the City station and selling off the valuable Abbey station site. The line today Operations Passenger services are operated by London Northwestern Railway. Stations on the branch are unstaffed. Some have ticket machines; otherwise tickets must be bought on the train. Passengers starting their journey at Watford Junction, which is staffed, must have a valid ticket prior to boarding the train, in compliance with National Rail conditions of carriage. The Abbey line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 18, SRS 18.10 and is classified as a Rural line. From 13 December 2021 the 21:10 service from London Euston travels directly to St Albans Abbey station each evening, without having to change at Watford Junction. Infrastructure The line is single track and is electrified at 25 kV AC using overhead line equipment. It has a loading gauge of W6 and a maximum line speed of . Rolling stock The service is operated using electric multiple units. London Northwestern Railway runs services with a single Class 319 train, which was acquired in September 2016 by London Midland as part of a set of trains from Thameslink to replace Class 321 units. The Class 321s were in turn were acquired by Abellio ScotRail to operate on Glasgow's suburban rail network. In addition to Class 321 trains, services on the Abbey Line had previously been operated using Class 313 units. Rarely (and more commonly in the past) a Class 150 diesel multiple unit has been substituted. In May 2021, the Class 319 was replaced by a single unit Class 350 to run on the line. Signalling Signalling is under One Train Working (without Train staff) rules, where only one train is allowed on the line at a time. Trains can be moved into Watford Junction yard by a manual ground frame there. On 28 October 2005 its incorrect operation caused an incident with a train not in passenger service. There is an automatic level crossing outside Watford North. This is operated by a manual plunger for trains heading towards St Albans, and by a treadle towards Watford Junction. Future developments Since 1995 the Abbey Flyer Users Group (ABFLY) has been campaigning to secure the future of the line and encourage its growth. The Abbey line was designated by the Strategic Rail Authority as a community rail line in July 2005, one of seven pilots under the Community Rail Development Strategy. Previous proposals