Thameslink is a mainline route on the British railway network, running from Bedford, Luton, St Albans City, Peterborough, Welwyn Garden City, London Blackfriars and Cambridge via central London to Sutton, Orpington, Sevenoaks, Rainham, Horsham, Three Bridges, Brighton and East Grinstead. The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying more than 28,000 passengers in the morning peak. All the services are currently operated by Govia Thameslink Railway. Parts of the network, from Bedford to Three Bridges, run 24 hours a day, except on early Sunday mornings and during maintenance periods.
The Northern City Line is a commuter railway line in England, which runs from Moorgate station to Finsbury Park in London with services running beyond. It is part of the Great Northern Route services, and operates as the south-eastern branch of the East Coast Main Line (ECML). It is underground from Moorgate to Drayton Park in Highbury, from which point it runs in a cutting until joining the ECML south of Finsbury Park. Its stations span northern inner districts of Greater London southwards to the City of London, the UK's main financial centre. Since December 2015, its service timetable has been extended to run into the late evenings and at weekends, meeting a new franchise commitment for a minimum of six trains per hour until 23:59 on weekdays and four trains per hour at weekends.
Moorgate is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London. Main line railway services for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Stevenage are operated by Great Northern, while the Underground station is served by the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Northern lines.
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a 393-mile long (632 km) electrified railway between its northern terminus at Edinburgh Waverley and southern terminus at London King's Cross. The key towns and cities of Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broadly parallel to the A1 road. The main line acts as a 'spine' for several diverging branches, serving destinations such as Cambridge, Leeds, Hull, Sunderland and Lincoln, all with direct services to London. In addition, a few ECML services extend beyond Edinburgh to serve other Scottish destinations, such as Stirling, Inverness, Dundee, or Aberdeen.
The British Rail Class 365 Networker Express was a class of dual-voltage electric multiple unit passenger train built by ABB at Holgate Road Carriage Works in 1994 and 1995.
The British Rail Class 313 was a dual-voltage electric multiple unit (EMU) train built by British Rail Engineering Limited's Holgate Road carriage works between February 1976 and April 1977. They were the first production units that were derived from British Rail's 1971 prototype suburban EMU design which, as the BREL 1972 family, eventually encompassed 755 vehicles over five production classes. They were the first second-generation EMUs to be constructed for British Rail and the first British Rail units with both a pantograph for 25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead lines and contact shoe equipment for 750 V DC third rail supply. They were, additionally, the first units in Britain to employ multi-function automatic Tightlock couplers, which include electrical and pneumatic connections allowing the coupling and uncoupling of units to be performed unassisted by the driver whilst in the cab.
Cambridge railway station is the principal station serving the city of Cambridge in the east of England. It stands at the end of Station Road, 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of the city centre. It is the northern terminus of the West Anglia Main Line, 55 miles 52 chains (89.6 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street, the southern terminus.
Stevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. The station is around 27.6 miles (44.4 km) north of London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line. The station lies just to the north of Langley junction, a grade separated junction where the Hertford Loop Line diverges from the East Coast Main Line; the two lines re-converge at Alexandra Palace in London's northern suburbs.
The Cambridge line runs from Cambridge junction north of Hitchin on the East Coast Main Line to Shepreth Branch Junction south of Cambridge on the West Anglia Main Line and forms part of the route between London King's Cross and East Anglia. The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5, SRS 05.05 and is classified as a London and South East Commuter line.
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 (TSGN) franchise.
Hitchin railway station serves the market town of Hitchin in Hertfordshire. It is located approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north east of the town centre and 31 miles 74 chains (51.4 km) north of London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line.
Potters Bar railway station serves the town of Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, England. It is located on the Great Northern Route, 12 miles 57 chains (20.5 km) north of London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line.
Welwyn Garden City railway station serves the town of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. It is 20 miles 25 chains from London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line. Train services are currently provided by Thameslink and Great Northern.
Royston railway station serves the town of Royston in Hertfordshire, England. The station is 44 miles 72 chains (72.3 km) from London Kings Cross on the Cambridge Line. Trains serving the station are operated by Thameslink and Great Northern.
Shepreth railway station serves the village of Shepreth in Cambridgeshire, England. The station is on the Cambridge Line, 49 miles 67 chains from London King's Cross.
The East Coast Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS), published by Network Rail in February 2008, was the seventh RUS.
The Royston and Hitchin Railway was an English railway company; it built a line from the Great Northern Railway at Hitchin to Shepreth. A Shepreth branch line was built by the Eastern Counties Railway from Shelford Junction to Shepreth, and in time the line from Hitchin to Shepreth Branch Junction was regarded as a single unit.
The Hitchin Flyover is a grade-separated single-track railway viaduct near Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, which carries the Down Cambridge Flyover line over the East Coast Main Line. Constructed between 2012 and 2013, it connects the westernmost track of the East Coast Main Line with the Cambridge line. The flyover was built to increase the throughput at Cambridge Junction, a congested flat junction, which put severe constraints on capacity on both lines.
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is a British train operating company that operates the TSGN rail franchise. Within the franchise, GTR runs trains under the sub-brands: Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern, and Gatwick Express. GTR is a subsidiary of Govia, which is itself a joint venture between the British Go-Ahead Group (65%) and French company Keolis (35%).
The British Rail Class 717 Desiro City is an electric multiple unit passenger train built by Siemens Mobility, currently operated by Govia Thameslink Railway on its Great Northern Hertford Loop and Welwyn stopping routes. Built to replace Class 313 trains on services into Moorgate, a total of 25 six-car units began entering regular service from March 2019. The units are similar to the Class 700s and the Class 707s.
