Hertford East branch line


The Hertford East branch line is a railway line in Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, running between Hertford East and. The line follows the route of the Lea Valley, serving intermediate towns and villages. It branches off the West Anglia Main Line north of, and could be seen as part of the Lea Valley lines—a collection of commuter routes into London. It is in length.

History

In June 1841 the Northern and Eastern Railway were given parliamentary assent to construct a branch from Broxbourne to Hertford. Work on the line began early in 1843 and the branch was opened as a single track on 31 October of that year. Operation by the N&ER was short-lived as they had already agreed that the Eastern Counties Railway would lease their lines. The line was doubled in October 1846.
The original Hertford station was opened in 1843. It was sited to avoid two nearby schools, but later it was closed and in 1888 Hertford East station was opened further west and closer to the town centre. Another station existed in 1858 on the line from Hatfield, but this closed as soon as Hertford North station opened in 1924.
Part of the Hertford East branch was used for the Buntingford Branch Railway, or "The Bunt", a railway which ran from Buntingford to London from 1863 to 1964. The Buntingford Railway split off this line just to the north of St Margarets station.

Route and services

The line curves away from Broxbourne to the left and heads towards Hertford. For most of its length, it is bounded by the New River on its south side and the River Lea and Lee Navigation on the north side.
Towns and villages served are:
The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5, SRS 05.03 and is classified as a London and South East Commuter line.
There are currently two trains an hour on this line serving all stations. Future plans for this line see the lengthening of platforms to facilitate longer trains and create extra capacity on the line. Services on this line are currently operated by Greater Anglia using Class 317 units with either 4 or 8 coaches.
Usually, trains on the Hertford East branch line go to Liverpool Street, and Stratford. On days of engineering works, train services would often terminate at Broxbourne.

Passenger volume

Below is the passenger usage from the year beginning April 2002 to the year beginning April 2010.

Infrastructure

The line is double track throughout except for a small section through where it is single track. It is electrified at 25 kV AC using overhead line equipment, and has a loading gauge of W6

Proposed developments

Some options of the proposed East West Rail involve reopening a route between Hertford East station and Hertford North station. Options also propose building a chord near Rye House station to allow rail traffic to head north on the West Anglia Main Line.