West Anglia Main Line The West Anglia Main Line is one of the two main line railways that operate out of Liverpool Street (the other being the Great Eastern Main Line to Ipswich & Norwich). It runs generally north through Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Harlow, Bishop's Stortford & Audley End (near Saffron Walden) to Cambridge, with branches between serving Stratford, Hertford & Stansted Airport. The line runs along the boundary between Hertfordshire & Essex for much of its length. In the early years, the line was the main route from London to Cambridge. Following the opening of the Cambridge Line between Hitchin & Cambridge, the West Anglia Main Line is now primarily a commuter route for stations between Cambridge & London. It was an important goods route for many years as the southern end of a route from coalfields in Yorkshire, and there are still freight trains which run occasionally to Harlow & Rye House Power Station, along with a Network Rail base at Broxbourne. History The first section was built for the Northern & Eastern Railway from Stratford to Broxbourne & 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 & Brandon in 1845. By the 1860s the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble, and most were leased to the Eastern Counties Railway. Although they wished to amalgamate formally, they could not obtain government agreement for this until 1862, when the Great Eastern Railway (GER) was formed by amalgamation. The opening of the Great Northern & Great Eastern Joint Railway in 1882 saw the Great Eastern open up a direct link with coal-producing areas in Nottinghamshire & South Yorkshire joining the line north of Cambridge at Chesterton Junction, generally routed to the large marshalling yards at Temple Mills. Following the grouping in 1923 the line became part of the London & North Eastern Railway. In 1948 following nationalisation the line passed to British Railways Eastern Region. In 1952 the branch from Elsenham to Thaxted (known as the "Gin & Toffee Line") closed to passengers, and goods services were withdrawn a year later. The Saffron Walden line closed to passengers on 7 September 1964 & to freight three months later. Electrification first came in the early 1960s under British Rail in sections. Electrification to Chingford included the Stratford – Lea Bridge – Hall Farm Junction section (although this was never completed), and the line from Liverpool Street to Broxbourne via Seven Sisters and the Southbury Loop was electrified. The route via Tottenham Hale was still operated by diesel traction, the British Rail Class 125 'Lea Valley' DMUs. The line from Clapton Junction (on the Chingford line) through Tottenham Hale to Cheshunt and from Broxbourne to Bishops Stortford was electrified on March 9th, 1969 & from there to Cambridge in 1987. Stratford to Coppermill Junction was electrified in 1989. The power supply is 25 kV AC overhead line. In 1991, a single-track branch line to Stansted Airport was opened, and services to London Liverpool Street commenced. In early 2011, ticket barriers were installed at Bishop's Stortford, Harlow Town, Broxbourne, Cheshunt & Hackney Downs, some of the busiest stations on the line, to reduce the need for ticket inspectors on the Stansted Express service and reduce fare evasion. In May 2015, services from Liverpool Street to Chingford, Enfield Town & Cheshunt via Seven Sisters transferred to London Overground, along with a new station opening at Lea Bridge. In August the same year, a direct covered walkway opened between Hackney Downs & Hackney Central on the North London Line. In September 2019, the Lea Valley Rail Project was completed between Lea Bridge, and the new station at Meridian Water. This removed the level crossing at Northumberland Park, and added a new third platform for both there & Tottenham Hale, along with a third track. As a result of the new 720 & 745, platform extensions are necessary at many stations to allow for ten/twelve car trains to stop at stations respectively. However, the class 720 has selective door opening, allowing for some platforms not having to be extended. Services Services from Liverpool Street to Cambridge, Hertford East & Stansted Airport are operated by Greater Anglia. Express services from Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport are operated by Stansted Express, a sub-brand of Greater Anglia. Services from Stansted Airport to Cambridge (and onward to Birmingham New Street via Peterborough) are operated by CrossCountry. The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5, which comprises SRS 05.01 & part of 05.05. It is classified as a London & South East commuter line. In London, the line forms the Tottenham Hale branch of the Lea Valley Lines. There are 28 stations on that route with current Classes 379, 720 & 745 Flirt fleets. It's over 45-80 minute ride. West Anglia Main Line map 4-car Class 379/0 No. 379011 speeds through Bethnal Green with an 8-car formation bound for Cambridge. Greater Anglia's 745010 'FLIRT' arrives into Colchester working a Liverpool Street - Norwich service. For more info, go to... https://wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Anglia_Main_Line https://wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_379 https://wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_720 https://wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_745 https://greateranglia.co.uk/media/14300/download?inline
An excellent suggestion. One slight point, if we're being absolutely spot-on and capturing the transition from older stock to new, then it would actually need a Class 317/3 and 317/5 as they continued in service until 16 July 2022 with 317343 and 317508 being the last in service. I'm pretty sure the last Class 379 in service for Greater Anglia was nearly 6 months earlier on 24 January 2022 (379012), they were all off lease a week later and could be seen parked-up at various locations (Cambridge, Ilford, Harwich, Crown Point Norwich, Ely) over the following 2 years. Personally, I'd prefer a Class 317 instead of a 379 as the ex-Midland Mainline EMUs from the early 80s are far more interesting trains to drive than the Electrostars and would present players with a completely different experience to the 720s and 745s and would provide some variety north of Stansted where the 745s terminate. You could also have Cross Country Class 170 on services between Cambridge and Stansted and AI Class 710s on the London Overground services at Cheshunt. The Class 379 fleet is now returning to service with Great Northern so it could feature as AI at Cambridge along with the 387s and 700s if the route is set in 2025.
