to the north of the small hamlet from which it took its name. A siding for vegetable traffic had existed on the station site since 1863 and this remained open. Passenger facilities consisted of little more than a raised concrete platform; access was via a field to the rear of the station; tickets had to be purchased from a nearby garage. The station was, however, little used^[3] and passenger services were withdrawn in November 1940, the station remaining open for freight until 1951.^[4]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Blunham		British Railways Varsity Line		Sandy

Present day

No trace of the station remains and its site has been taken over by a roundabout on Georgetown Road, a new road skirting the London Road Industrial Estate.^[5]

References

1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 177.
2. Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977. Bristol: Avon-AngliA Publications & Services. p. 52. ISBN 0-905466-19-5.
3. Simpson, Bill (2000). The Oxford to Cambridge Railway: Forty Years On 1960-2000. Witney, Oxford: Lamplight Publications. p. 120. ISBN 1-899246-05-3.
4. Davies, R.; Grant, M.D. (1984). Forgotten Railways: Chilterns and Cotswolds. Newton Abbot, Devon: David St John Thomas. p. 120. ISBN 0-946537-07-0.
5. Subterranea Britannica, "Girtford Halt".

External links

• "Disused Stations". Subterranea Britannica.

52.1392°N 0.2998°W / 52.1392; -0.2998