St Albans City railway station

St Albans City railway station, also shortened to St Albans, is one of two railway stations in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, the other being St Albans Abbey railway station. City station is the more important of the two stations, as it serves London, Gatwick Airport, Luton Airport and Brighton. It is located east of the city centre, on the Midland Main Line and served by Thameslink trains on the Thameslink route.HistoryThe station was built by the Midland Railway in 1868 on its extension to St Pancras. Formerly, St Albans was famous for producing watercress which was sent in 56lb lots to London and Manchester.The other station, was built by the London and North Western Railway in 1858. There was originally a further station called London Road, built by the Hatfield and St Albans Railway in 1863 to connect with the Great Northern Railway.DescriptionThe station has four platforms, two for each direction: one "fast" and one "slow". The main entrance, ticket office, multi-storey car park, taxi rank and bus connections are on Station Way, east of the station. There is a second exit to the west, to a small surface car park off Ridgmont Road and Victoria Street, located at the original entrance to the station. Somewhat controversially, a larger surface car park to the east of the railway lines gained planning permission in 2003, in connection with a large residential development.