page_title: Abbey Line
section_title: Past connections
hierarchical_section_title: Abbey Line / History / Past connections
caption_attribution_description: English: Detail of the Victoria history of the County of Hertford map showing the Abbey Line
context_page_description: The Abbey Line, also called the St Albans Abbey branch line, is a railway line from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey. The 6.5-mile route passes through town and countryside in the county of Hertfordshire, just outside the boundaries of the Oyster Card and London fare zones. Its northern terminus in St Albans Abbey is located in the south of the city, around 1.2 kilometres away from the larger St Albans City railway station on the Midland Main Line.
  The Abbey line is a semi-rural line and, due to its single-track operation, service frequencies are limited. The service is sometimes referred to locally as the Abbey Flyer.
context_section_description: The line was built in its current form: a branch from Watford to St. Albans. However, the line was at times connected to two other lines. One, the Hatfield and St Albans Railway, opened in 1865 from St. Albans Abbey station to the East Coast main line at Hatfield. Mostly a local route, the construction of the Midland main line ensured that it never became popular with the critical market of passengers to London. It closed to passengers in 1951, part of a cutback of minor routes after the war. The whole route closed to goods in 1964, though a short stub at the Hatfield end lasted until 1968.
  During construction of the Midland main line in the 1860s, a branch was laid from near How Wood to the Midland route to carry building materials. Never used by passenger services, Ordnance Survey maps indicate it closed between 1883 and 1898 although the embankment and some bridge abutments remain very visible. As part of a cost-cutting plan in the 1980s, British Rail examined reopening this, with the aim of diverting the branch to the City station and selling off the valuable Abbey station site.
caption: 1902 map showing the route of the Abbey Line with its lost connection to the Midland main line
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