The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had various other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923.
Overview
The GER was formed in 1862 by amalgamation of the Eastern Counties Railway with several smaller railways: the Norfolk Railway, the Eastern Union Railway, the Newmarket Railway, the Harwich Railway, the East Anglian Light Railway and the East Suffolk Railway, amongst others. In 1902 the Northern and Eastern Railway joined the GER. Among the principal towns served were Southend-on-Sea, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, Norwich, Cambridge and King's Lynn, and many of the East Anglian seaside resorts such as Hunstanton and Cromer. It also served a busy suburban traffic area, including Enfield, Chingford, Loughton and Ilford. This highly efficient suburban network was, in the early 20th century, the most heavily used steam-hauled commuter system in the world. The majority of its locomotives were manufactured in Stratford works, which was on the site of today's Stratford International station. The GER owned over 1200 miles of line and had a near-monopoly of services in East Anglia until the opening of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway in 1893.
See also
External links
- Great Eastern Railway Society
- Archived copy of a page containing comprehensive details of those railways
- Shipping interests of the company
- Manningtree Rail Users Association
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The "Big Four" pre-nationalisation British railway companies
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█ Great Western • █ London Midland & Scottish • █ London & North Eastern • █ Southern |
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GWR constituents: Great Western Railway • Cambrian Railways • Taff Vale Railway |
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See also: History of rail transport in Great Britain 1923 - 1947 • List of companies involved in the grouping |
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