The 13½ mile long branch line from St. Margarets, near Ware, to Buntingford, Hertfordshire, was authorised in 1858, and opened in 1863 under operation by the Great Eastern Railway.  Despite being a rural railway, the considerable agricultural traffic and a growth in residential development, enabled the line to flourish, such by 1914 there were 11 daily passenger trains.  Up to 3 goods trains per day were also running on the line for the farmers and a flour mill at Standon.

As with most other branch lines, the 1950s saw a fall in usage.  Sunday services ceased in 1955, and from 1960 only morning and evening trains ran, being operated by DMU.  Passenger services closed completely on 16th November 1964, freight closure happening on 20th September 1965.

When we visited the line and Braughing Station in the summer of 1973, the platforms and track bed were getting overgrown.  However, in the 1980s, the grandson of the last station master, bought the station and restored it, making it a family home, with a neat track bed supporting a short stretch of line and a railway carriage, as well as fully restoring the signal box.