Editing Great Eastern Main Line (section)

== History ==
{{See also|History of rail transport in Great Britain}}

===Eastern Counties and Eastern Union Railways (1839–1862)===
The first section of the line, built by the [[Eastern Counties Railway]] (ECR), opened in June 1839 between a short-lived temporary terminus at {{rws|Devonshire Street}} in the [[East End of London]] and {{rws|Romford}}, then in the [[Havering Liberty]] in Essex. The London terminus was moved in July 1840 to [[Bishopsgate railway station|Shoreditch]] (later renamed Bishopsgate), after 1900 in the [[Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green]], and at the eastern end the line was extended {{convert|6|mi}} out to {{rws|Brentwood}} in the same year. A further {{convert|34|mi}} of track was added out to {{rws|Colchester}} by 1843.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.curc.org.uk/eagle61railwayguide|title=Eagle 61 :: Railway Guide books of the Eastern Counties Railway|access-date=4 May 2009|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303203150/http://www.curc.org.uk/eagle61railwayguide|url-status=dead}}</ref> The original gauge for the line was {{Track gauge|5ft|lk=on}}, but this was converted to {{Track gauge|sg|allk=on}} in 1844.

The section of line between Colchester and {{rws|Ipswich}} was built by the [[Eastern Union Railway]] (EUR) to standard gauge and opened to passenger traffic in June 1846. Its sister company, the Ipswich and Bury Railway, built a line to {{rws|Bury St Edmunds}} and this was completed in November 1846. Both companies shared the same office, many directors and key staff, and started operating as a unified company with the EUR name from 1 January 1847. An extension from a new junction at {{rws|Haughley}} to {{rws|Norwich Victoria}} opened in December 1849, although the position of the latter station was poor and a spur to allow some trains to operate into {{rws|Norwich}} (Thorpe) station was opened to regular traffic in November 1851.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Moffat|first1=Hugh|title=East Anglia's first railways|date=1987|publisher=Terence Dalton Limited|location=Lavenham|isbn=0-86138-038-X|pages=62–69 and 85–90}}</ref>

In the late 19th century, the double-track main line was expanded with additional tracks being added to cope with more traffic. In 1854, a third track was added between Bow Junction and {{stn|Stratford}} to help accommodate [[London, Tilbury and Southend Railway]] services which at that time were operating via Stratford.

Until 1860, trains serving the town of Ipswich used a station called {{rws|Ipswich Stoke Hill}} which was located south of the Stoke tunnel. The town's current station is located to the north of the tunnel.

The ECR had leased the EUR from 1854 but by the 1860s, the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble and most were leased to the ECR; they wished to amalgamate formally, but could not obtain government agreement for this until 1862, when the [[Great Eastern Railway]] (GER) was formed out of the consolidation.<ref>{{cite book|last=Vaughan|first=Adrian|title=Railwaymen, Politics and Money|year=1997|publisher=John Murray|location=London|isbn=0-7195-5150-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/railwaymenpoliti0000vaug/page/134 134, 135]|url=https://archive.org/details/railwaymenpoliti0000vaug/page/134}}</ref>

===Great Eastern Railway (1862–1922)===

From November 1872, {{rws|Bishopsgate (Low Level)}} became a temporary terminus to relieve the main high level Bishopsgate station while the GER was building its new permanent terminus at {{stn|Liverpool Street}}. The latter opened in stages from February 1874, beginning with the first four platforms, until it was fully open from November 1875. At that time the original 1840 Bishopsgate station closed to passengers and was converted into a goods yard.

By the 1870s, suburbia in the Forest Gate area was developing quickly and in 1872 suburban trains (this was the first distinctive suburban service on the main line as previously main-line trains had performed this duty) terminated at a [[bay platform]] at {{rws|Forest Gate}}. These were followed by trains from Fenchurch Street in 1877.<ref group=Note>Fenchurch Street was served by GER and LTSR services at this time and GER services were routed via Bow Road</ref> By 1882, these services had been extended and were terminating at Ilford, Romford or Brentwood.

In 1877, a fourth track was added between Bow Junction and Stratford and two goods-only tracks were added between Stratford and [[Maryland railway station|Maryland Point]]. The four-track Bow Junction to Stratford section was extended back to James Street Junction (near Globe Road station which opened the same year) in 1884, but Bethnal Green to James Street did not follow until 1891. It was also in this year that two extra tracks were added between Bethnal Green and Liverpool Street which were for the use of [[West Anglia Main Line]] services. These tracks were built through the basement warehousing associated with Bishopsgate station located above.

