West Anglia Main Line
| West Anglia Main Line | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
|
|
| Overview | |
| Type | Commuter rail, Suburban rail |
| System | National Rail |
| Status | Operational |
| Locale | |
| Termini |
Liverpool Street, London Cambridge |
| Stations | 28 |
| Operation | |
| Owner | Network Rail |
| Operator(s) | |
| Rolling stock | |
| Technical | |
| Number of tracks | 2–4 |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Electrification | 25 kV 50 Hz AC OHLE |
| Operating speed | 100 mph (160 km/h) maximum |
The West Anglia Main Line is one of the two main lines from Liverpool Street, the other being the Great Eastern Main Line to Ipswich and Norwich. It runs generally north through Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Harlow, Bishop's Stortford and Audley End (near Saffron Walden) to Cambridge, with branches serving Stratford, Hertford and Stansted Airport. The line runs along the boundary between Hertfordshire and Essex for much of its length.
In the early years the line was the main route from London to Norwich, now primarily a commuter route for stations between Cambridge and London. It was an important goods route for many years as the southern end of a route from coalfields in Yorkshire.
Detail on the routes in London are in the Lea Valley Lines article.
The first section was built for the Northern and Eastern Railway from Stratford to Broxbourne and opened in 1840. It was extended northwards in stages, reaching Spellbrook, 3 miles (5 km) short of Bishops Stortford, in 1842. In 1843 the line reached Bishops Stortford, and in the following year the Northern and Eastern Railway was leased by the Eastern Counties Railway. It was this railway company opened the section from Bishops Stortford to Cambridge as part of its extension to Ely and Brandon in 1845.
...
Wikipedia