Hertford East Branch Line

The Hertford East Branch Line is a railway line in Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. It runs between Hertford and Broxbourne. The line follows the route of the Lea Valley; serving many towns and villages along the way. It branches off the West Anglia Main Line north of Broxbourne, and could be seen as part of the Lea Valley Lines--a collection of commuter routes into London.

History
All stations on the line were opened in 1843. The line formed part of the Eastern Counties Railway. The original Hertford station originally was opened in 1843 to avoid two nearby schools but later this was closed and a station further west in 1888 opened, Hertford East, to be closer to the town centre. Another station existed in 1858 which was opened on the line from Hatfield but this closed as soon as Hertford North opened in 1924.

Part of the route was used for the Buntingford Branch Railway, or "The Bunt", a railway which ran from Buntingford to London from 1863 to 1964. The Buntingford Railway split off this line just to the North of St Margarets station.

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 left and the River Lea and Lee Navigation on its right when looking at it from east to west.

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.

There are currently two trains an hour on this line serving all stations. Future plans for this line see the lengthening of platforms to facilitate longer trains and create extra capacity on the line. Also, British Rail Class 317 trains may be replaced by British Rail Class 315 trains to further increase this. Services on this line are currently operated by Greater Anglia.

Passenger volume
Below is the passenger usage from the year beginning April 2002 to the year beginning April 2010.

Infrastructure
The line is double track throughout except for a small section through Ware where it is single track. It is electrified at 25 kV AC using overhead line equipment, and has a loading gauge of W6

Proposed developments
Some options of the proposed East West Rail Link involve reopening a route between Hertford East station and Hertford North station. Options also propose building a chord near Rye House station to allow rail traffic to head north on the West Anglia Main Line.