The FORGOTTEN Cross-London Railway Service! 

It was always amusing to see peoples faces at Highbury & Izzy Station when some random Anglia Railways trainset pulled up totally unannounced - doors open, nobody getting, nobody getting off - randomly and for no explained reason. Shows how well this was marketed! Btw, I still love the Class 170, especially on Chiltern. Great trains, based on the last ones BREL built before being sold off to Adtranz.

I once used this service from Woking to Stratford. Never again. On joining the North London Line, which had a far less frequent service at the time(Only 3 or 4 an hour) we rapidly caught up a slow train. I reckon we spent more time at Red signals that we were moving.

That large area at Stratford between the platforms is where the shuttle buses used to go between the mainline station and Stratford International before Westfield and the DLR extension opened and the only way into to Stratford International was the one by the now positioned DLR.

Forgotten? I remember it very well! It was about the same time that South West Trains started running through services (via Salisbury) from London Waterloo to Bristol Temple meads and New Southern Railway started running through services from Brighton to Rugby via Kensington Olympia using dual-voltage Class 319 EMU's!

I used to use this service to get home from Camden to Colchester when I was a commuter, it was nice and quiet! However I had numerous disputes with ticket inspectors about the validity of my ticket, eventually getting a written confirmation from management at Anglia Railways that my ticket WAS perfectly OK....I probably still have the letter somewhere.. I gave up with the hassle eventually and returned to the Camden Town-Moorgate-Liverpool St mayhem.....but it was good for a while.

I remember this service; I went on it on the London section (the zones 1-6 travelcards were valid on the service). It’s funny because it used chords that are no longer used by passenger trains these days. I’m sure these used 158/159s, when I went on it.

A few notes to add for you to note at Stratford. The large platform area between platforms 10a and eleven used to be the main station building entrance and road led to in front the building behind that red wall. Also when this was moved and rebuilt the older building was demolished leaving this larger area and also they covered over the down line crosslink used. Can you guess, yes platform 10a is built on top of this old line and hence when the connection was to the GEML.

I can remember getting on at Highbury and Islington to travel to West Hampstead and getting a coffee from the bar!

Most interesting. You commented on the slightly odd location and appearance of Gunnersbury Station; did you know that it was completely wrecked by a tornado (only a few yards in width) on 8th December 1954?

I live in a house in Canonbury, and I can see Canonbury Station through a gap in the houses opposite. I used to occasionally see this Anglia service pass through Canonbury. At the time I had a job that necessitated occasional visits to Ipswich and I did consider trying to catch the Anglia service from Highbury & Islington to Ipswich. However, the timings were inconvenient and infrequent (a fatal combination) so I just used to make my way to Liverpool Street and take a train to Ipswich from there.

I remember that the launch publicity said 'it's like the M25 for trains' I wanted to find the time to use the service but sadly it was withdrawn before I got the chance.

This service managed to get up a good speed between Basingstoke and Woking, but after this it had to fit in amongst slower stopping trains and frieght paths, and therefore travelled at a snail's pace until at least Stratford. I don't remember calls at Willesden Junction, which surprised me considering the number of connections available there. Regular calling points were West Hampstead and Highbury & Islington.

I did enjoy the video, First time I've seen your channel. I remember this service being advertised at Brentford don't think I ever saw one stop tho. Used to travel from Brentford to Twickenham for college. It wasn't around during commuting times.

I once travelled all the way from Basingstoke to Colchester on this service, purely for the fun of it. The train was completely packed for the first part of journey, however it seemed that everyone got off at Woking except for me. I think I had the coach to myself the rest of the way, and the North London Line was very slow

Great video Hugh; I’m glad you’ve drawn attention to this long defunct train connection which I suspect was ahead of its time. As far as private train operators go, I think Anglia Railways was at the top of the league. As you mentioned in the video, it sounds like congestion on the North London Lines caused it to become an unreliable and infrequent link. I’ve subscribed to your Channel - thanks again. ☺️

Ah yes! Feltham! My local station in West London! Living here for a few months and I never knew about this

110 to Hammersmith! The Incredible Changing Bus Route! When I was young it went Twickenham Station to Hounslow Bus Garage then onward to Cranford when the wind was blowing in the right direction or when the driver felt like it.

