Cambridge line

The Cambridge line runs from Cambridge junction on the East Coast Main Line to Shepreth Branch Junction 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.
Plans for a line between Hitchin and Royston were placed before Parliament in 1846 by the Royston and Hitchin Railway company.
The line was initially planned to be a single track spur from Hitchin, but during debate in the Lords it was recommended that the line be two track in the view of its possible later use as part of a route from Cambridge to Bedford although this was later superseded by the Varsity line via Sandy.
The line was opened in 1851 then extended to Cambridge although this was resisted by the company already operating a service from Liverpool Street via the West Anglia Main Line. The line was then leased by the Great Northern
in 1850 and subsequently purchased in 1898
and through services run from London King's Cross to Cambridge. In 2002, a train travelling from King's Cross to King's Lynn, via Cambridge, crashed at Potter's Bar, shortly before set to join the Cambridge line, killing seven.

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