Great Eastern Main Line

"GEML" redirects here. For the airport in Melilla, Spain, with that code, see Melilla Airport.

Great Eastern Main Line
A Class 360 train at Marks Tey
Overview
Type	Intercity, commuter rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Greater London East of England
Termini	London Liverpool Street Norwich
Stations	27
Operation
Opened	1862
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Abellio Greater Anglia TfL Rail c2c (limited services)
Depot(s)	Norwich Crown Point Clacton-on-Sea Ilford Colchester
Rolling stock	Class 90/Mark 3 Class 170 "Turbostar" (small section) Class 315 (until 2018) Class 317 Class 321 Class 345 (from 2017) Class 357 "Electrostar" (small section) Class 360 "Desiro" Class 379 "Electrostar" (small section) Class 710 (from 2018)
Technical
Line length	133 mi (214 km)
No. of tracks	2–6
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Mk1 and GEFF 25kV 50hz AC OHLE
Operating speed	100 mph (160 km/h)
Route map Great Eastern Main Line Legend Mileage from London Liverpool Street miles-chains Norwich 114-77 Bittern Line and Wherry Lines Trowse Bridge over River Wensum Trowse Norwich Victoria Breckland Line River Yare Swainsthorpe Flordon to Wymondham Forncett Tivetshall Waveney Valley Line Burston Scole Diss 94-79 River Waveney Eye Branch Mellis Finningham Mid-Suffolk Light Railway Ipswich to Ely Line Haughley Stowmarket 80-46 River Gipping Needham Market 77-07 Claydon River Gipping Bramford River Gipping East Suffolk Line and Felixstowe Branch Line Ipswich Goods Yard to Lower Yard & Ipswich Docks Ipswich TMD Ipswich 68-65 Stoke tunnel ( 16 ch  322 m  ) Ipswich Stoke Hill Griffin Wharf branch (freight only) Bentley Church Hadleigh Railway Bentley River Stour Mayflower Line Manningtree 59-35 Ardleigh Sunshine Coast Line Colchester 51-52 Colchester TMD River Colne Marks Tey 46-49 Gainsborough Line River Blackwater Kelvedon & Tollesbury Light Railway Kelvedon 42-21 Maldon Branch Line Braintree Branch Line Witham 38-47 River Brain Hatfield Peverel 35-74 Beaulieu(planned) River Chelmer Chelmsford 29-60 Chelmsford Viaduct Ingatestone 23-50 Shenfield to Southend Line Shenfield Junction Shenfield 20-16 Brentwood 18-16 x20px x20px M25 motorway Harold Wood 14-76 Gidea Park carriage sidings Gidea Park 13-41 Romford to Upminster Line Romford 12-30 Romford OHL depot Crowlands Chadwell Heath 9-79 Goodmayes 9-23 Seven Kings 8-45 Fairlop Loop junction now site of Ilford depot Ilford depot and Bombardier works Ilford 7-28 x20px River Roding Ilford flyover Manor Park 6-19 Forest Gate Junction to Gospel Oak to Barking Line Gospel Oak to Barking Line Forest Gate 5-21 Maryland 4-39 Temple Mills Branch Line to West Anglia Main Line Stratford 4-03 North London Line Waterworks River Thornton Fields carriage sidings City Mill River Bow Midland Yard Crossrail (under construction) River Lea Bryant and May works Temple Mills line Bow Junction to Fenchurch Street Coborn Road Regent's Canal Globe Road & Devonshire Street Bethnal Green East Junction Lea Valley Lines and West Anglia Main Line Bethnal Green 1-10   Bethnal Green West Junction   East London Line Bishopsgate Wheler Street Junction Liverpool Street 0-00 1 Suburban line 2 Main line 3 Electric line

The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a 115-mile (185 km) major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and the East of England, including Stratford, Shenfield, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich and a number of coastal resorts including Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze.

Its main users are commuters travelling to and from London, particularly to the City of London and Docklands financial districts, and business and leisure travellers. The route also provides the main artery for substantial freight traffic to Felixstowe and Harwich and the rest of England via London.

