Not stopping at Cheshunt

[VauxhallandI]

On Monday night I boarded a Cambridge train at Liverpool St intending to get off a Cheshunt.

To my surprise it wasn’t scheduled to stop at Cheshunt so I got a lovely 10 mins at Broxbourne

Ive lived here since 2006 and that was the first Cambridge train that hasn’t stopped at Cheshunt.

is there a story here? What I found particularly galling was that it stopped at Waltham Cross

 

[dk1]

On Monday night I boarded a Cambridge train at Liverpool St intending to get off a Cheshunt.

To my surprise it wasn’t scheduled to stop at Cheshunt so I got a lovely 10 mins at Broxbourne

Ive lived here since 2006 and that was the first Cambridge train that hasn’t stopped at Cheshunt.

is there a story here? What I found particularly galling was that it stopped at Waltham Cross

I was speaking with some Cambridge colleagues yesterday who were talking about changes & random stoping patterns on the route now.

 

[VauxhallandI]

I was speaking with some Cambridge colleagues yesterday who were talking about changes & random stoping patterns on the route now.

I’ve investigated how prolific this error is yet

 

[62484GlenLyon]

The 16.28 Liverpool St to Cambridge, Monday to Friday, for several years was not booked to call at Cheshunt. I haven't checked which years but certainly a random check of the December 2016 and May 2019 timetables shows that this train didn't call during those periods. It had a non-standard calling pattern of Tottenham Hale, Broxbourne, Harlow Town, Harlow Mill, Sawbridgeworth, Bishops Stortford, Stansted Mountfichet, Audley End, Whittlesford Parkway and Cambridge. It carried a 1HXX headcode rather than the more usual 2HXX.

 

[hexagon789]

Looking at RTT it appears:

The 1628 calls at Cheshunt

Then all of the next trains serving Cambridge at 1643, 1707, 1713, 1737, 1743, 1807, 1813, 1837, 1843, 1907 do NOT.

Cheshunt calls then resume with the 1928.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Looking at RTT it appears:

The 1628 calls at Cheshunt

Then all of the next trains serving Cambridge at 1643, 1707, 1713, 1737, 1743, 1807, 1813, 1837, 1843, 1907 do NOT.

Cheshunt calls then resume with the 1928.

Wow that's a massive and highly annoying change.

I was on the 1743.

Add to the fact that very soon there will be a whole new town within a town built next to Cheshunt station (on the old Tesco HQ site) so we need more trains not less

 

[hexagon789]

Wow that's a massive and highly annoying change.

I was on the 1743.

Add to the fact that very soon there will be a whole new town within a town built next to Cheshunt station (on the old Tesco HQ site) so we need more trains not less

At that time, there is the 1740 Stansted or the 1752 London Overground both calling there.

Its a complex arrangement, it seems to be 6tph before 1700; between 1700 and 1900 it's 7tph but the services are different.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Stansted Express has never stopped at Cheshunt in my time, is this more than one train a day?

I'm not accepting LO as an alternative, it can be up to 20 odd mins slower as an option or 100% longer

 

[hexagon789]

Stansted Express has never stopped at Cheshunt in my time, is this more than one train a day?

I'm not accepting LO as an alternative, it can be up to 20 odd mins slower as an option or 100% longer

Seems to be an evening peak thing.

There is one Stansted in the early morning - the 0440 with a Cheshunt call.

Then in the evening all of: 1639, 1709, 1724, 1740, 1810, 1824, 1840 and 1910.

And yes, the 1752 LO is a lot slower (18 mins than the preceding Stansted). The next service with a Chshunt call, the 1756 to Hertford East, overtakes it and arrives 7 mins before the LO at Cheshunt.

 

[Bald Rick]

Add to the fact that very soon there will be a whole new town within a town built next to Cheshunt station (on the old Tesco HQ site) so we need more trains not less

Ah, yes. The developers were particularly keen to stress that the development would have absolutely no impact on the railway, and therefore couldn’t possibly pay for any upgrades to the station or closing the level crossing. But no doubt the homes will be marketed as being 3 minutes from the station …

 

[VauxhallandI]

Ah, yes. The developers were particularly keen to stress that the development would have absolutely no impact on the railway, and therefore couldn’t possibly pay for any upgrades to the station or closing the level crossing. But no doubt the homes will be marketed as being 3 minutes from the station …

This is true but GA significantly reducing services is a multiplier but why am I not surprised aboiut the complete lack of co-ordination

 

[Paul Kelly]

Looks convenient for people connecting off the northern part of the Lea Valley lines going to Stansted Airport - a journey that is usually particularly tedious with 2 changes required. Journey planners are not showing the short connection from (for example) Edmonton Green to Stansted as there is some padding added to the arrival time of the London Overground train, but it should be an easy and quick cross-platform connection.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Aren't there some peak Liverpool St Broxbourne non-stops too, which then terminate, and the reverse in the morning?

