The Great Northern route (formerly known as Great Northern Electrics) is the name given to suburban rail services run on the southern end of Britain's
East Coast Main Line and its associated branches. Services operate to or from and in London. Destinations include , , , and , and in peak hours, additional services run to and . Services run through parts of
Greater London,
Hertfordshire,
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
,
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...
, and
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
.
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. In early 2018, the line was connected to the
Thameslink
Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying ...
route via a junction just south of the
High Speed 1 bridge, north of King's Cross, allowing through services to the south of London.
Since September 2014, the services have been operated by
Govia Thameslink Railway
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is a train operating company that operates the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) rail franchise in England. Within the franchise, GTR runs the Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Expr ...
(GTR). The Thameslink and Great Northern service brands were maintained and separated from each other.
Route
The network consists of all local and semi-fast services on these lines:
*
East Coast Main Line south of
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
*
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 provided by
EMUs
Emus may refer to:
* Emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...
.
At privatisation the services became part of
West Anglia Great Northern
West Anglia Great Northern, commonly shortened to ''WAGN'', was a train operating company in England. It operated the West Anglia Great Northern franchise between January 1997 and March 2004, as well as the Great Northern franchise between Apri ...
, 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
First Capital Connect (FCC) was a British train operating company, owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Thameslink and Great Northern sectors from April 2006 to September 2014 which later became the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (T ...
. In September 2014, the
Department for Transport transferred the new
Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern
Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) is a management contract for the provision of passenger services on the Thameslink and Great Northern routes to , , , , , , London Moorgate, Sutton, Wimbledon and Brighton, as well as the whole ...
franchise to
Govia Thameslink Railway
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is a train operating company that operates the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) rail franchise in England. Within the franchise, GTR runs the Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Expr ...
. In 2018, with the completion of the
Thameslink Programme
The Thameslink Programme, originally Thameslink 2000, was a £6billion project in south-east England to upgrade and expand the Thameslink rail network to provide new and longer trains between a wider range of stations to the north and to the ...
, many services on the route became part of the
Thameslink
Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying ...
network, running through central London to destinations south of the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
.
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
''Bradshaw's'' was a series of railway timetables and travel guide books published by W.J. Adams and later Henry Blacklock, both of London. They are named after founder George Bradshaw, who produced his first timetable in October 1839. Althou ...
stated a typical rail service on the
Cambridge Line as follows:
* to - Six stopping and two (three on Saturday) semi-fast services from Monday to Saturday, one northbound and two southbound stopping services on Sunday. The fastest service took about 1 hour 30 minutes.
* London King's Cross to - Two (three on Wednesday) additional services from Monday to Saturday, one additional service on Sunday.
* London King's Cross to - Seven additional services from Monday to Saturday.
* London King's Cross to - Three additional services from Monday to Saturday. The last service on Wednesday ran past midnight into Thursday morning.
Since the 1960s, Great Northern has been used to describe the suburban part of the
East Coast Main Line, south of and south of . The Great Northern Railway had proposed electrification of part of the line in 1903, but it was not until 1971 that a scheme to electrify the line from and was authorised.
The Inner Suburban Lines to and 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 , was also electrified but not regularly used by electric trains until 1979, when one Moorgate - Hertford service per hour was extended to ; prior to this
DMUs
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
provided an infrequent service over this route, running between Hertford and / 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
Watton-at-Stone station was reopened between Hertford and Stevenage. A new station also opened at in 1986.
With the further electrification of the
East Coast Main Line between 1986 and 1988, 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
Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying ...
route, with the remainder newly built.
In 1984 it was decided to electrify the line between Royston and Shepreth Branch Junction, a junction on the
West Anglia Main Line
The West Anglia Main Line is one of the two main lines that operate out of , the other being the Great Eastern Main Line, which operates services to Ipswich and Norwich via Colchester. It runs generally north through Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Har ...
north of , allowing the reinstatement of through services to from London King's Cross via the
East Coast Main Line, which was faster than the conventional route from via the
West Anglia Main Line
The West Anglia Main Line is one of the two main lines that operate out of , the other being the Great Eastern Main Line, which operates services to Ipswich and Norwich via Colchester. It runs generally north through Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Har ...