What a great video and so informative. Reminds me of the train you could once get that went from Brighton to Glasgow / Edinburgh

A bit like the Lowestoft through service to Liverpool Street, used that a couple of times also used 170s I think

I noticed the other day Thameslink stops at Wimbledon , on journeys between St. Albans and Sutton.

Waheyyyy! Felthamite here, and I used to live in Woking. Woking to Ipswich was a weird route!

I never even knew this line existed! I live in Richmond which is near Brentford and once we needed to get to Norwich and what we did was get 110 bus (which is my local bus) to Hammersmith, then the H&C to Liverpool Street then Greateranglia but if I knew this existed it would’ve been so much more useful😊

Really enjoyed this film, very informative to provincial guys like me! I guess there will now be a spike in tickets issued Feltham to ingatestone now that you've publicised it as an adventure holiday. Personally I'd walk between the two stations where you caught the bus (can't remember their names). By the way, look at the LENS when you are talking to us!!

Also similar to the Croydon - Watford service there used to be one by Virgin trains. Basingstoke to Norwich i never went on this train service but I remember seeing it on the London and Southeast train map publications.

I used this service a few times because I could get from Potters Bar to Honiton with only two changes, at Highbury & Islington and at either Woking or Basingstoke. However it was slower than using the Underground from Finsbury Park to Waterloo. The Anglia trains ran around the North London Line stopping at only a few of the stations but they could not overtake the North London trains that were stopping at all stations. This meant that Anglia's 100mph trains ran for 15 miles at about 10mph. The buffets on the Anglia trains sold confectionery at the same price that the same items would have cost in a shop, whereas South West Trains charged about three times as much.

This is actually insane. Who came up with it and how did it last 2 years! Even just connecting any 2 bits together seems wild, like Basingtstoke to Staines or Feltham, or Feltham to Willesden Junction - and some of those would make useful journeys!

The 170's that Greater Anglia had used, were sent to Transport For Wales's Cardiff Canton and used on The Ebbw Vale Line between Cardiff Central, Maesteg or Bridgend and Ebbw Vale Town, they were also used between Gloucester and Cardiff, they were sent away to East Midlands Railway because the Department of Transport had the final say weather TFW kept them or not

Thank you. People though i was mad when i said you could once catch a train from Basingstoke to Norwich.

Great video.

In a similar vein - what happened to the amazing Brighton to Bristol service. And then again there was the Brighton to Edinburgh via Birmingham. Both extremely useful😢

What a great railway! They certainly ought to revive it. Perhaps extend the south-western end on to Southampton.

Being Irish and living in Manchester 23 years, I find this very interesting and indeed, when I saw the title of the video, I did initially think of the Elizabeth Line - as an aside, here in Manchester, I use the SailRail service to travel home to family in Ireland via Holyhead - Dublin, but changing trains at Chester, Crewe and Lladnuo is a real pain where there should really be a train from Hull, via Leeds, Manchester Victoria (not Piccadilly) to Holyhead - aside from the constant (post-HS2) shelving of the high speed rail tunnel under the Irish Sea from Holyhead to Dublin, it is encouraging news to hear that the Irish government is investing in Irish Railways, as they are planning to comply with EU climate change rules and are banning short-haul flights between Ireland, the U.K. and Europe - aside from links from the Irish Ferries and Stena terminals via Dublin Docklands into Dublin City Centre via LUAS Trams or DART underground they are planning a line to Dublin Airport and they are extending the M3 Parkway Line to Navan in the coming years, having already completed an upgrade to Dublin Pearse Station

great video hugh! shame this service doesn't exist anymore but if it did i'd want more than a 170 🤣

I remember seeing these trains very occasionally in back 2001 and always wondered what the point was. By the way, why did you choose Ingatestone and not Chelmsford as your destination? Unless you live there, or have a hankering to see the old station building, there's really no other reason to visit. Chelmsford is only 8 minutes further along and has a far more frequent service back in to London.

I used to travel on the Wales and Borders sevice between Pyle and Waterloo, having also a friend living at one of the stops between Bath and Westbury. His girlfriend lived in Norwich, she refusing to travel across London, thus a problem. It was quite easy to suggest a train at Basingstoke, in fact, if I remember notvto inconvenient in either direction. Just a shame that the journey became not possible before it was of use. The series of such trains, started then abandoned, might have become useful competition to National Express, with just a little 'network' advertising Stewart Clark

Nice video on retracing the route, Is there any plans for more journeys like this?

