Editing Great Eastern Main Line (section)

===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]].