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Bethnal Green Bank runs alongside the former Terminal of the Eastern Counties Railway at Shoreditch. Its existence, or at least the chosen site for the terminus, was a series of compromises caused by Parliaments reluctance to sanction an inner city terminus at Finsbury Square, and the geological problems encountered during construction. This especially relates to the marshy land encountered east of Stratford and at Shoreditch, resulting in a brick built viaduct being constructed to carry the railway over these boggy areas. This represented an unexpected capital cost and delayed the opening of the Terminus until 1st July 1840. Mile End to Romford opened 18th June 1839 and the line extended to Brentwood to coincide with the Shoreditch opening. The construction of Shoreditch was not completed until the end of 1840. The Northern and Eastern Railway opened 15th September 1840 from Stratford to Broxbourne and agreement was reached to use the Eastern Counties Terminal. But unfortunately the Terminal was inadequate to handle all the trains, and remained so until the opening of Liverpool Street in 1874/5.
Map of Eastern Counties Railways Published 1863
By 1847 an act of Parliament was passed to enlarge Shoreditch Terminus, by which time it had been renamed Bishopsgate. This enlargement was opened 1st April 1847 and from this date, due to the quadrupling of the tracks, the Eastern Counties to Colchester, and the Northern and Eastern to Cambridge were separated. Finally on 14th July 1847 the North Woolwich Railway also opened to this already congested station.
The Eastern Counties Railway was absorbed into the Great Eastern Railway in 1862 and the first half-yearly report commented adversely on the Bishopgate terminus. The stated position being that "road access and operating space was poor and in need of improvement". The Great Eastern directors concluded that Bishopsgate should become a goods station and a new passenger terminus should be built near Finsbury Gardens.
The requisite Act of Parliament was passed in 1865 and Liverpool Street opened 2nd February 1874. All services from Liverpool Street pass the area of this railways earliest development whilst climbing the 1 in 70 gradient of Bethnal Green Bank.
B17 Class Locomotive No. 2859 EAST ANGLIAN is shown on Bethnal Green Bank, East London, working the last down train prior to the outbreak of war, 3rd.September 1939. The Locomotive is one of two specially streamlined for the service.
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