Northern and Eastern Railway

Northern and Eastern Railway
Dates of operation	1840–1902
Successor	Great Eastern Railway

The Northern & Eastern Railway (N&ER) operated one of the two main lines which eventually became the Great Eastern Railway: the other being the Eastern Counties Railway.^[1]

The N&ER was part of an 1833 scheme for a railway in Great Britain from Islington to York via Cambridge, Peterborough and Lincoln. The original "Grand Norther Railway" project, proposed by Nicholas Cundy, floundered until being adopted by the Lincolnshire landowner Henry Handley. Handley formed the Northern and Eastern railway company and, in 1835, had the route re-surveyed by engineer James walker. In 1836 parliament considered various proposals for new railways and approved the Northern and Eastern line, but only as far as Cambridge.^[2]

An Act of 1839/40 abandoned the section north of Bishop's Stortford and introduced a deviation from Tottenham to Stratford. Service began on the 15 September 1840 between Stratford & Broxbourne. Extensions were opened to Harlow (9 August 1841), Spellbrook (22 November 1841) and Bishops Stortford (16 May 1842)^[3] with a branch line to Hertford via Ware opening on 31 October 1843. The Railway was leased to the Eastern Counties Railway and that railway began operating services on 1 January 1844. The Eastern Counties railway was merged into the Great Eastern Railway (GER) on 1 July 1862 but the Northern & Eastern Railway survived as a private company until being merged into the GER in 1902.

Like its partner, the N&ER was originally built to five-foot gauge; both lines were converted to standard gauge during September and October 1844.

References

1. ^ White, H.P. (1987). Thomas, David St John. ed. A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain — Volume 3: Greater London (3rd ed.). Dawlish: David & Charles. 
2. ^ Wright, Neil R. (1982). Lincolnshire towns and industry, 1700-1914. History of Lincolnshire Committee for the Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology.. ISBN 0902668102. 
3. ^ Gordon, D.I. (1977). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain — Volume 5: The Eastern Counties (2nd ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles.