West Anglia Main Line

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Legend Fen Line 55m 52ch  Cambridge TL461572 Varsity Line Hitchin-Cambridge Line 52m 36ch  Shelford TL465522 Stour Valley Railway 49m 01ch  Whittlesford Parkway TL484472 M11 motorway spur to A11 road Newmarket and Chesterford Railway, 1848-1851 45m 56ch  Great Chesterford TL504424 Saffron Walden Railway 41m 55ch  Audley End TL515363 39m 72ch  Newport TL522335 Elsenham & Thaxted Light Railway 35m 45ch  Elsenham TL533270 36m 67ch  Stansted Airport TL556235 35m 45ch  M11 motorway 33m 28ch  Stansted Mountfitchet TL514248 Bishop's Stortford-Braintree Branch Line 30m 27ch  Bishop's Stortford TL491208 26m 57ch  Sawbridgeworth TL490150 24m 36ch  Harlow Mill TL471123 Harlow Mill aggregate terminal 22m 59ch  Harlow Town TL446112 20m 09ch  Roydon TL405105 Hertford East Branch Line 17m 17ch  Broxbourne TL374072 14m 01ch  Cheshunt TL366023 Lea Valley Lines 6m 00ch  Tottenham Hale TQ344895 2m 78ch  Hackney Downs TQ345850 0m 00ch  London Liverpool Street TQ332817

The West Anglia Main Line is one of the two main lines which run from London Liverpool Street, the other being the Great Eastern Main Line. It runs generally north from London, through the towns of Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Harlow, Bishop's Stortford and Audley End (near Saffron Walden) station before reaching Cambridge, with two branches serving Hertford and Stansted Airport. The line runs along the border between Hertfordshire and Essex for much of its length.

Service

Passenger services on the line are provided by National Express East Anglia, who also operate the Stansted Express, and by CrossCountry (formerly Central Trains) from Stansted Airport north to Cambridge and beyond.

The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5, comprised of SRS 05.01 and part of 05.05. It is classified as a London and South East commuter line.^[1]

In London, the line also forms the Tottenham Hale branch of the Lea Valley Lines.

Some services run south from Cambridge to Stansted Airport, via Audley End, while other services run from the airport to Cambridge (not London), and points further north, bypassing Stansted Mountfitchet.

Infrastructure

The line is double track for most of its length, with small sections of single track on the Stansted branch and some four track between Hackney Downs and Liverpool Street. The line is electrified at 25 kV AC and has a loading gauge of W8 for most of it length except for the Stansted branch which is W6.^[1]

Passenger services on the line mostly use Class 315 (London Liverpool Street - Hertford East) or Class 317 (London Liverpool Street - Cambridge/Ely), although Class 170 DMUs are used for services north from Stansted Airport (Cross Country services only).

Future developments

The Greater Anglia RUS, published in December 2007, outlined a number of developments intended for the West Anglia route. Propoasals for the period 2009-14 include the extension of remaining non-compliant platforms on the Liverpool Street-Cambridge route and at Stansted Airport to handle 12 cars; the reinstatement of 9-car trains during peak times on the Hertford East, Enfield Town, Cheshunt via Southbury and Chingford branch services, requiring a small amount of infrastructure; stabling and maintenance facilities for the larger, enhanced fleet; removal of the three level crossings between Tottenham Hale and Waltham Cross and power supply to be enhanced for some of these options and likely future requirements.^[2]

If Stansted Airport's expansion is given the go-ahead then it is planned that the Main Line will see many further changes. Long term proposals include the four-tracking of the route between Coppermill Junction and Broxbourne junction; an additional tunnel and platform edge on the Stansted Airport branch; one additional train per hour serving Stansted and up to six further trains per hour at peak times, including four into Stratford as a terminus.^[2] More stations, such as those at Bishop's Stortford, Harlow Town and Tottenham Hale will also see platform extensions to accommodate 12 car trains.

It is planned by December 2009 that ticket barriers will be put in place at Stansted Airport, Bishop's Stortford, Harlow Town and Tottenham Hale, some of the busiest stations on the line. This would therefore eliminate the need for ticket inspectors on the Stansted Express service and would mean that penalty fare evasion would be reduced from these stations.

References

v • d • e Railway lines in London Primary High Speed 1 · East Coast Main Line · Great Eastern Main Line · Great Western Main Line · Midland Main Line · West Coast Main Line Secondary Bexleyheath Line · Brighton Main Line · Caterham Line · Chatham Main Line · Dartford Loop Line · Hertford Loop Line · Lea Valley Lines · London to Aylesbury Line · London, Tilbury and Southend Line · North Kent Line · Oxted Line · Shepperton Branch Line · South Eastern Main Line · South Western Main Line · Sutton & Mole Valley Lines · Tattenham Corner Line · Thameslink · Watford DC Line · Waterloo to Reading Line · West Anglia Main Line Local Bromley North Line · Catford Loop Line · Chessington Branch Line · Chingford Branch Line · Gospel Oak to Barking Line · Greenford Branch Line · Greenwich Line · Nunhead to Lewisham Link · Hayes Line · Hounslow Loop Line · Mid-Kent Line · North London Line · Northern City Line · Romford to Upminster Line · South London Line · West London Line

v • d • e Railway lines in the East of England Primary High Speed 1 · East Coast Main Line · Great Eastern Main Line · Great Western Main Line · Midland Main Line Secondary Hertford Loop Line · Lea Valley Lines · London to Aylesbury Line · London, Tilbury and Southend Line · Thameslink · Watford DC Line · West Anglia Main Line Local Abbey Line · Birmingham to Peterborough Line · Bittern Line · Braintree Branch Line · Breckland Line · Colchester to Clacton Line · Crouch Valley Line · East Suffolk Line · Ely to Peterborough Line · Felixstowe Branch Line · Fen Line · Gainsborough Line · Hertford East Branch Line · Hitchin–Cambridge Line · Ipswich to Ely Line · Marston Vale Line · Mayflower Line · Peterborough to Lincoln Line · Shenfield to Southend Line · Sunshine Coast Line · Wherry Lines