Fenchurch Street Railway Station - History

History

The station was the first to be constructed inside the City of London; the original was designed by William Tite and was opened on 20 July 1841 for the London and Blackwall Railway (L&BR), replacing a nearby terminus at Minories that had opened in July 1840.

The station was rebuilt in 1854, following a design by George Berkley, adding a vaulted roof and the main facade. The station became the London terminus of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR) in 1858; additionally, from 1850 until the opening of Broad Street station in 1865 it was also the City terminus of the North London Railway. The Great Eastern Railway (GER) used the station as an alternative to an increasingly overcrowded Liverpool Street station for the last part of the 19th and first half of the 20th century over the routes of the former Eastern Counties Railway. The L&BR effectively closed in 1926 after the cessation of passenger services east of Stepney. When the former Eastern Counties lines transferred to the Central line in 1948 the LT&SR became the sole user of the station.

Fenchurch Street station was the location of the first railway bookstall in the City of London, operated by William Marshall.

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