British Railways Eastern Region timetable for Summer 1963.

The Eastern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound-up at the end of 1992. Together with the North Eastern Region (which it absorbed in 1967), it covered most lines of the former London and North Eastern Railway, except in Scotland. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (441x673, 43 KB) Summary Summer 1963 British Railways Eastern Region timetable cover. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (441x673, 43 KB) Summary Summer 1963 British Railways Eastern Region timetable cover. ... A timetable is an organized list or schedule, usually set out in tabular form, providing information about a series of arranged events: in particular, the time at which it is planned these events will take place. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ... Media:rofl. ... LNER timetable for Autumn 1926 detailing the resumption of services after the General Strike. ... Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - UK Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I 843  Area    - Total 78,772 km...

History

The services of the region had mostly been part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) until the railways were nationalised in 1948. Of all the "Big Four" pre-nationalisation railway companies, the LNER was most in need of significant investment. In the immediate post-war period there was a need to rebuild the destroyed stations in London and along the busy East Coast Main Line and former Great Central Railway. Additionally, the LNER had begun a suburban electrification programme which the British Transport Commission was pledged to continue. LNER timetable for Autumn 1926 detailing the resumption of services after the General Strike. ... The Great Central Railway (GCR) was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 on the completion of its London Extension. ... 40% (3,062 miles / 4,928 km) of the British rail network is electrified and 60% of all rail journeys are by electric traction (both by locomotives and Multiple Units). ... The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlees post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the separate Ulster Transport Authority). ...

Partially for this reason, the former LNER was broken in the Eastern and North Eastern regions (plus the Scottish region for lines in that country) to focus investment. When the regions were reorganised in the 1960s, the North Eastern was merged with the Eastern region.

After the formation of the enlarged Eastern Region, the former Great Central lines were transferred to the London Midland Region and the Eastern became one of the regions most affected by the Beeching Axe, losing route miles in every county served and seeing the closure of previously important (but now "duplicate") lines such as Harrogate to Northallerton via Ripon. Ex-LMS Jubilee Class 45641 Sandwich at Chinley in 1954 The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on British Railways (BR) and consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England and Wales. ... Many railway lines were closed as a result of the Beeching Axe The Beeching Axe was an informal name for the British Governments attempt in the 1960s to control the spiralling cost of running the British railway system by closing what it considered to be little-used and unprofitable...

British Railways Eastern Region "totem" station sign for Lincoln St Marks.

Image File history File links British_Railways_Eastern_Region_station_totem_for_Lincoln_St_Marks. ... Image File history File links British_Railways_Eastern_Region_station_totem_for_Lincoln_St_Marks. ... Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ... Shown within Lincolnshire Geography Status: City Region: East Midlands Admin. ...

Network

The main routes were:

• Liverpool Street station to Shenfield, Colchester and Harwich in Essex, Norwich in Norfolk and Ipswich and Felixstowe in Suffolk.
• King's Cross railway station to Stevenage in Hertfordshire and Peterborough in Cambridgeshire.
• Fenchurch Street railway station to Basildon (from 1974), Southend and Shoeburyness.

The lines were managed as the Great Northern (Kings Cross services) and the Great Eastern (Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street services), with the regional headquarters at 55 Liverpool Street. Liverpool Street station, also called London Liverpool Street, is a mainline railway station and connected London Underground station in the north eastern corner of the City of London, the main financial district, with entrances on Bishopsgate and Liverpool Street itself. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ... Norfolk (pronounced IPA: ) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England. ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in the East Anglia region of eastern England. ... Kings Cross station (often spelt Kings Cross on platform signs) is a railway station in the district of the same name in northeast central London. ... Hertfordshire (pronounced Hartfordshire and abbreviated as Herts) is an inland county in the United Kingdom and part of the East of England Government Office region. ... Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs) is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west. ... Main entrance and Fenchurch Place Fenchurch Street is a railway station in the south eastern corner of the City of London close by the Tower of London and two miles (3. ...

Commuter services via the North London Line were also run into Broad Street station, but these were slowly run down and diverted to other destinations, with the station eventually being closed in 1986. The Broad Street branch line in 1899 Class 501 train waiting for departure at Broad Street Broad Street station was a major railway station in the City of London, which served as the terminus for the North London Railway. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Electrification

The Region continued the LNER's programme of suburban electrification, using the then-standard overhead DC system, allowing for the removal of steam services from Essex by the mid-1950s. The original plan had called for the eventual electrification of most of the LNER, and the Eastern Region sought to continue this policy as part of the 1955 Modernisation Plan. However, the British Transport Commission felt that many Eastern Region routes would not benefit from this; indeed, many of the rural lines proposed for electrification were in fact closed entirely by Dr Beeching. 40% (3,062 miles / 4,928 km) of the British rail network is electrified and 60% of all rail journeys are by electric traction (both by locomotives and Multiple Units). ... Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ...

The premier East Coast Main Line was not electrified throughout until the late 1980s, by which time the Eastern Region had been abolished with the coming of sectorisation. Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ...

References

• Ball, MG. British Railways Atlas Ian Allan Publishing 2004
• Dudley, G. Why Does Policy Change? - Lessons from British Transport Policy 1945-99 Routledge 2001
• Daniels, G and Dench, LA. Passengers No More 2nd edition; Ian Allan Publishing 1973