The northernmost extent of the line was at Bishop's Stortford, opened before the end of 1843, when the Northern and Eastern Railway ceased to control its own network. However a special arrangement was made to receive excursion trains at Hockerill, a half mile or so north of Bishop's Stortford station. The overbridge at that point today carries Hockerill Street, and Bishop's Stortford was then a much smaller community; Hockerill was a distinct place. (The later Hockerill station on the Dunmow branch was built later: 1869.) An advertisement in the Times newspaper read: