The Mayflower Line is a branch railway line from Manningtree

Manningtree

Manningtree is a town and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England, which lies on the River Stour. It adjoins built-up areas of Lawford to the west and Mistley to the east and the three parishes together are sometimes referred to as "Manningtree".Manningtree is a claimant for the...

 to Harwich

Harwich

Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...

 in the county of Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

 in England. Passenger services are operated by National Express East Anglia. The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 7

Network Rail Route 7 (Great Eastern)

Strategic Route 7 - Great Eastern is the designation given by Network Rail to a grouping of railway lines in the East of England that encompasses the Great Eastern Main Line and its various branch lines...

, SRS 07.07 and is classified as a London and South East commuter line.

History

Eastern Counties Railway

Eastern Counties Railway

The Eastern Counties Railway was an early English railway company incorporated in 1836. It was intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then on to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in late March 1837 on the first nine miles, at the London end of the line.Construction was...

 had originally proposed plans to extend the East Coast Main Line

East Coast Main Line

The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...

 from Colchester to Harwich although this was a cause for concern to Ipswich

Ipswich

Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

 which was a rival port.

In 1846 a railway line from Manningtree to Harwich proposed by Eastern Union Railway

Eastern Union Railway

The Eastern Union Railway was an early English railway, initially sanctioned by Act of Parliament on 19 July 1844, with authorised capital of £200,000 to build from Ipswich to Colchester. Further Acts of 21 July 1845 and 26 June 1846 authorised further increases in capital of £50,000 and £20,000...

 (EUR) was approved by the Railway Commissioners. In 1853 an agreement was reached between the companies with the Eastern Counties Railway taking over the working of the EUR from 1 January 1854. The line opened on 15 August 1854.

In 1862 the Eastern Counties Railway and the Eastern Union Railway merged to become the Great Eastern Railway

Great Eastern Railway

The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...

.

Passenger services are currently operated by National Express East Anglia who replaced the previous operator, First Great Eastern

First Great Eastern

First Great Eastern was an award-winning train operating company that operated suburban, local and medium distance train services from London Liverpool Street via Romford to Essex and Ipswich in the United Kingdom on the Great Eastern Main Line railway.First Group gained the Great Eastern...

, on 1 April 2004, when all the operators in East Anglia

East Anglia

East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...

 were merged into one new franchise.

Infrastructure

The line diverges from the Great Eastern Main Line

Great Eastern Main Line

The Great Eastern Main Line is a 212 Kilometre major railway line of the British railway system, which connects Liverpool Street in the City of London with destinations in east London and the East of England, including Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich and several coastal resorts such as...

 at Manningtree and is double track as far as Harwich International

Harwich International railway station

Harwich International is a railway station serving Harwich International Port in Essex, England. The station is located on the electrified Mayflower Line from Manningtree to Harwich Town...

 where connecting ferry services are available to Hoek van Holland

Hoek van Holland

The Hook of Holland , also known in English as the Hook, is a town in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is situated on the North Sea coast, on the north bank of the Nieuwe Waterweg ship canal. The town is administered by the municipality of Rotterdam as a district of that city...

 and Esbjerg

Esbjerg

Esbjerg Municipality is a municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. Its mayor is Johnny Søtrup, from the Venstre political party...

. East of Manningtree station

Manningtree railway station

Manningtree is a railway station which serves the town of Manningtree in Essex, England. Services are provided by National Express East Anglia. The station is on the Great Eastern Main Line between London and Norwich and is the only station on the main line between Colchester and Ipswich....

 there is a triangular junction so that trains operating to the port can reach the branch from both north and south.
The line is electrified

Railway electrification in Great Britain

Railway electrification in Great Britain started towards of the 19th century. A great range of voltages have been used in the intervening period using both overhead lines and third rails, however the most common standard for mainline services is now 25 kV AC using overhead lines and the...

 at 25 kV AC

25 kV AC

The 25 kV Alternating current railway electrification system is commonly used in railways worldwide, especially for high-speed rail.-Overview:This electrification system is ideal for railways that cover long distances and/or carry heavy traffic...

 using overhead wires and has a loading gauge of W10 (excluding W9), and a line speed of between 40-75 mph.

Services are formed using Class 360

British Rail Class 360

The British Rail Class 360 electric multiple units were built by Siemens in two sub-types from 2002-2003 and 2004-2005. These units are part of the Siemens Desiro family.The Siemens "Desiro UK" family also includes units of Classes 185, 350, 380, 444 and 450....

, Class 321

British Rail Class 321

The British Rail Class 321 alternating current electric multiple units were built by BREL York in three batches from 1988-91. The design was successful and led to the development of the similar Class 320 and Class 322 units for use by Strathclyde PTE and Stansted Express respectively...

 and occasionally Class 315

British Rail Class 315

British Rail Class 315 alternating current electric multiple units were built by BREL at York works from 1980 to 1981. They were the fifth and final variety of British Rail's then-standard 1972 design for suburban EMUs, which eventually encompassed 755 vehicles and five Classes...