Platform 5 at Stevenage Station has been officially opened after a £40m investment in the station, allowing more frequent services in the future.
The project was delivered a year ahead of schedule and will provide passengers with more connections on the East Coast Main Line.
Rail Minister Chris Heaton Harris officially opened the platform on Monday and hailed the project an important milestone in the £1.2m upgrade of the East Coast Main Line.
The new platform includes a lift, ticket machine, seating and waiting rooms.
Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “Our ambition is not just to deliver more punctual journeys, but to deliver major projects punctually as well.
“This new platform and track at Stevenage will mean more frequent and reliable services for passengers who use the line day in day out.
“Thanks to the hard work of Network Rail and GTR who have worked tirelessly to accelerate the project, we have reached an important milestone in our ambitious £1.2 billion East Coast upgrade, which will bring improved connections, faster journeys, thousands of extra seats per day and more choice for passengers.”
Paul Rutter, Network Rail Route Director, said: “This vital project to build a bay platform at Stevenage is part of a programme of investment that will allow additional services to run on the East Coast Main Line, bringing more choice, more seats and a more reliable railway for passengers.
“It will also bring more resilient local services on the Hertford Loop, as trains will soon be able to terminate at Stevenage and then go back towards London.
“We would like to thank passengers who have needed to use bus replacement services between Stevenage and Watton-at-Stone, station users and people who live near the railway for their continued patience whilst this essential part of the East Coast upgrade was completed.”
Steve White, GTR Chief Operating Officer, said: “The most recent independent customer satisfaction survey showed Great Northern as the most improved operator. This is more good news for our customers.
“We have worked closely with Network Rail on this important project as part of the continuing transformation of our railway. This new, additional, platform will help us run services more punctually on both the Great Northern metro and mainline services.
“The new platform also means that we can start running our Hertford services to and from Stevenage again, giving our customers from that area fast, convenient, step-free connections at the station to Cambridge, London, Gatwick and Brighton.”
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Very nice. Is Great Northern going to use the Class 717s to Letchworth Garden City to/from Moorgate.
A new terminus platform at Stevenage to ease the congestion on the ECML. With Great Northern operating a half hourly service from Moorgate to Stevenage using the Hertford Loop Line will improve much better service. Not bad. Well done Great Northern.
Well done Great Northern for opening a brand new bay platform 5 at Stevenage. Which means that Class 717s operating on the Moorgate-Stevenage via Hertford North route can terminate at Stevenage and to free up capacity for Great Northern Peterborough, Kings Lynn and Cambridge services that stops at Stevenage and LNER & Hull Trains that sometimes stop at Stevenage.