I used to use that service. I was delivering cars from a garage in Borehamwood, and often delivered to Basingstoke. Got the Crosslink back and changed onto Thameslink at West Hampstead. Often wondered if it confused Silverlink passengers who were used to all trains stopping at all stations.

I remember London Crosslink that they used to have or hired some of Anglia Railways’s Class 170s and went via the North London Line and Brentford from Norwich to Basingstoke.

If only I went on a Crosslink Class 170 from Shenfield to Basingstoke and back to Shenfield. Shame that it’s now not in service anymore and now we got the Elizabeth Line that runs from East to West through Central London.

I remember that service and badly wanted to try it out. But never did as it was impossible to do a day return with the limited timetable.

ANY intercity service that passed through ADDLESTONE had to be investigated ( ? ) .... I did the whole thing in 2002 , and OMG it took all day ... but .... I was accompanied by a young family , playing a game of : [ spot how many bathroom fixtures , thrown down the embankment ] , on the LMS part in London ! ... FYI , although electrified , the turnoff from Byfleet and New Haw up to Addlestone was also a freight only section .. also amusing : ( the next stop is Gospel Oak , change here for the BARKING line ) ... ( ? ) .... incredible fun , but tedious ................. DAVE™🛑

i travelled on it once when I needed to get to the other side of London, but found out there was no train I could take on my way back at the time i wanted to travel.

Just had an idea for a video for you guys. Everyone's mate, Nick Badley, recently made a video where he visited Northern Rail's most Northerly and Southerly stations . . . How about one where you all visit London's most North, South, East and Westerly Stations? If you split into two groups, one could do North-South, and the other East-West, maybe arranging to meet somewhere in the middle at the halfway point? Just an idea :)

Ooh he's back taking the reins of another adventure 😎 why are they not building more of these East to West lines....... we have enough North to Souths with Kingscross, Euston, Liverpool Street) and they keep pushing for this HS2 line running to Birmingham. Give us more Cross Country rail connections..

This service was withdrawn just after my Grandmother died she was the only surviving grandparent I had 😢😢

I use to see this pass through Stratford after school….not sure if it was.

This brought back so many memories. Between 1978 and 1991 I lived in Chiswick Village, the complex of flats that's bounded on two sides by the District Line and Hounslow loop and was a regular traveller at both Gunnersbury and Kew Bridge. Fast forward to early 2002 and we were living in Dorset and my eldest daughter had a Uni interview in Chelmsford so we used this route to avoid Central London, probably the first time I'd been on a 170 (use them all the time now living in Nottingham). It would make so much sense to put the third rail in between South Acton and the two sides of the Kew Bridge triangle the possibilities would be endless, but DfT don't want anymore third rail - witness Headbolt Lane on Merseyside.

It was a good service.

Im furious i never rode it, i kept seeing the trains at Basinstoke and being like 'say wha??'

If this service was to run with active trains as of 2024, a good option would be the class 755

Or one could just get a tube from Waterloo to Stratford and connect with the GEML there.

14:17 Why do the 720s have such poor ride quality? When I rode on one it was similarly bumpy.

Studying for Fallout: London......

dual voltage with batteries could be done now

Interesting service 🤔 it only ran for 2 years thats sad

Do you think they could bring Crosslink back using the Crossrail tunnel? 🤣

2:56 Pardon me, please permit the pushy pronunciation pedant in me to politely point out that more often than not, place names are not said as their pattern of letters at first glance suggests. Just as it's Bucker still, so too is it far closer to sthg approaching In guh stun than a slaveish sticking to the sequence of syllables some have fallen foul of. Faydun Boys n so on geeze.

Amazing story - I never heard about this service before and you tracked it nicely. BUT Please stop touching your hair every 20 seconds or so... It's SOOO distracting. Maybe worth getting some sort of headband? You may not even notice it but it keeps happening... Otherwise your style and material are great, just need a bit of presentation discipline :)

no need for this, just use the elizabeth line

Nice 👍