Opening of Great Northern Railway

Date: August 7, 1850 • Location: London, United Kingdom

The first section of the Great Northern Railway, now the southern section of the East Coast Main Line, opened between London and Peterborough.

The Great Northern Railway (GNR) was a British railway company incorporated in 1846 with the object of building a line from London to York. It quickly saw that seizing control of territory was key to development, and it acquired, or took leases of, many local railways, whether actually built or not. In so doing, it overextended itself financially.