The line was quadrupled to Ilford in 1895, and in 1899 out to {{rws|Seven Kings}}.

In 1902, the quadruple track was extended from Seven Kings to Romford, but it wasn't until 1913 that four-tracking out to {{rws|Shenfield}} was suggested and the First World War caused delay to this plan.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kay|first1=Peter|title=Great Eastern in Town and Country Volume 3|date=1996|publisher=Irwell Press|location=Clophill, UK|isbn=1-871608-74-0|pages=2–3}}</ref> In 1903, the [[Fairlop Loop]] opened and a number of services that had previously terminated at Ilford were extended onto it. These services generally looped round and back to the GEML at Stratford (on the Cambridge line platforms).

===London and North Eastern Railway (1923–1947)===

The GER was [[List of railway companies involved in the 1923 grouping|grouped]] in 1923 into the [[London and North Eastern Railway]] (LNER). In 1931{{ndash}}32, the LNER quadrupled the tracks to Shenfield which became the terminus for inner-suburban operation.

In the 1930s, a flyover was constructed just west of {{rws|Ilford}} to switch the main and electric lines over, to enable main-line trains to utilise Liverpool Street's longer west side platforms without having to cross east side suburban traffic in the station throat. The new arrangement also facilitated [[cross-platform interchange]] with the [[Central line (London Underground)|Central line]] at {{stnlink|Stratford}}, with services commencing in 1946. Either side of the Ilford flyover there are single-track connections between each pair of lines, with the westbound track extending to {{rws|Manor Park}} and just beyond. The eastbound track extends as far as Ilford station. It was also envisaged that a flyover would be built at the country-end of the carriage sidings at {{rws|Gidea Park}} to allow trains bound for the [[Shenfield to Southend Line|Southend line]] to change from the main line to the electric line, instead of at the London-end of {{rws|Shenfield}} as they do now.

Plans were drawn up in the 1930s to electrify the suburban lines from Liverpool Street to Shenfield at 1,500{{nbsp}}V{{nbsp}}DC and work was started on implementing this. However, the outbreak of the Second World War brought the project to a temporary halt and it was not until 1949 that the scheme was completed with electrification being extended to {{rws|Chelmsford}} in 1956.<ref>{{Cite journal |last = Wilmoth |first = VJ |title = British Railways Electrification |journal = Civil Engineering and Public Works |volume = 51 |issue = 600 |pages = 660–661 |year = 1956 }}</ref>

During [[World War II]], the long-distance named trains were withdrawn, and these returned after the war with the reintroduction of the "Hook Continental" and "Scandinavian" boat trains to [[Harwich International railway station|Harwich Parkeston Quay]] in 1945. The East Anglian (Liverpool Street – Norwich) was restored in October 1946, and in 1947 the "Day Continental" which pre-war had operated as the "Flushing Continental", recommenced operation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Butcher |first1=Ken |title=Trainspotting at Shenfield 1948-1955 |journal=Great Eastern Journal |date=July 2019 |volume=179 |page=25 }}</ref>

===British Railways (1948–1994)===

After nationalisation in 1948, the GEML formed part of the [[Eastern Region of British Railways]].

The Summer 1950 timetable saw the introduction of a regular interval service between Liverpool Street and Clacton, which left Liverpool Street on the half-hour and Clacton on the hour. Summer Saturdays in 1950 also saw the introduction of the ''Holiday Camps Express'' workings to Gorleston, near Lowestoft. The latter half of 1950 and early 1951 saw the testing of new [[British Rail Class 76|EM1]] electric locomotives for use over the [[Woodhead Line]] between [[Manchester Piccadilly railway station|Manchester]] and [[Sheffield Victoria railway station|Sheffield]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Butcher |first1=Ken |title=Trainspotting at Shenfield 1948-1955 |journal=Great Eastern Journal |date=July 2019 |volume=179 |pages=28, 29 }}</ref>

January 1951 saw the introduction of the [[BR Standard Class 7|Britannia]] class 4-6-2 express locomotives and a speeding up of services on the GEML. However, not everyone was a fan; British Railways' chairman Sir Michael Barrington Ward exclaimed "What? Send the first British Railways standard engines to that tramline? No!"{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fiennes|first=Gerard|title=I tried to run a railway|publisher=Ian Allan|year=1967|location=UK|pages=55|language=English}}</ref>

