Great Eastern Railway - Definition and Overview

The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was formed in 1862 as an amalgamation of the Eastern Counties Railway; and also with several other smaller railways: Norfolk, the Eastern Union, the Newmarket, the Harwich, the East Anglian Light and the East Suffolk; among others. This website contains comprehensive details of those railways (http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pstoog/trains/company/g/company_ger.htm) In 1902 the Northern & Eastern Railway also joined the GER.

Among the principal towns served from its London terminus at London Liverpool Street by the GER were Southend-on-Sea, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Lowestoft, Yarmouth, Norwich and Cambridge, besides many of the East Anglian coast seaside resorts. It also served a busy suburban traffic area.

It was grouped with other railways to form the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1923. The GER had owned over 1200 miles of line.