Welwyn Hatfield is an administrative district in southern Hertfordshire whose name is simply a combination of the two towns of Welwyn and Hatfield, each having railway stations on the East Coast Main Line and being close to the A1 road. Set within the London Green Belt, the towns retain something of their own identities although they clearly function, increasingly, as dormitories for householders who work in London. The Welwyn viaduct carries the railway mentioned above and is a locally important landmark that simultaneously represents a bottleneck restraining capacity over this strategic transport route. Several ideas to overcome this limitation without damaging its essential historic character and rhythmic design are periodically discussed.