History

See also: History of rail transport in Great Britain

Eastern Counties and Eastern Union Railways (1839-1862)

The first section of the line opened in 1839 between a short-lived temporary terminus at Devonshire Street in the East End of London and Romford, then in the Municipal Borough of Romford in Essex, and was built by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR). The London terminus was then moved to Shoreditch (later renamed Bishopsgate) in the Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green in July 1840 and at the eastern end the line was extended out to Brentwood in the same year. A further 51 miles (82 km) of route was added to Colchester by 1843. The original gauge for the line was 5 ft (1,524 mm), but this was converted to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge in 1844.

The section of line between Colchester and Ipswich was built by the Eastern Union Railway (EUR) to standard gauge and opened for passenger traffic on 15 June 1846. Its sister company the Ipswich and Bury Railway built the line to Bury St Edmunds and this opened on 20 November 1846. Both companies shared the same office, many directors and key staff and started operating as a unified company using the EUR name from 1 January 1847. An extension from a new junction at Haughley to Norwich Victoria opened on 1 December 1849 although the position of this station was poor and a spur to allow some trains to operate into Norwich Thorpe station was opened to regular traffic on 1 November 1851.

In the later part of the 19th Century the two-track main line was expanded with additional tracks being added to cope with more traffic. In 1854 a third track was added between Bow Junction and Stratford to help accommodate the London and Tilbury and Southend trains which at that date were operating via Stratford.

Until 1860 trains serving Ipswich used Ipswich Stoke Hill railway station which was located south of the tunnel. The current station was opened and located north of the tunnel.

The ECR leased the EUR in 1854, but by the 1860s the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble, and most were leased to the ECR; they wished to amalgamate formally, but could not obtain government agreement for this until 1862, when the Great Eastern Railway (GER) was formed by amalgamation.

Great Eastern Railway (1862-1922)

From November 1872 Bishopsgate (Low Level) became a temporary terminus to relieve the main high-level Bishopsgate station while the GER was building its new permanent terminus at Liverpool Street. The latter opened in stages from February 1874, beginning with the first four platforms, until it was fully open from November 1875. At that time the 1840 Bishopsgate station closed to passengers and was converted into a goods station.

By the 1870s suburbia in the Forest Gate was developing quickly and in 1872 suburban trains (this was the first distinctive suburban service on the main line as previously main line trains had performed this duty) terminated at a bay at Forest Gate station. These were followed by trains from Fenchurch Street in 1877. By 1882 these services had been extended and were terminating at Ilford, Romford or Brentwood.

In 1877 a fourth track was added between Bow Junction and Stratford and two goods only tracks were added between Stratford and Maryland Point stations. The four track Bow Junction to Stratford section was extended back to James Street Junction (near Globe Road station which opened the same year) in 1884 but Bethnal Green to James Street did not follow until 1891. It was also in this year that two extra tracks were added between Bethnal Green and Liverpool Street which were for the use of the West Anglia services. These tracks were built through the basement warehousing associated with Bishopsgate station located above.

The line was quadrupled to Ilford in 1895 and in 1899 onto Seven Kings.

In 1902 four-tracks were extended from Seven Kings to Romford, but it wasn’t until 1913 that four tracking beyond Ilford (to Shenfield) was suggested but unfortunately the First World War intervened. In 1903 the Fairlop Loop opened and a number of services that had previously terminated at Ilford were extended onto it. These services generally looped round and back to the GEML at Stratford (on the Cambridge line platforms).

London & North Eastern Railway (1923-1947)

In 1931/1932 that the LNER four tracked the line to Shenfield which became the terminus for inner suburban operation.

The GER was grouped in 1923 into the London and North Eastern Railway.

In the 1930s a flyover was constructed just west of Ilford to switch the main and electric lines over, to enable main line trains to utilise Liverpool Street's longer west side platforms without having to cross east side suburban traffic in the station throat. The new arrangement also facilitated cross-platform interchange with the Central line at Stratford, with services commencing in 1946. Either side of the Ilford flyover there are single-track connections between the slow and fast pairs of lines, with the westbound track extending to Manor Park and just beyond. A short fifth platform face serves the track at Manor Park, but it sees no normal use. The eastbound track extends as far as Ilford, connecting with that station's fifth (bay) platform, which does see some peak-time services. It was also envisaged that a flyover would be built at the country-end of the carriage sidings at Gidea Park to allow trains for Southend Victoria to change from the fast line to the slow line, instead of at the London-end of Shenfield as they do now.

