The Hatfield & St Albans Railway was a branch of the Great Northern Railway which connected St Albans to Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England. It opened in 1865 with the principal aim of allowing St Albans traffic to access the Great Northern's main line to London at , but soon came into difficulties when the Midland Railway inaugurated a direct route to London through St Albans. Passenger receipts declined in the 1930s, resulting in the temporary withdrawal of services in 1939. Passenger services were permanently withdrawn in 1951, leaving goods traffic to linger on until December 1968. Much of the route of the line is now incorporated into the Alban Way, a footpath and cycleway. History Authorisation and opening The Hatfield and St Albans Railway Company was incorporated by Act of Parliament on 30 June 1862. It had been promoted by various landowners in Hatfield and St Albans in Hertfordshire and supported by the Great Northern Railway, which saw the line as a means of regaining traffic lost to the London and North Western Railway since 1858 as a result of the opening of its Watford to St Albans line. The Great Northern agreed to contribute £20,000 () to the total estimated cost of £88,000 (). Two lines were authorised: the first through the parishes of Hatfield, St Peter, St Stephen and St Albans to a junction with the London and North Western's St Albans line; the second from the parish of Hatfield to a junction on the northern side of Hatfield station on the Great Northern Main Line. The Great Northern opened its own St Albans station and was granted running powers into the LNWR station; the LNWR received reciprocal rights over the link line between the stations. The new line opened on 1 September 1865 with one planned intermediate station at Springfield (renamed Smallford in 1879), although this was not ready in time. The Great Northern worked the line from the beginning and eventually absorbed the railway company on 1 November 1883. Operations The initial weekday service consisted of eight trains in each direction from St Albans and London King's Cross, with a journey time of 15 minutes between Hatfield and St Albans. On weekdays, services went through to the LNWR's St Albans station, but on Sundays they terminated at the GNR station. Services were drawn by Sharp 2-2-2Ts until the 1870s, when Sharp 0-4-2T rebuilds and Sturrock 0-4-2Ts