Strategic Route 6 - North London Line and Thameside was the designation

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

gave to a grouping of railway lines in Greater London and the East of England region that encompassed the

London, Tilbury and Southend Line The London, Tilbury and Southend line, also known as Essex Thameside, is a commuter railway line on the British railway system. It connects Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , ...

and overground commuter lines within London. The route provided key services to

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

and London suburban areas as well as supporting various freight routes within London. In 2010, Network Rail restructured its route categorisation. Route 6 was split into Strategic Route E: North London Line, and Strategic Route F: Thameside.

Strategic route sections

The Route was divided into a number of separate Strategic Route Sections (SRS's) that were defined based on route use, infrastructure and historical lines.

Railway planning

As part of its Strategic Business Plan, Network Rail annually published a Route Plan for each route, including Route 6; the 2008 and 2009 Route 6 plans are available online. Together with Route 7 - Great Eastern and Route 5 - West Anglia, the London, Tilbury and Southend Line section of the route was included in the

Greater Anglia Route Utilisation Strategy The Greater Anglia Route Utilisation Strategy is a Route Utilisation Strategy published by Network Rail in December 2007. It was the sixth RUS to be produced. The area covered includes the whole of Route 5 West Anglia (WA) and Route 7 Great Ea ...

. The North London Lines section of the route was included in the Cross London Route Utilisation Strategy.

Proposed developments

The Greater Anglia RUS includes a number of proposal for the future development of the route. In the medium term, 2009–14, this plan includes minor infrastructure works and additional rolling stock to allow all main line peak-service trains to be extended to 12-car formation. Also included is the proposal for the extension of platforms on the Tilbury loop and Ockendon branch to handle 12 cars, to allow all main line peak-service trains to be extended to 8 or 12-car formation. In the longer term intentions are to continue the lengthening of peak trains to 12-car formation. Enhancements to the power supply of the route are intended for completion by 2012 to interface with those carried out on Route 5 and Route 7.

References

{{reflist Network Rail routes