Plans were drawn up in the 1930s to electrify the suburban lines from Liverpool Street to Shenfield at 1500 V DC and work was started on implementing this. However, the outbreak of the Second World War brought the project to a temporary halt and it was not until 1949 that the scheme was completed with electrification being extended to Chelmsford in 1956.

British Rail (1948 - 1994)

After nationalisation in 1948 the GEML formed part of the Eastern Region of British Railways. The British Railways 1955 Modernisation Plan called for overhead line systems in Great Britain to be standardised at 25 kV AC. However, due to low clearances under bridges the route was electrified at 6.25 kV AC. The section between Liverpool Street and Southend Victoria was completed in November 1960. Extensive testing showed that smaller electrical clearances could be tolerated for the 25 kV system than originally thought necessary. As a result, it was now possible to increase the voltage without having to either raise bridges or lower the tracks along the route to obtain larger clearances. The route between Liverpool Street and Southend Victoria was converted to 25 kV AC between 1976 and 1980. Electrification was extended to Colchester in 1961 by British Railways' Eastern Region and finally to Norwich by 1986.

In 1986 the line as far as Manningtree became became part of Network SouthEast (although some NSE services actually terminated at Ipswich) whilst longer distance Norwich services were operated by Inter-City. Local services operating from the Ipswich and Norwich areas were operated by Regional Railways.

The Privatisation Era (1994-present day)

Following privatisation in 1994, between January 1997 and March 2004 suburban and medium-distance services were operated by First Great Eastern, while fast main line services were operated by Anglia Railways. Between April 2004 and February 2012 services out of Liverpool Street except for limited c2c services were all operated by National Express East Anglia. As of February 2012 services out of Liverpool Street except for those limited c2c services are operated by Abellio Greater Anglia; in May 2015 the Shenfield "metro" stopping service transferred from to TfL Rail, the precursor to Crossrail.

Liverpool Street IECC replaced signal boxes at Bethnal Green (closed 1997), Bow (closed 1996), Stratford (GE panel closed 1997), Ilford (closed 1996), Romford (closed 1998), Gidea Park (closed 1998), Shenfield (closed 1992) and Chelmsford (closed 1994). The system uses BR Mark 3 solid state interlockings, predominantly four-aspect signals and a combination of Smiths clamp-lock and GEC-Alsthom HW2000 point machines.

The first signal box to be closed and transferred to Liverpool Street IECC was Shenfield in 1992, which had only opened in 1982. The last boxes to be transferred were at Romford and Gidea Park in 1998, and were the oldest of those being transferred, having been opened under the GER/LNER 1924 resignalling scheme.

In summer 2011, the Docklands Light Railway was extended from Canning Town to Stratford and Stratford International. It uses the former North London Line alignment that runs beside the Jubilee line and directly links Stratford on the GEML to its international counterpart as well as local stations to the south and existing DLR branches in the Royal Docks.

Accidents

A number of fatal accidents have occurred on the line throughout its history:

• 1840: Brentwood; four killed
• 1850: Brentwood; nine workmen killed when they were struck by a train in dense fog
• 1872: Kelvedon; one killed and 16 injured in a derailment
• 1905: Witham; 11 killed and 71 injured in a derailment
• 1913: Colchester; three killed and 14 injured in a collision and derailment
• 1915: Ilford; 10 killed and 500 injured in a collision between two trains
• 1941: Brentwood; seven killed in a collision between two trains
• 1944: Ilford; nine killed and 38 injured in a collision between two trains
• 1944: Romford; one killed and three injured in a collision between two trains
• 1947: Gidea Park; seven killed and 45 injured in a collision between two trains

Infrastructure

The line is owned and maintained by Network Rail. It is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 7, is composed of SRS's 07.01, 07.02 and 07.03, and is classified as a primary line. The line has a loading gauge of W10 between Liverpool Street and Haughley junction and from there is W9 to Norwich. It has a line speed of between 80–100 mph (130–160 km/h).

