London Crosslink was a passenger train service operated by

Anglia Railways Anglia Railways was a train operating company in England, owned by GB Railways and later FirstGroup, that operated the Anglia franchise from January 1997 until March 2004. History The InterCity Anglia franchise was awarded by the Director of P ...

between

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

and

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

, using the

North London Line The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a rou ...

to bypass

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. Class 170 ''Turbostar'' diesel multiple units were used, and the service operated between 22 May 2000 and 28 September 2002, supported by funding from the

Strategic Rail Authority The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for Rail transport in the United Kingdom, the railway industry. Its motto was 'Brita ...

through its Rail Passenger Partnership fund.

Rolling stock

Although the majority of the routes served were electrified (25 kV AC overhead electrified lines on the Anglia route, 750 V DC third rail on the South Western network and dual-voltage on the North London line), diesel trains had to be used as the section of railway from Old Kew Junction to South Acton Junction — i.e. between the

Hounslow Loop Line The Hounslow Loop Line is a railway line in southwest London which was opened by the London and South Western Railway in 1850. It leaves the Waterloo to Reading Line at Barnes Junction and after some seven and a half miles rejoins it at a trian ...

and the North London line — was not electrified.

Service patterns

Due to capacity restrictions on the North London Line, the service only ran infrequently with unequal headways. The majority of services did not go the full length of the route, although all served Basingstoke; Stratford,

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

Witham Witham () is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population ( 2011 census) of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Chelms ...

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

were all starting or terminating points on the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

. Another drawback with the service was the varied stopping patterns employed; for example trains only stopped at

Camden Road Camden Road is a main road in London running from the junction of Camden High Street and Camden Town Underground station up to Holloway Road. It is part of the A503 which continues east as Tollington Road. History The route was created and ...

on weekends,

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

calls were only made from May 2001 and then only during the morning and evening on weekdays and all-day Sundays, and

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

only received one service per day in the early morning. There were six daily departures Monday to Saturday and five on Sundays.South West Trains Complete Timetable Booklet May 2001 Below is an extract of the timetable, showing the service offered on weekdays heading eastbound: {, class="wikitable" border="1" , - ,

, 08:27 , 10:30 , 12:32 , 13:42 , 16:33 , 18:06 , - , Farnborough , 08:40 , 10:43 , 12:45 , 13:54 , , 18:19 , - ,

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

, 08:51 , 10:53 , 12:55 , 14:04 , 16:53 , 18:29 , - , Staines , 09:12 , 11:13 , 13:14 , 14:31 , 17:13 , 18:54 , - ,

Feltham Feltham () is a town in West London, England, from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston has been held by Labour Party MPs ...

, 09:19 , 11:21 , 13:21 , 14:37 , 17:21 , 19:01 , - ,

, 09:27 , , , , , , - ,

Willesden Junction Willesden Junction is a railway station in Harlesden, north-west London, UK. It is served by both London Overground and London Underground services. History The station developed on three contiguous sites: the West Coast Main Line (WCML) st ...

, , , , , 17:29 , 19:09 , - ,

West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to ...

, 09:58 , 11:44 , 13:46 , 14:59 , 17:36 , 19:29 , - , Highbury & Islington , 10:13 , 11:58 , 14:02 , 15:14 , 17:57 , 19:43 , - , Stratford , 10:29 , 12:15 , 14:23 , 15:35 , 18:14 , 20:02 , - ,

Ingatestone Ingatestone is a village and former civil parish in Essex, England, with a population of 5,365 inhabitants according to the 2011 census. Just north lies the village of Fryerning, the two forming now the parish of Ingatestone and Fryerning. Ing ...

, , 12:36 , 14:45 , , , , - ,

, 11:02 , 12:42 , 14:51 , , , 20:26 , - ,

, , 12:51 , , , , 20:34 , - ,

, 11:21 , , , , , 20:53 , - ,

, , , , , , 21:12 , -

References

External links

Great Train Service
Anglia Railways Railway lines in London Railway lines in the East of England Standard gauge railways in England