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Eastern Region of British Railways

The Eastern Region was a region of British Railways. The region was formed at the nationalisation in 1948, mostly out of London and North Eastern Railway, LNER. The LNER was in big need of significant investment. In the immediate post-war period there was a need to rebuild the destroyed stations in London and along the busy East Coast Main Line and former Great Central Railway. Additionally, the LNER had begun a suburban electrification programme which the British Transport Commission was pledged to continue. It was partially for this reason that the former LNER in England was divided into Eastern and North Eastern regions to focus investment, unlike the other English and Welsh regions that wholly took over their respective former companies' lines. In 1967 this policy was reversed and North Eastern was merged with the Eastern region. Over the years the region was recast to be geographical rather than being based upon pre-nationalisation ownership. In 1949 the Eastern Region gained the London, Tilbury and Southend lines from the London Midland Region. In a major national boundary change in 1958 the former Great Central network except those lines in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire transferred to the London Midland Region; in return the Eastern gained the former London, Midland and Scottish Railway lines in Lincolnshire and the present-day South Yorkshire. In the 1960s the Eastern became one of the regions most affected by the modernisation programme, losing route miles in every county served. The lines were managed as the Great Northern (Kings Cross services) and the Great Eastern (Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street services).  Commuter services via the North London line were run into Broad Street station, but these were slowly run down and diverted to other destinations, with the station eventually being closed in 1986. The Region continued the LNER's programme of electrification, using the then-standard 1500 V overhead DC system.  The original plan had called for the electrification of most of the LNER, and the Eastern Region sought to continue this policy as part of the 1955 Modernisation Plan. However, the British Transport Commission felt that many Eastern Region routes would not benefit from this; indeed, many of the rural lines proposed for electrification were in fact closed entirely, Instead, the Eastern Region had to content itself with being an early adopter of diesel-electric power, replacing steam at the earliest opportunity.

December 12th 2024

 

 
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