The main line is electrified at 25 kV AC using overhead wires and comes under the control of Romford Electrical Control Room. The branches to Upminster, Southend Victoria, Southminster, Braintree, Clacton-on-Sea, Walton-on-the-Naze and Harwich Town are also electrified.

Between Romford and Chadwell Heath there is a small Network Rail OLE depot adjacent to the Jutsums Lane overbridge. In addition at the London-end of the depot is Network Rail's Electrical Control Room that controls the supply and switching of the overhead line system for the whole of the former Anglia Region.

Signalling is controlled by two main signalling centres, Liverpool Street IECC (opened in 1992) and Colchester PSB (opened in December 1983). Liverpool Street IECC controls signalling up to Marks Tey, where it fringes with Colchester PSB, which has control to Norwich. There are also several small signal boxes that control local infrastructure, such as Ingatestone box, which has jurisdiction over several local level crossings.

Track layout

On leaving Liverpool Street, the route comprises two pairs of tracks, known as the mains and the electrics, with a further pair of tracks, the suburbans, which carry the West Anglia Main Line alongside the GEML to Bethnal Green.

From Bethnal Green the GEML has four lines to Bow junction, where there is a complex set of switches and crossings. A line from the LTS route joins the up electric and there are a further two lines, the up and down Temple Mills, giving access to the North London Line and Temple Mills. The GEML is six tracks up to the London-end of Stratford and the junction to Temple Mills, and there are five lines through the station dropping to four at the country-end.

At Shenfield the line to Southend Victoria diverges and the main line route drops from four lines to two; this arrangement continues for the vast majority of the way to Norwich. There are several locations where the route has more than two lines, predominantly through stations such as Colchester and Ipswich, along with goods loops, such as at the London-end of Ingatestone.

Stoke tunnel

The only railway tunnel on the Great Eastern Main Line is just to the south of the current Ipswich railway station. The 361-yard (330 m) long tunnel was built by Peter Bruff as part of the Ipswich & Bury Railway route. It was completed in 1846 and it is thought to be the earliest driven on a sharp continuous curve. During the excavation of the tunnel many important fossils were uncovered, including rhinoceros, lion, and, mammoth; the site was known as the 'Stoke Bone Beds'. The finds are considered important in understanding climate change during the Ice Age. This tunnel had the trackbed lowered so the line could accommodate higher container trains.

The tunnel has earned itself the reputation "the wettest tunnel in Britain" as a natural spring still runs through the tunnel, so the walls carry running water most of the time.

Rolling stock

Electric locomotive-hauled inter-city trains operate the London-Norwich service. From 2004 these were updated with refurbished former West Coast Main Line locomotives and coaches following the introduction of the Class 390 Pendolino stock on that route.

Electric multiple units for inner and outer suburban passenger trains and diesel multiple units are used for non-electrified lines. Electric and diesel hauled freight services also operate on the GEML. The passenger units utilised are:

• Class 315: 318 seats across four cars per trainset. Maximum speed .
• Class 321: 307 seats across four cars. Maximum speed 100 mph (160 km/h).
• Class 360: 280 seats across four cars. Maximum speed 100 mph (160 km/h).
• Class 90 with Mark 3 coaches: Used on inter-city services. Maximum speed 110 mph (180 km/h).

Current developments

Crossrail

On 31 May 2015, TfL Rail (the precursor of Crossrail) took over operation of the Shenfield stopping "metro" service and, after 2018, the full Crossrail service will run via a tunnel through central London and link up with the Great Western Main Line to Reading and Heathrow Airport. New Class 345 rolling stock is expected to enter service on the Shenfield to Liverpool Street service from May 2017. Crossrail will interchange with remaining GEML services at Liverpool Street (via new underground platforms), Stratford, Romford and Shenfield.

Proposed developments

The Greater Anglia RUS, published in December 2007 outlines a number of developments intended for the Great Eastern route. Other proposals have been announced separately.

