Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway
The Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway, colloquially referred to as "the Joint Line" was a railway line connecting Doncaster and Lincoln with March and Huntingdon in the eastern counties of England. It was owned jointly by the Great Northern Railway and the Great Eastern Railway. It was formed by transferring certain route sections from the parent companies, and by the construction of a new route between Spalding and Lincoln, and a number of short spurs and connections. It was controlled by a Joint Committee, and the owning companies operated their own trains with their own rolling stock. The Joint Line amounted to nearly of route.
The motivation for its formation was chiefly the desire of the GER to get direct access to the coalfields of South Yorkshire and elsewhere, and the wish of the GNR to discourage more ambitious incursion by the GER into its own territory, as well as the provision of relief to the congested East Coast Main Line. The dominant traffic was coal, but a wide variety of manufactured and agricultural products was carried. There was some local passenger business, and some long-distance passenger trains used the route.
The route became a trunk artery for freight traffic, especially coal, and a large marshalling complex developed at Whitemoor, near March, for the sorting of wagons. In the 1920s a modern mechanised system was installed at Whitemoor, the most advanced such installation in Great Britain at the time.
Running largely through flat terrain, the line had numerous level crossings, especially in the southern section, and as wagon-load freight movements of coal declined after about 1960, the cost of operating the line became excessive compared to the use made of it. In 1982 the section from Spalding to Whitemoor was closed, trains being diverted via the Spalding to Peterborough line; in addition many intermediate stations on the remaining route section were closed. The nomenclature "the Joint Line" was transferred to mean the route via Peterborough.
In the 21st century congestion on the East Coast Main Line had again become a problem, and resignalling, loading gauge enhancements, and partial upgrade of the remaining route took place, to enable container freight trains from Felixstowe and elsewhere to use the line; the project was commissioned in 2015. Most of the line remains in use for that traffic and a local passenger service.
Early railways
In the 1830s the imagination of railway promoters led to proposed schemes to link the major centres of Great Britain. In 1834 a "Grand Northern and Eastern Railway" was proposed, and in 1835 a "Great Northern Railway" was projected. Both of these schemes were for a line from London to York through Cambridge. Many of the early schemes failed, and none was built north of Cambridge for many years.In 1847, the Eastern Counties Railway opened its line from Ely to March and Peterborough. The ECR chairman was George Hudson, often referred to as the Railway King. Hudson was determined that the group of railways he controlled would dominate the scene. His dubious methods were later exposed and he was disgraced, but in the meantime he sought to extend the ECR northwards, to get access to the huge flows of coal from South Yorkshire and elsewhere to London, and of merchandise. As well as the income from carrying a share of this traffic, the company would get better access to engine coal for their own business.
Constituent companies
Great Northern Railway
The Great Northern Railway was authorised in 1846 to build a main line from London to York, with a loop line from Peterborough to Bawtry by way of Boston and Lincoln.In 1848 the GNR opened a line from near Peterborough through Spalding via Boston to Lincoln, and a section from Retford to Doncaster in 1849. The section from London to Peterborough was opened in 1850, and in 1852 Peterborough to Retford was opened, completing the main line from London to Doncaster, part of the present-day East Coast Main Line. An extension from Lincoln to Gainsborough was opened in 1849.
GNR trains arriving at Gainsborough joined the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway and reversed into that railway's station there. The GNR wished to complete the loop from there to rejoin the main line at Doncaster and this was authorised in 1864, opening on 15 July 1867.
A branch from Spalding to March was authorised by the ; running powers over it were granted to the GER; it opened in 1867. March was an important junction on the GER system where traffic for much of East Anglia could be exchanged. The future Joint Line route was therefore in place between March and Spalding, and between Lincoln and Doncaster.
It was the GNR which provided the siding group at March that became the nucleus of the later Whitemoor Yard complex.
