Train from Ware to Witham

[doglady]

Is it possible for me to get the train from Ware, Hertfordshire, to Witham near Colchester, without going into London and having to change?

Thanks

[Buenchico]

Unfortunately, no.

Dr Beeching closed all all of the 'cross-country' routes in that area, back in the 1960s.

Chris

[doglady]

Darn.

Thanks very much anyway.

[dzug]

It is possible actually - if you count travelling via Stratford as not going through London. Usually takes longer though.

And you can also go the long way round via Cambridge and Ipswich, but that would be silly just to avoid London

[Buenchico]

Dzug is (as always) correct but the route via Stratford is far from easy.

Trains from Ware usually run into London via Tottenham Hale, not on the alternative route via Seven Sisters. The Tottenham Hale route doesn't offer any connections across to Stratford, so you'd have to change at either Broxbourne or Cheshunt for a train to Seven Sisters. Then you might be able to get a train from there to Stratford but my National Rail map shows that line as 'limited services only'. I ignored this route because it's not really practical, it would take far longer than going into Liverpool Street and, when I was running a railway station, the rule was always (for ticketing purposes) that 'Stratford counts as London'.

Going via Cambridge and Ipswich is not just 'silly', it's 'seriously silly' ;-)

Chris

[dzug]

Chris, there's an hourly service in the day from Broxbourne direct to Stratford - a fairly recent introduction. In the peak hours there are a few through trains from Ware to Stratford.

Difficult to get the journey planners to show the service - I eventually found it in a .pdf on the One web site