• 68 additional carriages to provide longer trains will be introduced between December 2009 and December 2011.
• Extension of platform 10A at Stratford to increase peak flow and capacity during the period 2009-2014.
• Additional path on the Colchester, Chelmsford and Southend routes during the period 2009-2014.
• A turn-back facility at Chadwell Heath and Brentwood during the period 2009-2014.
• A new station at Great Blakenham as part of the SnOasis development approx. half-way between Needham Market and Ipswich, which received its final go-ahead on 6 November 2008.
• A new station at Beaulieu Park, 4 km north of Chelmsford, with 7 km of extra tracks between A130 and Hatfield Peverel.
• Crossrail will run to Shenfield from 2018.

In November 2013 an upgrade of the GEML to enable London to Norwich express services to achieve an improved journey time of 90 minutes was announced, this indicated that a raised linespeed of 110 mph would be required and the replacement of the existing Cl90/Mk.3 rolling stock with new Inter-City rolling stock.

Services

Nearly all trains are operated by Abellio Greater Anglia and TfL Rail, however a number of early morning, late evening and night c2c services operate on the line. From May 1985 to May 2007 London Fenchurch Street closed at 22:30 as a cost-saving exercise and all services operated from Liverpool Street. c2c also operates from Liverpool Street when engineering work prevents access to Fenchurch Street.

Liverpool Street is the principal passenger destination, although Stratford, with connections to Canary Wharf and its proximity to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, has grown in significance.

Main line

Fast and semi-fast services utilise the main line between Liverpool Street and Shenfield. Branch lines diverge at Romford, Shenfield, Witham, Marks Tey, Colchester, Ipswich, Stowmarket and Norwich.

Station	District	Branch lines
London Liverpool Street	City of London
Stratford	Newham
Romford	Havering	Romford to Upminster Line, to Upminster
Shenfield	Brentwood	Shenfield to Southend Line, to Southend Victoria or Southminster
Ingatestone	Brentwood
Chelmsford	Chelmsford
Hatfield Peverel	Braintree
Witham	Braintree	Braintree Branch Line, to Braintree
Kelvedon	Braintree
Marks Tey	Colchester	Gainsborough Line, to Sudbury
Colchester	Colchester	Sunshine Coast Line, to Colchester Town, Clacton-on-Sea or Walton-on-the-Naze
Manningtree	Tendring	Mayflower Line, to Harwich Town
Ipswich	Ipswich	Felixstowe Branch Line, to Felixstowe
Needham Market	Mid Suffolk
Stowmarket	Mid Suffolk	Ipswich to Ely Line, to Ely or Cambridge
Diss	South Norfolk
Norwich	Norwich	Wherry Lines, to Great Yarmouth or Lowestoft; Bittern Line, to Sheringham; Breckland Line, to Cambridge

Electric line

A high-frequency service operates on the electric line between Liverpool Street and Shenfield, serving all intermediate stations, which is currently operated by TfL Rail. The off-peak service consists of six trains per hour with some additional services during peak times. Some peak trains are scheduled to start or terminate at Gidea Park instead of Shenfield. The line is mostly within Greater London, with two stations in the Essex borough of Brentwood.

The electric line is also used by limited services extending to and from Southend Victoria or Southminster.

Station	Zone	District
London Liverpool Street	1	City of London
Stratford	3	Newham
Maryland	3	Newham
Forest Gate	3	Newham
Manor Park	3/4	Newham
Ilford	4	Redbridge
Seven Kings	4	Redbridge
Goodmayes	4	Redbridge
Chadwell Heath	5	Redbridge
Romford	6	Havering
Gidea Park	6	Havering
Harold Wood	6	Havering
Brentwood	9	Brentwood
Shenfield	C	Brentwood

Passenger volume

These are the passenger usage statistics from the year beginning April 2002 to the year beginning April 2013. Needham Market is the only station on the line that is not served by trains to/from London.

