R A I LT R AC K - The Railways Archive

Route characteristics
DESCRIPTION The West Anglia Main Line runs from London to King’s Lynn via
Cambridge with several suburban branches and a link to Stansted Airport. The
combination of the main line through the Lea Valley and the Southbury Loop
(Hackney Downs to Cheshunt) creates a four-track railway between Bethnal
Green and Cheshunt. Otherwise the route is two track, with a small number of
single-line sections. The maximum speed on the main line is 90mph.
The route from Norwich to Ely and Peterborough connects East Anglia to
the Midlands, the North and Scotland.
Apart from the Norwich–Peterborough section, all lines on the route are
electrified.
BOTTLENECK ANALYSIS Studies of capacity have shown that if the current
service pattern is maintained, there is sufficient space available on existing trains,
Route vision
The West Anglia Main Line serves densely populated areas at its southern end
and some key locations at its centre, including Cambridge and Stansted Airport.
Our vision for this route is to provide frequent and reliable high-quality services
to all destinations, with comfortable capacity for many years to come. The rapid
growth of the region means that significant investment is needed in the
infrastructure to meet these needs, and we have started a major renewal of the
signalling, telecoms and overhead-line between London and Elsenham. In
addition, we have assessed opportunities for further enhancements:
Maximise current capacity (£10M) Extend platforms to allow longer trains,
but some journey times would have to be increased, or station stops reduced, to
accommodate a service of four trains per hour to Stansted Airport.
Stimulate rail growth (£60M) As well as the platform works above, include
an additional track between Cheshunt and Broxbourne to accommodate four
trains per hour to Stansted Airport without disrupting existing services. There
would be limited operational flexibility to recover from incidents or to handle
exceptional demand.
and later by extending trains, to cater for predicted peak demand for at least the
next ten years. However, the Franchising Director, WAGN and Central Trains
aspire to operate more frequent services (peak and off-peak) to Stansted Airport
in order to further stimulate growth.
This new custom, in addition to underlying growth, means that demand for
paths is expected to continue growing strongly beyond the expiry of the WAGN
franchise (2004) and the current plan horizon (2009). To satisfy this continuing
growth, we may need to alter the track layout and signalling (see below).
The key driver for the route is capacity, which is restricted by the mixture
of fast and stopping services.
A prerequisite for capacity enhancement is to modernise the basic signalling,
telecoms and overhead-line equipment. This year, we will start work on a major
modernisation scheme, and will complete the first stage in 2001.
High specification (£113M) In addition to the previous options, install an
additional track between Brimsdown and Northumberland Park and upgrade the
signalling capability. This would provide full operational flexibility for all forecast
services to all destinations with standard setting reliability.
To take this forward, we are working with the Franchising Director, industry
partners, local authorities and others to determine the best specification for the
infrastructure to 2008 and well beyond.
None of the options above include improving capacity of the Stansted
Airport terminal, which we are evaluating separately.
We will continue to improve our stations and, in particular, address
integration with other transport modes, improved passenger information and
access for the disabled.
217