Sainsbury’s arriving at St Albans City station

Sainsbury’s is setting up shop this coming spring at Thameslink’s extended and upgraded St Albans City station.

The brand-new Local store will feature the very latest high-quality, great-value convenience range the retailer has to offer, including fresh food, fruit and veg and a selection of branded and own-brand groceries.

Alongside fresh bread and pastries baked instore every day, the new store will also stock newspapers and magazines for commuters and shoppers to pick up as they pass through the busy station.

Thameslink Customer Services Director Jenny Saunders said: “Working closely with St Albans community, we finished upgrading St Albans City station in 2020. There’s a two-storey extension, massively improved facilities and space at Ridgmont Road for post-pandemic commuter crowds.

“Unsurprisingly, Covid-19 and the general slump in the market put the brakes on finding tenants for the new shop space but we’ve persevered and found a fantastic business to join us. I think it will make a real difference to passenger experience at the station.”

Sainsbury’s Property Director Patrick Dunne said: “We’re very excited to bring a new Sainsbury’s Local to St Alban’s City Station in the next few months. As a frequent rail traveller myself, I appreciate the value of train stations providing fresh, appealing options to choose from and our other recently opened station stores have proved very popular with customers.

“Soon the local community and those travelling to and from St Albans by rail will be able to enjoy the convenience, quality and value that Sainsbury’s has to offer.”

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Editor’s notes

A £5.7m upgrade of St Albans City station was completed in December 2020. It transformed passenger facilities and freed up space for passengers to move around more easily when they return in greater numbers after the pandemic.

The main station building was extended over two storeys, ready to house what will now become Sainsbury’s Local. Capacity of the station’s power supply has been doubled to accommodate the needs of the new store.

By moving staff rooms to a new building on platform 4, space was also created for a new waiting area with another retail unit. There are also new toilets and an additional ticket gate which will bring another ticket gateline into use.

On the central platform, 2 and 3, there’s a new all-glass waiting room and extra space for peak-time commuters getting on and off trains when they return in greater numbers after the pandemic.

On platform 4, a new station entrance building has been built at the Ridgmont Road entrance with a wider entrance, two more ticket gates, new, accessible toilets and twice the number of ticket machines, again, all designed to make it easier for commuters when they begin travelling in greater numbers.

The new Ridgmont Road entrance building also has space to lock up bikes, which Thameslink continues to promote as part of its commitment to boost sustainable travel. There are more than 220 extra spaces in bike racks across the station with double-stack racks replacing single-tier on the main entrance side, fencing and, now, complete CCTV coverage, for better security.