Lea Valley Lines

This simulation covers the Lea Valley Lines out of London Liverpool Street (not included). London Overground services to Chingford, Enfield Town and Cheshunt are included, as well as Greater Anglia services to Hertford East and long distance services onto the West Anglia Main Line.

Lea Valley Lines
DescriptionThe Lea Valley Lines in London, including the Chingford, Enfield Town and Cheshunt branches of the London Overground, and the Hertford East line
Country United Kingdom
Time period2022
Train Operating CompanyLondon Overground, Greater Anglia, Stansted Express
Simulation difficulty6/10 stars
AuthorOxalin
WebsiteLea Valley Lines
Route map

Hertford East
West Anglia Main Line
Ware
Roydon
St Margarets
Rye House Power Station
Rye House
Broxbourne Down Loop
Broxbourne Down Sidings
Broxbourne
Broxbourne Up Sidings
Cheshunt
Theobalds Grove
Waltham Cross
Turkey Street
Enfield Lock
Southbury
Brimsdown
Enfield Town
Ponders End
Bush Hill Park
Chingford Country End Sidings
Chingford
Edmonton Green
Chingford London End Sidings
Highams Park
Silver Street
Wood Street
White Hart Lane
Meridian Water
Bruce Grove
Northumberland Park
Seven Sisters
Tottenham Hale
GOBLIN Line
Walthamstow Central
Stamford Hill
St James Street
Stoke Newington
Lea Bridge
Rectory Road
Clapton
Hackney Downs
Temple Mills
North London Line
London Fields
High Meads Junction
Cambridge Heath
Stratford
London Liverpool Street
London Liverpool Street

Timetable

A full day timetable replicating spring 2022 services has been included. The standard off peak service is as follows:

Lea Valley Lines Services
Train Operating Company Origin Destination Frequency (tph)
London Overground London Liverpool Street Chingford 4
Enfield Town 2
Cheshunt 2
Stansted Express Stansted Airport 2
Greater Anglia Cambridge North 2
Hertford East 2
Stratford Bishop's Stortford 2
Meridian Water 2

Additional peak hour services operate, particularly to Hertford East. There are several freight services interspersed throughout the day, operating across every aspect of the map.

Operational Tips

Stratford

  • Only two platforms at Stratford (11 and 12) are included in this simulation. When routing trains into Stratford, care must be taken to ensure they will not block services entering the map from here - there are no protecting signals and so a crash can easily be caused.
  • Throughout the day, several London Overground services from Clapham Junction and Richmond terminate in these platforms, as opposed to the normal platforms 1 and 2. Along with the freight services entering here, an eye must always be kept on this at all times!

Hackney Downs

  • Keep an eye on where each service is going - trains may enter from the slow lines but need to travel to Chingford or via Tottenham Hale. Additionally, some trains have long dwell times at Hackney Downs, so shouldn't be routed too early.

Chingford

  • Keep an eye on the instructions for services on the Chingford branch. Some trains join and split in Chingford throughout the day, and trains take several different routes in and out of the sidings.
  • Typically trains arrive and depart Chingford at the same time. The arriving train has some slack built into the timetable, so can be held outside the station for the other service to depart first if need be.

Cheshunt

  • London Overground services always terminate in the bay platform.

Broxbourne

  • Some services are overtaken here - as a general rule of thumb stopping services (especially those to Hertford East and Bishops Stortford) should be routed into the outer two platforms. However, be careful not to block freight services in this case.
  • During peak hours, extra services terminate at Broxbourne. These always terminate in the top platform in the simulation. It should be noted that this service can cause other trains to be delayed through Broxbourne, however they should still leave the simulation on time.

Services via Brimsdown

  • Keep an eye on station passing times (all trains on this route should have a time for Cheshunt, and most will have a time for Tottenham Hale) - ensure the trains are kept in the correct order or large delays can be caused. Stansted Express services typically have a large amount of extra time built into the schedule heading towards London, so while it may look like the train is stuck it should still arrive on time.
  • Some Greater Anglia services that typically operate via Brimsdown (particularly those to/from Hertford East) instead operate via Seven Sisters in peak periods - make sure to route these the right way at Cheshunt and Hackney Downs.