Strategic Route 5 - West Anglia was the designation given by

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, from 2004 to 2009, to a grouping of railway lines in the

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that encompassed the

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and its various branch lines. The route provided key services to

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and

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as well as supporting suburban services in North London and rural services in

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and

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. In 2010, Network Rail restructured its route categorisation. Routes 5 and 7 were merged into Strategic Route D: East Anglia.

Strategic route sections

The Route was divided into a number of separate Strategic Route Sections (SRS's) that were defined based on route use, infrastructure and historical lines.

Railway planning

As part of Network Rail's Strategic Business Plan a Route Plan for each route, including Route 5, was published annually. The Route 5 plans for 2008 and 2009 are made available online. Together with Route 7 - Great Eastern and Route 6 - North London Line and Thameside, the route was included in the Greater Anglia Route Utilisation Strategy.

Proposed developments

The Greater Anglia RUS includes a number of proposals for the future development of the route. In the medium term, 2009–14, this includes minor infrastructure works and additional rolling stock to allow main line peak-service trains to be extended to 12-car formation. A number of developments are also intended for the West Coast Main Line depending on the status of future development at

. Enhancements to the power supply of the route are intended for completion by 2012 to interface with those carried out on Route 6 and Route 7.{{cite web , url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/StrategicBusinessPlan/Delivery%20Plan/2009/Enhancements.pdf , title=Enhancements programme: statement of scope, outputs and milestones , publisher=

, date=2009-03-31 , accessdate=2009-07-01 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090902143019/http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/StrategicBusinessPlan/Delivery%20Plan/2009/Enhancements.pdf , archive-date=2 September 2009 , url-status=dead

References

Network Rail routes