Hitchin Flyover

About

The Hitchin Flyover is a railway flyover 0.7 miles (1.1 km) north of Hitchin railway station in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. The flyover allows the Down Cambridge Flyover line to cross over the four tracks of the congested East Coast Main Line to connect to the Cambridge line, as opposed to the former flat junction at the same location, which remains in situ nevertheless. The flyover carries a single track for 1.41 miles (2.27 km), eventually joining the Down Cambridge line from the flat junction.

Plans to make the junction grade-separated had arisen as early as the 1970s when British Rail were upgrading the Great Northern route, but the planned fly-under was never built. Combined with the bottleneck of the two-track section containing the Digswell Viaduct and Welwyn Tunnels, the need for northbound trains to cross three tracks was considered problematic enough that a flyover was feasible. The flyover was planned in 2011 and constructed between 2012 and 2013.

Today it is used by Govia Thameslink Railway services under their Great Northern and Thameslink brands.