Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923.
Formed in 1862 after the amalgamation of the Eastern Counties Railway and several other smaller railway companies the served Cambridge, Chelmsford, Colchester, Great Yarmouth, Ipswich, King's Lynn, Lowestoft, Norwich, Southend-on-Sea, and East Anglian seaside resorts such as Hunstanton and Cromer. It also served a suburban area, including Enfield, Chingford, Loughton and Ilford. This suburban network was, in the early 20th century, the busiest steam-hauled commuter system in the world.
The majority of the Great Eastern's locomotives and rolling stock were built at Stratford Works, part of which was on the site of today's Stratford International station and the rest was adjacent to Stratford Regional station. The owned of line and had a near-monopoly in East Anglia until the opening of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway in 1893 although there were a number of minor lines, such as the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway that stayed resolutely independent until after the grouping in 1923.
History
Amalgamation
Between 1851 and 1854 the Eastern Counties Railway under the chairmanship of David Waddington had negotiated arrangements to work most of the other railways in East Anglia resulting in a network of lines totalling. Whilst Parliament favoured competition it was also aware that the was constantly at war with its neighbours and whilst these working arrangements were approved there was a condition that a bill for full amalgamation was presented by 1861.Waddington departed under a cloud in 1856 and was replaced by Horatio Love. By 1860 many shareholders were unhappy listing several grievances they saw as getting in the way of their dividend payments. These included continual conflict over working of other lines, suspicion and distrust of the joint committee, inadequate services to and from London, on-going litigation and law costs and a lack of progress on amalgamation.
By February 1862 the bill had its second reading and was then followed by a lengthy committee process where various parties petitioned against the bill. On 7 August 1862 the bill passed as the and the Great Eastern Railway was formed by the amalgamation of the Eastern Counties Railway and a number of smaller railways.
Early years (1862-1869)
Unsurprisingly the first board had a strong Eastern Counties flavour with Horatio Love in the chair and James Goodson the deputy chair. The board consisted of six former directors with two Eastern Union Railway, two Norfolk Railway and one each from the Northern and Eastern Railway and East Anglian Railway.Operational costs were high on the new railway and new sources of revenue needed quickly. Work at improving suburban services was put in hand and trains from London to Norwich speeded up to give businessmen and merchants more time to conduct their business. A new suburban line to Enfield Town via Seven Sisters was proposed as well as a new London terminus to replace an inadequate Bishopsgate. By August 1863 receipts were increasing and many of the pre-amalgamation disputes were being settled.
The and Great Northern Railway each submitted bills for a line from March to Spalding and although the was successful the was awarded running rights over the new line which would later become part of the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway. Steamboat services were also seen as a new source of revenue with services running from Harwich to Rotterdam, Flushing and Antwerp.
A change of leadership also occurred with Horatio Love being replaced by James Goodson as chairman with Captain Henry Jervis-White-Jervis as his deputy. Love was considered too cautious and some on the board still resented his role prior to amalgamation at the. Various directors were allocated specific responsibilities leaving Goodson free to develop new schemes and represent the on lines where they had a financial interest.
Following an accident at North Wootton in early August 1863, where the deaths of five passengers was partially attributed to the poor state of the rolling stock, a large rolling stock order was placed.
By December 1863 the financial picture was looking better and in early 1864 the started looking a new railway to move coal from South Yorkshire to London via Spalding and the link from Spalding to March. The Great Eastern was clearly in an expansionist phase with further locomotives, carriages and wagons under construction. More ships were being ordered for Antwerp and Rotterdam traffic and proposals for 28 miles of new metropolitan lines and a new city terminus.
In March 1864, a joint committee of the House of Commons and House of Lords approved the East London Line which would link the North London, Great Eastern and London and Blackwall railways. The parliamentary bill for the new freight line failed although other bills including the construction of a new London terminus were approved. Later that year the was in talks about expansion northwards with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway which lead to the deposition of a bill in early 1865.
The board meeting of February 1865 saw passenger receipts outstripping goods receipts. Fish traffic from Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth was growing and money was being spent on stations, replacing wooden bridges and upgrading the track. However, a number of shareholders voiced concern. The following month the House of Commons rejected the joint / bill forcing the to restart negotiations with the Great Northern Railway. The chairman of the parliamentary committee suggested to the board that the next bill should include a direct Spalding to Lincoln link.
Board unity was about to be shattered when a short paragraph in The Times reported serious differences of opinions existed between the directors. In August 1865 deputy chairman Jervis-White-Jervis issued an appeal raising concerns about the management of the railway. This prompted an internal investigation and in a board meeting at the end of the month, an absent Jervis-White-Jervis was replaced by William Shaw as deputy chairman. The internal investigation concluded that many of Jervis-White-Jervis's concerns were relevant including borrowing more money than authorised and the poor deal the got on leasing the London and Blackwell Railway. In a meeting in January the following year many of the directors were duly replaced and at the following board meeting in February, Charles Turner was elected as the new chairman.
The new board, facing a financial crisis, had identified a number of issues including the provision of a new terminus station at Liverpool Street, Bishopsgate was to be converted to a goods terminal and a new coal depot to be built in Whitechapel. The financial environment was still proving difficult with losses on the London and Blackwell line and a cattle plague seriously affecting that traffic. By March the board was meeting most days in an effort to keep the railway running.
The financial crisis of 1866 saw loan interest rates rise to 10% on 12 May. On 8 June the board approached Parliament for the right to borrow more money and raise additional money through new shares to fund the expansion programme outlined above. This was confirmed on 4 July. By this time there was little money available for dividends and the company looked very carefully at their expansion programme and unprofitable branch lines. By December 1866 little interest was being shown in the new shares, so the board went unsuccessfully to the Bank of England and Union Bank for further loans. The did, however, manage to agree running rights via the Great Northern Railway as far as Wakefield and with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway to interchange traffic at Lincoln and Retford.
The crisis continued into 1867 and by March it was apparent that the preference share payments due in April could not be paid. The board also received a letter from the drivers seeking improved working conditions. Additionally The Times suggested the may be about to appoint a receiver. Early April saw daily negotiations with the Union Bank although agreement was reached with the drivers by the middle of that month.
May saw the company trying to raise further funds via a parliamentary bill. However, by 25 June the House of Lords had rejected the bill and the board took steps to protect the company's property from its creditors. Matters were hardly helped when deputy chairman Samuel Laing resigned to become the chairman of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway on 1 July. On 2 July a suit was bought before vice-chancellor Sir Richard Malins and the was placed into chancery.
Regrouping after this, the board pursued Edward Watkin, an MP with many other railway interests, as chairman. He did advise that the board that it needed to reconstitute itself in order to rebuild confidence in order to acquire new capital. Some existing members of the board were not pleased with this and it was not until 3 January 1868 that a reduced board of eleven members met with six new members including Watkin and Viscount Cranbourne MP who was elected as the new chairman.
The new directors were all allocated specific roles and a number of changes were made to reduce costs and improve profitability. Cranbourne also approached the London and North Western Railway to report on the state of the permanent way and rolling stock. By August 1868 the tide was turning with increased receipts and some debts being paid off. The had done a deal with the Midland Railway to route their coal traffic via their lines and a new coal depot at Whitechapel opened in December further improving profitability.
By August 1869 the financial position had improved enough to restore a dividend and this was whilst the Walthamstow line was under construction. In the same month, deputy chairman Charles Turner resigned due to suspected fraud which was to lead to his bankruptcy later in the year. Although proceedings were initiated no prosecution resulted.