Hertford East branch line
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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.
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
Part of the Hertford East branch was used for the
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:
- Broxbourne
- Rye House on the outskirts of Hoddesdon
- St Margarets and neighbouring Stanstead Abbotts
- Ware
- Hertford East.
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.
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 often terminate at Broxbourne.
Passenger volume
Below is the passenger usage from the year beginning April 2002 to the year beginning April 2022.[7]
Station usage | ||||||||||||||||||||
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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 | 2022–23 |
Hertford East | 275,158 | 303,404 | 278,010 | 626,244 | 613,405 | 613,476 | 657,574 | 718,590 | 666,550 | 774,547 | 794,857 | 827,167 | 880,042 | 935,471 | 965,862 | 1,313,442 | 1,286,402 | 242,688 | 674,184 | 900,942 |
Ware | 700,233 | 770,239 | 747,625 | 830,244 | 904,420 | 921,512 | 792,180 | 838,360 | 871,904 | 970,726 | 1,053,174 | 1,083,188 | 1,131,318 | 1,154,290 | 1,062,048 | 1,074,608 | 1,047,118 | 234,248 | 651,464 | 806,844 |
St Margarets | 294,763 | 302,701 | 300,745 | 306,446 | 313,656 | 315,202 | 244,574 | 286,948 | 324,960 | 351,624 | 350,808 | 355,530 | 351,450 | 376,376 | 369,706 | 365,922 | 364,990 | 89,100 | 232,120 | 267,988 |
Rye House | 264,582 | 312,736 | 312,505 | 323,112 | 336,314 | 368,796 | 329,172 | 345,928 | 337,576 | 384,006 | 427,966 | 432,202 | 468,178 | 531,024 | 506,538 | 502,976 | 479,934 | 136,228 | 283,748 | 336,600 |
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
References
- ^ a b "Route Plans 2007 Route 5 West Anglia" (PDF). Network Rail. 2007. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
- ^ Dent, David (1993). 150 Years of the Hertford and Ware Railway. Rockingham Books.
- ^ Bradley, Richard (July 2013). "Significant events in the life of the Northern and Eastern Railway". Great Eastern Railway Society Journal. 155: 17.
- ^ "Hertford and the Railway". Discover Hertford. 2008. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2008.
- ^ "The Buntingford Railway & Local History Society". Retrieved 8 March 2008.
- ^ a b "Route 5 – West Anglia" (PDF). Network Rail. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
- ^ "Station Usage". Office of Rail Regulation. Retrieved 11 May 2012.