When the East &amp; West India Docks &amp; Birmingham Junction Railway (known as the North London Railway (NLR) from 1853) started operating on 26 September 1850, they shared a London terminus at Fenchurch Street railway station with the London and Blackwall Railway which involved a circuitous route via Hackney, Bow and East Stepney for city bound passengers. An act of parliament saw the NLR apply to build a two mile extension from Dalston to a new London terminus at Broad Street railway station. This was passed in 1861.