Hertford East branch line

The Hertford East branch line is a railway line in Hertfordshire, England running between Hertford East and Broxbourne. The line follows the route of the Lea Valley, serving intermediate towns and villages. It branches off the West Anglia Main Line[1] north of Broxbourne, and could be seen as part of the Lea Valley lines—a collection of commuter routes into London. It is 5 miles 64 chains (9.33 km) in length.

Hertford East branch line
The single track line through Ware railway station
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerNetwork Rail
LocaleEast of England
Termini
Stations4
Service
TypeHeavy rail, Commuter rail
SystemNational Rail
Operator(s)Greater Anglia
Depot(s)Ilford
Rolling stockClass 720
History
Opened1843
Technical
Line length5 miles 64 chains (9.3 km)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification25 kV 50 Hz AC OHLE
Route map

(Click to expand)

History

In June 1841 the Northern and Eastern Railway (N&ER) was given parliamentary assent to construct a branch from Broxbourne to Hertford. Work on the line began early in 1843 and the branch (and all stations on it) was opened as a single track on 31 October of that year.[2] Operation by the N&ER was short-lived as it had already agreed that the Eastern Counties Railway would lease its lines (then from Stratford to Bishop's Stortford as well as the Hertford East branch). The line was doubled in October 1846.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

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.[6]

There are currently two trains an hour on this line serving all stations.[1] 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 720 units consisting of or 5 car formations.

Usually, trains on the Hertford East branch line go to Liverpool Street (on Mondays to Saturdays, via Tottenham Hale and Hackney Downs), and Stratford (on Sundays). 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 2021.[7]

Station usage
Station name 2002–03 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020-21 2021-22
Hertford East 275,158 303,404 278,010 626,244 613,405 613,476 657,574 718,590 880,042 935,471 965,862 1,313,442 1,286,402
Ware 700,233 770,239 747,625 830,244 904,420 921,512 792,180 838,360 1,131,318 1,154,290 1,062,048 1,074,608 1,047,118
St Margarets (Hertfordshire) 294,763 302,701 300,745 306,446 313,656 315,202 244,574 286,948 351,450 376,376
Rye House 264,582 312,736 312,505 323,112 336,314 368,796 329,172 345,928 468,178 531,024
The annual passenger usage is based on sales of tickets in stated financial years from Office of Rail and Road estimates of station usage. The statistics are for passengers arriving and departing from each station and cover twelve-month periods that start in April. Methodology may vary year on year. Usage from the periods 2019-20 and especially 2020-21 onwards have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic

Infrastructure

The line is double track throughout except for a small section through Ware where it is single track. It is electrified at 25 kV AC using overhead line equipment, and has a loading gauge of W6.[6]

References
  1. "Route Plans 2007 Route 5 West Anglia" (PDF). Network Rail. 2007. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  2. Dent, David (1993). 150 Years of the Hertford and Ware Railway. Rockingham Books.
  3. Bradley, Richard (July 2013). "Significant events in the life of the Northern and Eastern Railway". Great Eastern Railway Society Journal. 155: 17.
  4. "Hertford and the Railway". Discover Hertford. 2008. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2008.
  5. "The Buntingford Railway & Local History Society". Retrieved 8 March 2008.
  6. "Route 5 – West Anglia" (PDF). Network Rail. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  7. "Station Usage". Office of Rail Regulation. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
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