Hertford East railway station is the northern terminus of the Hertford East branch line off the West Anglia Main Line in the east of England, and is located in the town of Hertford in Hertfordshire. It is 24 miles 19 chains (39.0 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is one of two stations in the town, the other being Hertford North on the Hertford Loop Line. Its three-letter station code is HFE.

The station and all trains calling are operated by Greater Anglia.

There are two platforms, although platform number one is generally only used during peak times, during times of disruption and primarily for trains to and from Stratford station.

History

The first station opened on 31st October 1843 sited to the east of the present station. The current station, designed by W. N. Ashbee, was opened by the Great Eastern Railway on 27 February 1888, replacing the first station. The station was listed in 1974 as a Grade II listed building; in 1996 the buffer stop lights on platform 1 were separately listed in their own right.

The Grade II listed signal box at the station was dismantled in October 2021 to allow for platform extensions. It will be relocated to the Wensleydale Railway.

Services

All services at Hertford East are operated by Greater Anglia using Class 720 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service is two trains per hour to and from London Liverpool Street via Tottenham Hale which start and terminate at Hertford East. Additional services, including trains to and from Stratford run to and from the station during the peak hours.

On Sundays, services run to and from Stratford instead of London Liverpool Street.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Ware		Greater Anglia Hertford East Branch Line		Terminus

Proposed developments

Some options of the proposed East West Rail involve reopening a route between Hertford East railway station and Hertford North railway station; however a 2009 discussion paper noted that while "the new connection appears technically feasible, doubts must be cast over its public acceptability and deliverability".

In popular culture

Hertford East doubles as Yeovil Railway Station in the 1960 film School for Scoundrels, seen in the opening titles and closing credits.

The station features in a number of different channel branding films (called 'Idents' in the television industry) for the ITV channels in the UK. Different, but similar idents have been created for each five of ITV’s channels.