. This electrification was completed in 1988. Later the track between these points was also upgraded with
welded joint track instead of the
jointed track
A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...
that had existed, and the maximum line speed was 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
Saturation, saturated, unsaturation or unsaturated may refer to:
Chemistry
* Saturation, a property of organic compounds referring to carbon-carbon bonds
** Saturated and unsaturated compounds
**Degree of unsaturation
** Saturated fat or fatty ac ...
and can support no further service improvements.
Hitchin Flyover
Together with the two-track
Digswell Viaduct
The Digswell Viaduct, also called Welwyn Viaduct, is a railway viaduct that carries the East Coast Main Line over the River Mimram in the county of Hertfordshire in England. A prominent local landmark, it is located between Welwyn Garden City ...
(Welwyn Viaduct) some ten miles to the south, the flat junction just north of was a major
bottleneck
Bottleneck literally refers to the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle near its opening, which limit the rate of outflow, and may describe any object of a similar shape. The literal neck of a bottle was originally used to play what is now known as ...
, as northbound trains diverging from the
East Coast Main Line towards Letchworth and thence to Cambridge had to cross one northbound (fast) line and two southbound (fast and slow) lines 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 was approved, and construction was completed in June 2013. The scheme has created a new single-track line that diverges from the northbound slow line at a new junction just beyond Hitchin station, using a short embankment section of the former
Bedford to Hitchin Line, a section of which was cleared of vegetation and made progressively higher, to form a short ramp. The track is carried over the
East Coast Main Line on a newly constructed viaduct and onto a new embankment to join the present
Cambridge Line at the newly created Hitchin East Junction, closer to Letchworth. Although this takes trains over a longer distance, it removes the need for them to dwell at Hitchin – sometimes for several minutes – awaiting a path across the tracks of the main London-Peterborough route, thus decreasing the overall journey time to Cambridge in many instances. The scheme improves the punctuality and reliability of both the London-Cambridge and London-Peterborough routes, because Peterborough-bound stopping trains are no longer delayed if running closely behind a Cambridge service being held at Hitchin waiting to cross the flat junction.
Thameslink programme
As part of the Thameslink Programme, the Great Northern Route has been connected to the existing
Thameslink
Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying ...
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
The Canal Tunnels are a pair of single track railway tunnels in north London which connect the East Coast Main Line to London St Pancras International Thameslink. Their name comes from the Regent's Canal, which they pass closely beneath.
Con ...
) were driven from here to the low-level platforms at 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 - - - section of the existing Thameslink route and then serve stations across
Surrey,
East Sussex,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, and
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...
.
On 6 November 2017 the first Thameslink Programme units entered service on the Great Northern route.
700128 worked the 0656 Peterborough - London King's Cross and 1812 return, while 700125 worked the 0733 Peterborough - London King's Cross and 1742 return. Eventually 75% of the GN fleet will be
Class 700 units.
Services
The Great Northern off-peak service pattern, with frequencies in ''trains per hour'' (tph), consists of the following:
Rolling stock
As of 2021, the Great Northern fleet consists of and , the former operating services from London King's Cross and the latter from Moorgate. also operate on the route on Thameslink services.
Prior to the introduction of Class 387s and Class 717s in 2016 and 2019 respectively, , , , and were used. Of these, Class 365s lasted until 15 May 2021,
at which point they were replaced by
Gatwick Express
Gatwick Express is a high-frequency rail passenger service between , Gatwick Airport, and in South East England. It is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway train operating company on the Gatwick Express route of the Thameslink, ...
Class 387/2 units which were being used by
Southern while the service was suspended.
Current fleet
Past fleet
Trains formerly used on the Great Northern Route include, but are not limited to, the following:
Future developments
East-West (Varsity) line
The
Varsity Line
The Varsity Line (or the Oxford to Cambridge railway line) was the main railway route that once linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway.
During World War II the line was ...
connected with via and ("Varsity" being slang for "University", those termini being major university towns). It was closed in 1968 but there are now plans to restore this route.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{UK TOCs
Railway lines in the East of England
Railway lines in London
Transport in Hertfordshire
Transport in Bedfordshire
Transport in Cambridgeshire
Rail transport in Norfolk
Standard gauge railways in England
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
Rail transport in Cambridge