Twenty-three Britannias were allocated to the GE section and, in summer 1951, the Liverpool Street–Norwich service went over to an hourly clockface interval service.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Butcher |first1=Ken |title=Trainspotting at Shenfield 1948-1955 |journal=Great Eastern Journal |date=July 2019 |volume=179 |page=29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dawes |first1=Derrick |title=TA Summer Saturday at Liverpool Street 1951 |journal=Great Eastern Journal |date=July 2019 |volume=179 |page=9 }}</ref>

The British Railways [[1955 Modernisation Plan]] called for overhead line systems in Great Britain to be standardised at 25{{nbsp}}kV{{nbsp}}AC. However, due to low clearances under bridges, the route was electrified at 6.25{{nbsp}}kV{{nbsp}}AC. The section between Liverpool Street and {{rws|Southend Victoria}} was completed in November 1960. Extensive testing showed that smaller electrical clearances could be tolerated for the 25{{nbsp}}kV system than originally thought necessary. As a result, it was now possible to increase the voltage without having to either raise bridges or lower the tracks along the route to obtain larger clearances. The route between Liverpool Street and Southend Victoria was converted to 25{{nbsp}}kV AC between 1976 and 1980.<ref>Glover, John (2003). "Eastern Electric", Ian Allan, London. {{ISBN|0-7110-2934-2}}.</ref>

By the late 1970s, the costs of running the dated mechanical signalling systems north of Colchester was recognised and, in 1978, a scheme for track rationalisation and re-signalling was duly submitted to the Department of Transport. This was followed by a proposal, in 1980, to electrify the remainder of the Great Eastern Main Line.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cowley |first1=Ian |title=Anglia East |date=1987 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot,UK |isbn=0-7153-8978-5 |page=14}}</ref>

The early 1980s saw track rationalisation and signalling work carried out in the Ipswich area and, on 9 April 1985, the first electric train consisting of two [[British Rail Class 305|Class 305]] [[electric multiple units]] (EMUs) worked into Ipswich station. The previous year, another member of the class had been dragged to Ipswich by a diesel locomotive and was used for crew training. The first passenger-carrying train was formed of [[British Rail Class 309|Class 309]] EMUs, which ran on 17 April 1985.

[[InterCity (British Rail)|InterCity]] electric-hauled trains commenced on the route on 1 May 1985. [[British Rail Class 86|Class 86]] locomotives initially only powered services between Liverpool Street and Ipswich; after a switchover, [[British Rail Class 47|Class 47]]s would complete the journey between Ipswich and Norwich. This last section was finally energised in May 1987, when through electric services commenced.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cowley |first1=Ian |title=Anglia East |date=1987 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot,UK |isbn=0-7153-8978-5 |pages=43–47}}</ref>

In 1986, the line as far as {{rws|Manningtree}} became part of [[Network SouthEast]], although some NSE services actually terminated at Ipswich, whilst longer-distance Norwich services were operated by InterCity. Local services operating from the Ipswich and Norwich areas were operated by [[Regional Railways]].

===The privatisation era (1994 onwards)===
{{unreferenced|section|date=December 2022}}
Between 1997 and 2004, services into [[Essex]] and some into [[Suffolk]] were operated by [[First Great Eastern]], whilst services into [[Norfolk]] and other [[Suffolk]] services were operated by [[Anglia Railways]]. Between 2004 and 2012, services out of Liverpool Street, except for a limited number of [[c2c]] trains, were all operated by [[National Express East Anglia]]. Since 2012, the franchise has been operated by [[Abellio Greater Anglia]]; in May 2015, the Shenfield "metro" stopping service transferred to [[TfL Rail]], as a precursor to [[Elizabeth line|Elizabeth Line]] services.

Liverpool Street IECC replaced [[signal box]]es at Bethnal Green (closed 1997), Bow (closed 1996), Stratford (GE panel closed 1997), Ilford (closed 1996), Romford (closed 1998), Gidea Park (closed 1998), Shenfield (closed 1992) and Chelmsford (closed 1994). The system uses BR Mark 3 solid state interlockings, predominantly four-aspect signals and a combination of Smiths clamp-lock and GEC-Alsthom HW2000 point machines.

The first signal box to be closed and transferred to Liverpool Street IECC was Shenfield in 1992, which had only opened 10 years earlier. The last boxes to be transferred were at Romford and Gidea Park in 1998; these were the oldest of those being transferred, having been opened under the GER/LNER 1924 resignalling scheme.