Cross to - Seven additional services from Monday to Saturday. London King's Cross to - Three additional services from Monday to Saturday. The last service on Wednesday ran past midnight into Thursday morning. Since the 1960s, Great Northern has been used to describe the suburban part of the East Coast Main Line, south of and south of . The Great Northern Railway had proposed electrification of part of the line in 1903, but it was not until 1971 that a scheme to electrify the line from and was authorised. The Inner Suburban Lines to and were electrified in 1976 with EMUs. In 1978 the electrification was complete to Royston with EMUs providing the service. The route was then promoted as the Great Northern Electrics. The route between Hertford and Langley Junction, south of , was also electrified but not regularly used by electric trains until 1979, when one Moorgate - Hertford service per hour was extended to ; prior to this DMUs provided an infrequent service over this route, running between Hertford and / Peterborough. From 1979 until 1987 DMUs provided the service between Hitchin and Huntingdon/Peterborough. DMUs also provided a shuttle service between Royston and Cambridge between 1978 and 1988, connecting with the electric trains and replacing the former through Cambridge buffet expresses between Kings Cross and the university city. In 1982 Watton-at-Stone station was reopened between Hertford and Stevenage. A new station also opened at in 1986. With the further electrification of the East Coast Main Line between 1986 and 1988, electric services could be extended to Peterborough and the outer suburban service was changed from to , some of which were cascaded from the newly created Thameslink route, with the remainder newly built. In 1984 it was decided to electrify the line between Royston and Shepreth Branch Junction, a junction on the West Anglia Main Line north of , allowing the reinstatement of through services to from London King's Cross via the East Coast Main Line, which was faster than the conventional route from via the West Anglia Main Line. This electrification was completed in 1988. Later the track between these points was also upgraded with welded joint track instead of the jointed track that had existed, and the maximum line speed was raised to 90 mph. Rapid growth on the route, especially on the Cambridge Line resulted in consultation on a new service pattern, which was