Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway
| Dates of operation | 1846–1862 |
|---|---|
| Successor | Great Eastern Railway |
The Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway in east London connected the Royal Docks with the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR). Authorised in 1844, it opened in 1846, and was absorbed by the ECR in 1847. The ECR amalgamated with other railways to form the Great Eastern Railway in 1862.
The EC&TJR was incorporated on 4 July 1844. It opened on 19 April 1846 from Stratford to Canning Town to transport coal from a pier at the mouth of Bow Creek. A year later it was extended to North Woolwich via West Silvertown, allowing connections with the Woolwich Ferry; the same year it was taken over by the North London Railway.
When the Royal Victoria Dock opened in 1855 the line between Canning Town and North Woolwich had to have a swingbridge over the entrance to the dock, which increased journey times. In response, the line was rerouted north of the dock through two new stations, at Custom House and Tidal Basin. The southern line remained in service for local factories and was renamed the Silvertown Tramway.
After the construction of the Albert Dock, with the same problem envisaged on the route to Silvertown, in 1878 the railway built the 600 m (2,000 ft) cut and cover Connaught Tunnel (also known as the Silvertown Tunnel or Albert Dock Tunnel), at the new dock's entrance; it emerges on the eastern side just short of the old Tate & Lyle factory. In 1935, after it was discovered that larger ships entering the docks were scraping the roof of the tunnel, an iron casing was placed along the section under the dock.
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