Great Eastern Railway
In 1862 the Great Eastern Railway was formed by the amalgamation of the Eastern Counties Railway, the Eastern Union Railway, and other smaller concerns in East Anglia. The GER dominated the railway scene in its own area, but the sparse population density and the relatively undeveloped industrial activity limited the railway's commercial potential. Once again thoughts turned to the lucrative traffic in coal from South Yorkshire, and also in manufactures to and from London, and export traffic to the North Sea ports.In 1863, therefore, the GER submitted a bill to build a line from March to Spalding, and to get running powers over the GNR's line from there to Doncaster. The GNR naturally wished to fend this off, and it deposited a bill to build a line from Spalding to March; the GNR line was the one passed by Parliament, and the GER scheme was turned down. The GER was given running powers over this line, but only as far as Spalding and not further over the GNR lines.
In frustration, the GER presented another bill in 1864, to build an independent line from Longstanton, on its Cambridge to St Ives line, via Peterborough, Bourne, Sleaford, Lincoln and Gainsborough to a junction with the West Riding and Grimsby Railway at Askern, north of Doncaster. Once again the GER scheme was turned down in Parliament.
History
Early discussion of collaboration
The GNR was developing friendly relations with the GER over lines in Norfolk; moreover it sensed that sooner or later one of the GER attempts in Parliament must be successful, so it offered the GER running powers for coal traffic from Gainsborough to Spalding. This was considerably less than the GER was seeking, and the GER therefore suggested to the GNR that the two companies should be joint owners of the GNR loop line between Spalding and Gainsborough, and also of the GNR lines then under construction between Spalding and March, and Gainsborough and Doncaster. At this time running powers were granted to the GER over the lines of the West Riding and Grimsby Railway, and the MS&LR agreed to exchange traffic with the GER at Lincoln.The Great Eastern decided to build on the mood of constructive cooperation, and in 1864 suggested to the GNR a new and direct joint line from Spalding to Lincoln through Sleaford. The GNR saw that this would shorten the route of its loop line through Boston, and agreed, and a bill was prepared for the 1867 session of Parliament for the scheme. However the GER was in serious financial difficulty at this time, and a new Board was elected as a result of shareholder disquiet; "the new board had to face the hard facts that the kitty was empty, and there was not the remotest chance of finding the money which their predecessors had so rashly undertaken to pay the GN". In fact the GER had to find £1.5 million urgently to put its existing system in good order. The ensuing years were marked by a return to the old hostilities, and for the time being, joint railways were off the agenda.
The GER revived the proposal in 1872, but the GNR made demands that were far too high for the GER to agree, and once again the scheme lapsed, until discussions were reopened in May 1876. This time the GNR proposed amalgamation, but the GER declined. In 1878 the GER was seriously considering the revival of the plan to build its own line through Sleaford and Lincoln to Askern. Just as the GER sought northward access to the coalfields, the GNR was "desperate for an alternative route to relieve the main line", and the GNR countered by depositing a fresh bill for a direct line from Spalding to Lincoln via Sleaford.
This time it made more friendly advances to the GER in suggesting that the Huntingdon to Ely line should be included in the proposed joint system. Although the GER turned the proposal down, and in fact tried its own bill in Parliament, the GNR scheme won the day. The GNR was obliged by the Act to give the GER the running powers it desired; the two companies were to return to Parliament in the next session with a joint scheme. Thus were the origins of the Joint Line created.
The Joint Line authorised
The two companies did return to Parliament, and on 3 July 1879 the Parliamentary bill authorising the Joint Line was passed. The GNR lines from Black Carr Junction to Lincoln, and Spalding to March, and the GER lines from Huntingdon to St Ives, and from Needingworth Junction to March, were to be transferred to Joint ownership. A new line was to be built from Spalding to Lincoln; and the junctions at Huntingdon and St Ives were to be improved. A Joint Committee was to be established to manage the line, and the GER was to pay the GNR £415,000, the difference in value of the respective lines becoming joint.Five directors from each of the companies formed the Joint Committee; it first met on 11 August 1879. C. H. Parkes of the GER was in the chair. The GN & GE Joint Railway was not a corporate body, and never had its own locomotives or rolling stock. Most of the track on the St Ives to March line and about of the St Ives to Huntingdon line needed to be renewed, and additionally the St Ives to Huntingdon line was to be doubled later. The March to Spalding line was to be resignalled.