Great Northern Route

The Great Northern Route (previously known as the Great Northern Electrics) is the name of the suburban rail services run on the southern end of Britain's East Coast Main Line and associated branches. Services operate to or from London King's Cross and Moorgate in London. Destinations include Hertford North, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Peterborough, Cambridge and King's Lynn.

The route forms a major commuter route into London from Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and eastern Bedfordshire; ridership has grown rapidly over recent years. In 2009 rolling stock was transferred from other lines to allow additional services and longer trains to be run. By 2018 the line will be connected with the Thameslink route via a junction just south of the High Speed 1 bridge, north of Kings Cross, to allow through services to south of London.

Route
The network consists of all local and semi-fast services on these lines:
 * East Coast Main Line south of Peterborough
 * Northern City Line
 * Hertford Loop Line
 * Cambridge Line

Additionally, the main service on the Fen Line is provided as part of the route. All services are electric.

At privatisation the services became part of West Anglia Great Northern, becoming their sole route in 2004 when the West Anglia services were transferred to 'one'. In April 2006 the services became the responsibility of First Capital Connect. When the Thameslink Programme is completed in 2018, many of these services will become part of the Thameslink network, running through central London to destinations south of the River Thames.

Services
Several services are provided on the route and these are, from fastest to slowest:

Cambridge cruiser (or Cambridge express)
A half hourly service running non-stop between London King's Cross and Cambridge with trains extended once an hour to King's Lynn.

This service runs Monday to Saturday and is reduced to hourly on Sunday.

Cambridge semi-fast
An hourly service between London King's Cross and Cambridge calling at Finsbury Park, Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock and Royston.

In the direction of the morning and evening peaks, this runs as a modified half hourly service between London King's Cross and Royston only.

Peterborough semi-fast
An hourly service between London King's Cross and Peterborough calling at Finsbury Park, Stevenage and then all stations.

In the direction of the morning and evening peaks, this service runs half hourly.

In the direction of the morning and evening peaks, there is an additional half hourly services calling at Hitchin, St Neots, Huntingdon and Peterborough only.

Cambridge stopping
An hourly service between London King's Cross and Cambridge calling at Finsbury Park, Potters Bar, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City and then all stations.

In the direction of the morning and evening peaks, this service runs half hourly, but occasionally omits stops at Potters Bar, Baldock and Ashwell and Morden.

Peterborough stopping
An hourly service between London King's Cross and Peterborough calling at Finsbury Park, Potters Bar, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City and then all stations.

In the direction of the morning and evening peaks, this service does not run, but is replaced by the Peterborough Fast service.

Inner suburban
A service every 20 minutes between Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City and between Moorgate and Hertford North calling at all stations. This provides a combined 10 minute service between Moorgate and Alexandra Palace. One Hertford service per hour runs to/from Letchworth.

Additional trains, some omitting some stops, run during the peak.

The service is reduced to every 30 minutes and runs from London King's Cross instead of Moorgate in the late evening and on Saturday and Sunday.

History
The term Great Northern is related to the Great Northern Railway, the original builders of the line.

The July 1922 Bradshaw's Railway Guide contains a typical rail service on the Cambridge Line as follows:

Six stopping and two (three on Saturday) Semi-fast services to Cambridge (Monday to Saturday) - One Sunday stopping service to Cambridge with two back. The fastest service taking about 1hr30 to travel from London King's Cross to Cambridge.

An additional two (three on Wednesday) services reached Royston (Monday to Saturday) - one additional service reaching Royston on Sunday.

An additional seven services reached Baldock (Monday to Saturday)

An additional three services reached Letchworth (Monday to Saturday), the last service running just after midnight Thursday morning.

Since the 1960s, Great Northern has been used to describe the suburban part of the East Coast Main Line, south of Peterborough and south of Royston. The Great Northern Railway proposed electrification of part of the line in 1903, but it was not until 1971 that a scheme to electrify the line from London King's Cross and Moorgate was authorised.

The Inner Suburban Lines to Welwyn Garden City and Hertford North were electrified in 1976 with EMUs. In 1978 the electrification was complete to Royston with EMUs providing the service. The route was then promoted as the Great Northern Electrics. The route between Hertford and Langley Junction, south of Stevenage, was also electrified but not regularly used by electric trains until 1979 when one Moorgate-Hertford service per hour was extended to Letchworth; prior to this diesel multiple units provided an infrequent service over this route, running between Hertford and Huntingdon/Peterborough. From 1979 until 1987 DMUs provided the service between Hitchin and Huntingdon/Peterborough. DMUs also provided a shuttle service between Royston and Cambridge between 1978 and 1988, connecting with the electric trains and replacing the former through Cambridge buffet expresses between Kings Cross and the university city.

In 1982 a new station at Watton-at-Stone was opened between Hertford and Stevenage.

With the electrification of the East Coast Main Line electric services could be extended to Peterborough and the Outer Suburban Service was changed from to, some of which were cascaded from the newly created Thameslink route, with the remainder newly built.

In 1984 the decision to electrify the line between Royston and Shepreth Branch Junction with the West Anglia Main Line north of Shelford allowed the reinstatement of through services to Cambridge from London King's Cross via the East Coast Main Line, resulting in faster journey times than from Liverpool Street via the West Anglia Main Line. This electrification was completed in 1988.

Later the track between these points was also upgraded with welded joint track instead of the jointed track that had existed, and line speeds were raised to 90 mph.

Rapid growth on the route, especially on the Cambridge Line resulted in consultation on a new service pattern, which was then implemented at the timetable change in Spring 2009. During the peak hours, the route is now saturated and can support no further service improvements.

Hitchin flyover

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In addition to the Digswell Viaduct, the flat junction just north of Hitchin is a major constraint on capacity, as northbound trains diverging from the East Coast Main Line towards Letchworth and thence to Cambridge have to cross one northbound (fast) line and two southbound (fast and slow) lines in order to access the Cambridge Line. Proposals as part of the original electrification work envisaged a new underpass here and land was set aside for its construction. However, budgetary constraints forced this part of the programme to be abandoned. The land stood empty for many years, but has since been used to provide new housing.

A new plan and subsequent application for an order to build a flyover have been approved, and construction has been completed. The scheme has created a new single-track line that diverges from the northbound slow line at a new junction just beyond Hitchin station, utilising a short embankment section of the former Bedford to Hitchin Line, a section of which has been cleared of vegetation and made progressively higher, to form a short ramp. The track laid thereon will then be carried over the East Coast Main Line on a newly constructed viaduct and onto a new piece of embankment to rejoin the present Cambridge-bound line at a new junction closer towards Letchworth. Although this routeing skirts around the present junction in a long curve, and will take trains over a physically longer distance, it will completely remove the need for trains to dwell at Hitchin - sometimes for several minutes - awaiting a suitable path across the tracks of the main London-Peterborough route, thus decreasing the overall journey time to Cambridge in many instances. The scheme will improve the punctuality and reliability of both the London-Cambridge and London-Peterborough routes, the latter because Peterborough-bound stopping trains will no longer be delayed if running closely behind a Cambridge service which, in the present circumstances, may be being held at Hitchin whilst waiting to cross the flat junction.

On 26 June 2013, passenger services began to use the flyover, up to three services per day using it during regular service and driver training. The flyover is due to come into full use in December 2013 with the introduction of the new timetable.

Thameslink programme
As part of the Thameslink Programme, the Great Northern Route will be connected to the existing Thameslink route via a new junction at Belle Isle (south of the High Speed 1 flyover, just north of London King's Cross). Two single-bore tunnels (known as the Canal Tunnels) have already been driven from here to the low-level FCC platforms at St Pancras during the 'St Pancras Box' phase of the redevelopment works that created St Pancras International station. Trains diverging from the Great Northern Route at Belle Isle will join the 'core' St Pancras - Farringdon - City Thameslink - Blackfriars section of the existing Thameslink route and then serve stations across Surrey, East Sussex, Kent, and West Sussex.

East-West (Varsity) line
The Varsity Line originally connected Cambridge with Oxford via Sandy and Bedford. Closed in 1967 there are now proposals to restore this route, but via the Cambridge Line and the East Coast Main Line, diverting westwards at Stevenage.

Rolling stock
While the Great Northern has a distinct set of Rolling Stock, it is detailed together with the Thameslink Rolling Stock here.

Trivia
The Queen and Prince Philip are reported to have travelled by scheduled train to reach their country residence at Sandringham, near King's Lynn.