The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) began operating on June 20 1839 with a train service from a temporary terminus at Mile End to Romford, and working to a gauge of five feet. The line was extended the following year to a new terminus at Shoreditch (later renamed Bishopsgate; and the line was subsequently extended to the 51 miles between London and Colchester.

Between September and October 1844 the gauge was converted to standard gauge (4' 8.5"), as was the Northern & Eastern Railway with which it eventually amalgamated with the Great Eastern Railway in 1902.

(Information taken from The Railway Year Book 1912)