Hertford East Branch Line

The Hertford East Branch Line (or Hertford East Line) is a railway line in Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. It runs between Hertford and Broxbourne. The line follows the route of the Lea Valley, serving many towns and villages along the way. It branches off the West Anglia Main Line near Hoddesdon and can be seen as an extension of the commuter routes, the Lea Valley Lines. The line is electrified throughout and two-track except for a small section going through Ware.

History

All stations on the line were opened in 1843. The line formed part of the Eastern Counties Railway. The original Hertford station originally was opened in 1843 to avoid two nearby schools but later this was closed and a station further west in 1888 opened, Hertford East, to be closer to the town centre. The line used to link to the Hertford Loop Line but this was severed during the Beeching Axe Cite web|url=http://www.hertford.net/history/histrail.asp|publisher=Discover Hertford|title=Hertford and the Railway|date=2008|accessdate=2008-03-08] . Another station existed in 1858 which was opened on the line from Hatfield but this closed as soon as Hertford North opened in 1924 .

Part of the route 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 [cite web|url=http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/brlhs/index.html|title=The Buntingford Railway & Local History Society|accessdate=2008-03-08] .

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 left and the River Lee and Lea Navigation on its right when looking at it from east to west.

Towns and villages served are:
*Broxbourne
*Rye House on the outskirts of Hoddesdon
*St Margarets and neighbouring Stanstead Abbotts
*Ware
*Hertford.

There are currently four trains an hour on this line serving all stations Cite web|url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/BusinessPlan2007/PDF/Route%205%20West%20Anglia.pdf|title=Route Plans 2007 Route 5 West Anglia|date=2007|accessdate=2008-07-03|publisher=Network Rail] . Future plans for this line see the lengthening of platforms to facilitate longer trains and create extra capacity on the line. Also, British Rail Class 317 trains may be replaced by British Rail Class 315 trains to further increase this.. Services on this line are currently operated by National Express East Anglia (formerly branded 'one').

References