Southbury Loop

The line from Bury Street Junction, north of Lower Edmonton High Level railway station, to Cheshunt was opened by the Great Eastern Railway on 1 October 1891 and known as the Churchbury Loop. It had first been considered by the GER in the 1860s as part of programme of suburban expansion. The opening of the Enfield Town branch had helped Enfield and Tottenham to grow so in its "Additional Powers Act" the GER applied for a branch to leave the Bethnal Green to Edmonton line (now the line via Seven Sisters).and join the main line near Enfield Lock. These proposals were abandoned in 1869 and it wasn't until 1882 that the powers were revived through another act of parliament this time linking to the main line at Cheshunt. The reasoning was that the new line would open up housing development in the area but it was another seven years before construction started in 1889.[2] The contract worth £94,322 was let to contractor Walter Scott and Co of Newcastle-under-Tyne.[3]

Although construction costs were relatively low, the GER provided well built stations in anticipation of the business these stations were expected to generate. The line was 5 miles and 75 chains long with stations at Churchbury, Forty Hall and Theobalds Grove. Goods yards were provided at Churchbury and Forty Hall stations and there was also a siding serving a brick works close to Churchbury.[4]

The district remained predominantly rural, and with the coming of the tram to Waltham Cross, in 1908, the railway was unable to compete and passenger numbers fell by half. The line was not helped by the fact that few trains ran through to Liverpool Street with most terminating at White Hart Lane.[5]

On 4 July 1899, permission was granted by the Board of Trade for a goods yard which was built and opened at Theobalds Grove by the end of that year.[6]

Passenger services were withdrawn on 1 October 1909 and the then president of the Board of trade, Winston Churchill, had to answer a question on the subject in the House of Commons as a railway closure was, at that point, a rare occurrence.[7]

During World War I the Lea Valley was a centre of the munitions industry and the government called on the GER to restore passenger services which served the original stations plus a purpose-built wooden halt called Carterhatch Lane Halt. The service started operating to the original stations on 1 March 1915 and to Carterhatch Lane Halt on 4 July 1916,[8] 12 June 1916, ,[9][10] but once the war finished demand again fell off and services were withdrawn on 1 July 1919.[11]

Following the 1923 grouping the line was operated by the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER).

In the early 1920s house building took place in the area which had been opened up by the building of the A10 road. The LNER board were uninterested in reopening the line to passenger traffic, although it may have been problems with the capacity of the line in the Hackney Downs area that drove this decision.

During this period the down line (from London) was used by goods trains whilst the up line was used for wagon storage.[12]

The line was used for diversionary purposes on a number of occasions, especially during the Second World War, when enemy action made the main line unusable or when the main line was flooded by the River Lea.

On 2 January 1945, Theobalds Grove station was damaged by a V2 rocket which exploded close by.[13]

On nationalisation responsibility for operating the line fell to the Eastern Region of British Railways. Operations continued in much the same vein but with more new housing being built locally plans were put forward to electrify the line and re-open it for passenger services (although this was first mooted as early as 1944).[14] The site of Carterhatch Lane Halt (see above) was used as the electrification depot (for both this line and the wider electrification of the area). The line was resignalled with colour light signaling replacing the older mechanical signalling which largely dated from the opening of the line. The signalling was commissioned on 3 July 1960 with passenger services commencing on 21 November 1960.[15] With the renaming of Churchbury station to Southbury the line became known as the Southbury Loop. The former Forty Hill station was named Turkey Street as part of the re-launch.

The goods yard at Theobalds Grove closed in 1966 and Southbury in 1970.[16][17]

When sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Network SouthEast until the privatisation of British Railways.

The Railways Act 1993 split the railway into two parts with Railtrack being responsible for the maintenance of the infrastructure and a series of different companies operating the services.

However, before the franchises were let operation was in the hands of independent business units.

Southbury station looking north in 2008

The first of the private sector operators was the West Anglia Great Northern (WAGN) Railway which operated suburban services on the West Anglia Main Line and associated branches. It also operated the suburban services out of Kings Cross and Moorgate stations and its rolling stock was maintained at Hornsey and Ilford depots. It commenced operation in January 1997.

On 3 October 2002 Railtrack was bought by Network Rail who became responsible for the infrastructure on the branch.

WAGN operated the Southbury Loop from January 1997 until 2004 when the UK Strategic Rail Authority made changes to the franchise arrangements and the line became part of the Greater Anglia franchise which covered the whole of East Anglia.[18][19] The new franchise was named the "one" franchise by successful bidder National Express.

The single franchise was renamed National Express East Anglia and continued operation of the branch until 2012. Operation then passed to the Abellio Greater Anglia franchise. However, on 31 May 2015 the suburban Liverpool Street-Cheshunt service transferred to London Overground; a few peak services run by Abellio Greater Anglia between Liverpool Street-Hertford East/Broxbourne still continue to use the line.[20][21]