Station usage
Station Name	2002–03	2004–05	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14
Norwich	2,351,236	2,421,607	2,527,760	2,711,910	3,449,930	3,568,618	3,496,082	3,749,474	3,911,508	4,126,012	4,139,820
Diss	328,606	314,136	325,553	417,857	551,781	559,544	539,234	600,904	621,728	646,158	675,527
Stowmarket	367,331	417,729	453,271	545,670	705,682	751,802	756,484	855,692	884,962	927,856	944,466
Needham Market	12,014	16,237	25,472	37,074	43,987	52,782	58,054	67,056	77,554	85,078	91,358
Ipswich	2,022,546	2,017,300	2,144,935	2,402,852	2,807,395	2,825,352	2,774,536	3,004,678	3,159,348	3,348,394	3,312,522
Manningtree	574,633	719,792	707,782	865,217	910,384	833,888	799,776	890,624	983,054	1,093,178	1,154,294
Colchester	4,005,869	4,305,315	4,287,601	4,337,926	4,516,616	4,502,739	4,218,622	4,362,914	4,584,110	4,291,055	4,402,045
Marks Tey	364,979	384,337	400,155	432,073	459,980	443,724	428,804	428,816	437,006	473,162	494,998
Kelvedon	789,487	774,972	759,680	787,033	799,439	797,236	763,240	791,312	827,358	812,610	837,236
Witham	2,173,543	2,261,186	2,307,269	2,342,618	2,341,123	2,277,436	2,076,532	2,159,09	2,251,940	2,244,774	2,349,736
Hatfield Peverel	419,144	418,145	412,523	416,083	398,255	394,420	357,382	357,458	389,284	399,602	408,896
Chelmsford	6,445,365	6,698,243	6,801,193	7,113,065	7,447,696	7,375,452	6,934,970	7,335,952	7,876,686	8,002,126	8,286,879
Ingatestone	554,235	606,007	628,220	630,362	649,324	637,918	596,310	636,170	694,754	715,974	750,746
Shenfield	2,701,210	2,861,253	2,907,917	2,965,886	3,024,519	3,008,422	2,825,598	2,936,428	2,991,100	3,131,298	3,314,120
Brentwood	2,361,639	2,475,272	2,535,139	2,479,150	2,520,143	2,557,092	2,322,842	2,420,930	2,495,480	2,701,998	2,809,578
Harold Wood	1,879,400	1,770,874	1,773,086	3,014,836	3,476,002	3,042,946	2,808,636	2,552,716	2,580,280	2,857,572	2,917,788
Gidea Park	1,838,172	1,689,192	1,670,663	2,703,604	3,172,538	2,587,398	2,401,226	2,467,414	2,524,448	2,587,142	2,810,806
Romford	5,208,851	5,118,900	4,823,860	7,363,378	8,372,672	7,310,172	6,736,060	6,817,246	6,998,872	7,445,556	8,265,442
Chadwell Heath	1,836,872	1,607,729	1,556,568	2,208,567	2,352,716	2,246,672	1,977,616	2,144,996	2,228,662	2,346,218	2,686,904
Goodmayes	1,472,318	1,155,770	1,070,419	1,961,690	2,092,464	1,929,478	1,792,694	2,069,248	2,306,452	2,389,588	2,625,572
Seven Kings	1,694,399	1,174,319	1,095,940	1,567,157	1,764,774	1,657,658	1,528,296	1,708,550	1,879,664	2,112,832	2,330,778
Ilford	3,679,035	2,931,960	2,623,618	5,075,338	6,119,745	5,559,414	5,363,400	6,286,174	6,721,496	6,854,314	7,632,352
Manor Park	875,206	694,315	656,895	1,291,690	1,443,311	1,232,484	1,160,120	1,424,914	1,593,348	1,659,972	1,809,714
Forest Gate	1,209,066	956,231	915,549	1,891,875	2,037,387	1,706,018	1,598,816	1,914,054	2,205,106	2,403,326	2,647,058
Maryland	265,274	197,259	196,927	450,314	503,987	431,350	425,176	501,956	541,942	699,584	939,324
Stratford	2,597,390	7,914,419	7,699,178	13,089,922	13,368,783	12,303,033	12,370,245	17,479,020	21,797,460	25,564,250	26,377,506
London Liverpool Street	38,968,814	50,469,209	47,271,234	55,265,748	57,759,809	55,103,416	51,596,155	55,769,423	57,105,400	58,448,814	63,004,002
The annual passenger usage is based on sales of tickets in stated financial years from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. The statistics are for passengers arriving and departing from each station and cover twelve month periods that start in April. Please note that methodology may vary year on year.