Great Eastern Main Line
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The Great Eastern Main Line ("GE") is a major railway line of the British railway system, which connects Liverpool Street station in the City of London with destinations in east London and the East of England, including Ipswich, Norwich and several coastal resorts.[1] The line is primarily a commuter railway that also attracts business and leisure passengers, and a freight route.[2]
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[edit] History
The earliest section of the line was built by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) and operated between Mile End and Romford from 1839. Bishopsgate railway station (initially known as Shoreditch) was the London terminus until Liverpool Street opened in 1874. The ECR was amalgamated with other railways to form the Great Eastern Railway in 1862. The line was 'grouped' into the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923 and from 1948 formed part of the Eastern Region of British Railways.
In 1986 it became part of Network SouthEast. Between 5 January 1997 and 31 March 2004, suburban and medium distance services were operated by First Great Eastern, while fast mainline services were operated by Anglia Railways. All services are now operated by National Express East Anglia.
[edit] Infrastructure
The line is owned and maintained by Network Rail.[2]
[edit] Electrification
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, Frinton and Harwich Town are also electrified.
In the 1930s plans were made by the LNER 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 later being extended to Chelmsford in 1956 and finally to Norwich by 1986.
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[3]
In 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 OHL system for the whole of the former Anglia Region.
[edit] Signalling
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 that has jurisdiction over several local level crossings.
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 GEC-Alsthom HW2000 and Smiths clamp-lock point machines.
The first signalbox to be closed and transferred to Liverpool Street IECC was Shenfield, which had only opened in 1982. The last boxes to be transferred were at Romford and Gidea Park, and were the oldest of those being transferred, having been opened under the GER/LNER 1924 resignalling scheme.
[edit] 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 GE to Bethnal Green Junction. It is possible for GE trains to use the 'Suburbans', but this is extremely rare because of the platform allocations at Liverpool Street.
From Bethnal Green the GE 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, Temple Mills and Thornton Fields Carriage Sidings. The GE 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 occasions where the route is more than two lines, predominantly through stations such as Colchester and Ipswich, along with goods loops, such as at the London end of Ingatestone.
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 St'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, services commencing in 1946. Either side of Ilford Flyover, there are single-track connections between the slow and fast pairs of lines, with the westbound track extending to Manor Park railway station 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 limited passenger operations. It was also envisaged that a flyover would be built at the country end of Gidea Park Carriage Sidings to switch Southend Victoria trains from the mains to the electrics, instead of at Shenfield London end junction as they do now.
[edit] Rolling Stock
- For details of the passenger fleet used by the train operating company, see National Express East Anglia#Rolling stock
Electric locomotive-hauled inter city trains operate between Norwich and London. Inner and outer suburban passenger trains are operated by electric multiple units. Services operate at up to 100 mph. Electric and diesel hauled freight services operate on the line.[2]
Class 315
Manufacturer BREL York Formation 4 cars per trainset Capacity 320 seats Specifications Maximum speed 75 mph (121 km/h) Voltage 25 kV AC Overhead
Class 360
Manufacturer Siemens Family name Desiro Formation 4 cars per trainset (National Express only) Maximum speed 100mph (161 km/h). Voltage 25 kV AC Overhead
[edit] Services
Nearly all trains are operated by the National Express Group, using the National Express East Anglia brand name.[1] The franchise began under the 'one' railway brand on 1 April 2004.[4] As of May 2007 two c2c services operate during the late evening to Barking.[2] This is a throwback to BR days when London Fenchurch Street closed early in the evening as a cost saving exercise and all services operated from Liverpool Street.
Liverpool Street is the principal passenger destination, although Stratford, with connections to Canary Wharf, has grown in significance.[2]
[edit] Main line
Outer suburban and inter-city services utilise the main lines between Liverpool Street and Shenfield. Branch lines diverge at Romford, Shenfield, Witham, Marks Tey, Colchester, Ipswich, Stowmarket and Norwich,[1] with through services operating to some destinations. All services share the same tracks from Shenfield to Colchester.[2]. Bold text in the station name represents stations where the mainline services stop. [1]
| Station | District | Branches |
|---|---|---|
| London Liverpool Street | City of London | |
| Stratford | Newham | |
| Romford | Havering | Romford to Upminster Line: Upminster |
| Shenfield | Brentwood | Shenfield to Southend Line: Southend Victoria / Southminster |
| Ingatestone | Brentwood | |
| Chelmsford | Chelmsford | |
| Hatfield Peverel | Braintree | |
| Witham | Braintree | Braintree Branch Line: Braintree |
| Kelvedon | Braintree | |
| Marks Tey | Colchester | Gainsborough Line: Sudbury |
| Colchester | Colchester | Sunshine Coast Line: Clacton-on-Sea / Walton on Naze |
| Manningtree | Tendring | Mayflower Line: Harwich Town |
| Ipswich | Ipswich | Felixstowe Branch Line: Felixstowe East Suffolk Line: Lowestoft |
| Needham Market | Mid Suffolk | |
| Stowmarket | Mid Suffolk | Ipswich to Ely Line: Ely / Cambridge |
| Diss | South Norfolk | |
| Norwich | Norwich | Wherry Lines: Great Yarmouth / Lowestoft Bittern Line: Sheringham Breckland Line: Cambridge |
[edit] Metro
A high-frequency service operates on the slow lines between Liverpool Street and Shenfield serving suburban stations. The off-peak service consists of six trains an hour.[2] Some trains are scheduled to terminate at Ilford or Gidea Park.[2]
The Route
It starts at Shenfield then Brentwood in Essex. Then goes into the London Brough of Havering with stations of Harold Wood, Gidea Park and Romford. After that the line goes into the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham but with no stops. Now it reaches the London Borough of Redbridge and has stations of Chadwell Heath (which is on the boader of the Borough), Goodmayes, Seven Kings and Ilford. The line carrys on to the London Borough of Newham with stations of Manor Park, Forest Gate, Maryland and Stratford and lastly in The City of London (borough) Liverpool Street
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenfield_Metro"
| 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 | n/a | Brentwood(Essex) |
| Shenfield | n/a | Brentwood (Essex |
It is planned that Oyster card pay as you go will be accepted on the route from Stratford to Harold Wood by 2009.[5] It is currently accepted between Stratford and Liverpool Street.[6] It is proposed that the suburban service and the slow lines between Stratford and Shenfield will be absorbed into Crossrail.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d National Rail, Rail Services Around London & the South East, (2006)
- ^ a b c d e f g h Network Rail - Route 7 - Great Eastern (PDF)
- ^ Glover, John (2003). "Eastern Electric", Ian Allan, London. ISBN 0-7110-2934-2.
- ^ 'one' - Welcome to 'one'
- ^ 'one' - ‘one’ Railway to extend availability of Oyster Pay As You Go
- ^ National Rail - Oyster Pay As You Go (PAYG) on National Rail (PDF)
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