West Anglia Main Line - West Anglia Main Line Tunnels and Viaducts - C

West Anglia Main Line - C

West Anglia Main Line Tunnels and Viaducts

Major civil engineering structures on the West Anglia Main Line include the following.

Tunnels and viaducts on the West Anglia Main Line

Railway Structure Length Location

Littlebury Tunnel 407 yards (372 metres) BGK Between Great Chesterford and Audley End stations
Audley End Tunnel 456 yards (417 metres)
Audley End Viaduct South of Audley End station
Newport Viaduct North of Newport station
Stansted Airport Tunnel 1 mile 184 yards (1778 metres) TLA Stansted Airport branch
Long Bridge Viaduct (River Stort) BGK South of Roydon station
Hoe Street Tunnel 71 yards (65 metres) CJC Chingford branch, between Wood Street and Walthamstow Central stations
Clapton arches (River Lea) (c. 120 metres) BGK Clapton line, north of Clapton station
Clapton Tunnel 284 yards (260 metres) Clapton line, between Clapton and Hackney Downs stations
Hackney Downs or Queens Road Tunnel 445 yards (407 metres)
Theobalds Grove arches (c. 200 metres) HDT Stoke Newington line, Theobalds Grove station
White Hart Lane arches (c. 200 metres) Stoke Newington line, south of White Hart Lane station
Stoke Newington Tunnel 60 yards (55 metres) Stoke Newington line, north of Stoke Newington station
Bethnal Green – Hackney viaducts c. 2.5 miles (3900 metres) BGK
Bishopsgate Tunnel 627 yards (573 metres) LTN

West Anglia Main Line Locomotives and Rolling Stock

Throughout the steam era trains were predominantly hauled by Great Eastern Railway (or its constituent companies') locomotives: when steam ended in East Anglia in the 1960s some of these locomotives were still operated – see Stratford TMD and Great Eastern Railway. After the grouping of 1923 LNER-designed locomotives were used with the B17 4-6-0 class working many main line services. Following nationalisation in 1948 British Railways introduced the Britannia 4-6-2 class on some main line services until succeeded by diesels in the late 1950s.

East Anglia was the first area to be worked completely by diesel trains with Class 31s taking over some express workings. These were succeeded by more powerful Class 37 and Class 47 until full electrification to King's Lynn in the 1980s when Class 86 locomotives took over.

Suburban services from about 1958 were operated by Class 125 DMUs, and following the 1969 electrification Class 305 and Class 308 units. Other units from the GE section such as Class 302 and 306 also operated services during this period, with Class 310s temporarily operating once electrification to Cambridge was complete. These first-generation units were replaced soon after by Class 315 and Class 317 units.

In 2011, new Bombardier Class 379s began operation mainly to replace class 317 from Stansted Express duties to mainline services (which in-turn relocated class 315s to inner suburban routes). Class 170 DMUs operate from Stansted Airport north through Cambridge to Birmingham on CrossCountry services. In 2020, new Class 745s were introduced on Stansted Express services, cascading the Class 379s to other WAML services. It is expected that both these and the delayed Class 720s will replace both class 317s & class 379s on the route by 2022.

West Anglia Main Line Future Developments

It seems likely that two tracks will be built alongside the line to Cheshunt as part of Crossrail 2. Intermediate stations from Tottenham Hale will transfer to Crossrail 2 releasing capacity on the mainline for additional trains. In August 2019, it was announced that funding had been approved for four-tracking and related platform construction work between Tottenham Hale and Meridian Water to enable up to 8 trains per hour to make local stops in this section at peak times.

West Anglia Main Line Overview

West Anglia Main Line Status: Operational

Owner: Network Rail

West Anglia Main Line Locale:

Greater London

East of England

West Anglia Main Line Termini:

Liverpool Street, London

Cambridge

West Anglia Main Line Stations: 28

West Anglia Main Line Service Type: Commuter rail, Suburban rail

West Anglia Main Line System: National Rail

West Anglia Main Line Operator(s):

Greater Anglia

(Stansted Express)

CrossCountry

West Anglia Main Line Rolling Stock:

Class 170 "Turbostar"

Class 710 "Aventra"

Class 720 "Aventra"

Class 745 "FLIRT"

Class 755 "FLIRT"

West Anglia Main Line Number of Tracks: 2–4

West Anglia Main Line Track Gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

West Anglia Main Line Electrification: 25 kV 50 Hz AC OHLE

West Anglia Main Line Operating Speed: 80 mph (130 km/h) maximum

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