 

[Bald Rick]

Aren't there some peak Liverpool St Broxbourne non-stops too, which then terminate, and the reverse in the morning?

No. I don’t remember these in recent times.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

No. I don’t remember these in recent times.

I could swear that certainly a number of 317s were booked to do this, around 2020/2021 anyway so it may have been a part of COVID timetabling, but then it seems weird that COVID timetables would have peak extras not in the ordinary timetable. The extremely generous @ls2270 provided me with a lot of WAML information around this time to help me locate certain stock, and I remember seeing them in the diagrams he sent.

 

[Bald Rick]

there used to be Broxbourne starters in the am peak that called (nearly) all stops to Tottenham Hale, then into Liverpool St or Stratford. But never a Broxbourne starter non stop to the street. It’s possible that there may have been contra-peak non stops that formed these services, but I don’t remember them.

There are two contra peak service in the morning with very limited stops to Cambridge (1H98 and 1H00). These are the back workings off the up Cambridge flyers. In previous years I think at least one of them these ran non stop to Cambridge. There is one equivalent reverse working in the evening. In my experience, they are usually near empty.

 

[MCR247]

I remember back in 2020/21 I got a 317 in the evening peak that was either non-stop to Liverpool Street or called at Tottenham Hale only. I think it was the return working of a stopping service (that may have gone via Seven Sisters? I can’t remember)

 

[antharro]

Yes. I used the non-stop Broxbourne to Liverpool Street train a few times. Good fun on a 317s with those motors screaming away.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Yes. I used the non-stop Broxbourne to Liverpool Street train a few times. Good fun on a 317s with those motors screaming away.

I was gonna say I was sure I hadn't imagined them!

 

[Magdalia]

Aren't there some peak Liverpool St Broxbourne non-stops too, which then terminate, and the reverse in the morning?

Not any more, they were knocked out last month. In the evening peak the down trains were xx26/xx56 from Liverpool Street, and came back non-stop from Broxbourne at xx05/xx35.

There are two contra peak service in the morning with very limited stops to Cambridge (1H98 and 1H00). These are the back workings off the up Cambridge flyers. In previous years I think at least one of them these ran non stop to Cambridge.

Currently these call at Tottenham Hale and Audley End. I think they started in 2011 when the class 379s were introduced, and they had the same stopping pattern then. I can't recall them ever running non-stop.

There is one equivalent reverse working in the evening.

That hasn't run for a while. I can't remember that it ever got reinstated after the first Covid lockdown.

 

[55002]

The Hertford Liverpool St in peaks no longer stop at Cheshunt and Stansted Express pick up there instead, or at least in the morning.

the Broxbourne peak stoppers have been extended to Hertford. In old timetable they ran non stop back from Broxbourne to Liverpool St

 

[VauxhallandI]

Looks like I’m going to have to do some homework on these new patterns

 

[Bald Rick]

That hasn't run for a while. I can't remember that it ever got reinstated after the first Covid lockdown.

It ran yesterday! 1H99.

Realtime Trains | 1H99 1635 Cambridge to London Liverpool Street | 09/06/2023

Real-time train running information for 1H99 1635 departure from Cambridge to London Liverpool Street on 09/06/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Magdalia]

It ran yesterday! 1H99.

Realtime Trains | 1H99 1635 Cambridge to London Liverpool Street | 09/06/2023

Real-time train running information for 1H99 1635 departure from Cambridge to London Liverpool Street on 09/06/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

So it did! a bit of brain fade there.

I see that it has been retimed (which is how I missed it) and now stops at Whittlesford Parkway and Bishops Stortford in addition to Audley End and Tottenham Hale. In all of my experience of travelling between the Fens and London I don't think that 4 intermediate stops between Cambridge and London has ever been regarded as "very limited".

 

[30907]

This is true but GA significantly reducing services is a multiplier but why am I not surprised aboiut the complete lack of co-ordination

There appear to be at least as many services in the morning peak, and 1 fewer in the evening peak (journey planners will show 1 more, as the Southbury Loop fast services were overtaken.

 

[cle]

Ironically, in the peaks, the Cruiser isn't non-stop and the journey times aren't better than this. But hardly anyone thinks of Liverpool St - Cambridge as a primary or main route to take between the cities.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Thought I would report back, there seems to be Stansted Express trains in the evening peak that stop at Cheshunt so that’s a relief

 

[hexagon789]

Thought I would report back, there seems to be Stansted Express trains in the evening peak that stop at Cheshunt so that’s a relief

Yep, as reported unthread, in the peak Cheshunt calls swap from the Cambridges to the Stansteds, then swap back.