page_title: Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway
section_title: Midland and Eastern Railway
hierarchical_section_title: Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway / Midland and Eastern Railway
caption_attribution_description: English: Railway lines near Spalding and Sutton Bridge, England, in 1866
context_page_description: The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway was a railway network in England, in the area connecting southern Lincolnshire and north Norfolk. It developed from several local independent concerns and was incorporated in 1893. It was jointly owned by the Midland Railway and the Great Northern Railway, and those companies had long sponsored and operated the predecessor companies.
  The area directly served was agricultural and sparsely populated, but seaside holidays had developed and the M&GNJR ran many long-distance express trains to and from the territory of the parent companies, as well as summer local trains for holidaymakers. It had the longest mileage of any joint railway in the United Kingdom.
  After 1945 the profitability of the network declined steeply, worsened by the seasonality of the business. It was duplicated by other lines and the decision was taken to close it. Most of the network closed in 1959, although some limited sections continued in use. Only a short section near Sheringham is in commercial use today, but the North Norfolk Railway is active as a heritage line.
context_section_description: The Lynn and Sutton Bridge Railway and the Spalding and Bourne Railway amalgamated to form the Midland and Eastern Railway in 1866; the intention was to push westward to Saxby and join the Midland Railway there. This plan was opposed by the Great Northern Railway and the compromise was that the scheme was dropped, but that the Midland Railway was given running powers from over two GNR-sponsored lines: from Bourne to Essendine, and (by reversing there) from Essendine to Stamford; this was not a direct or fast route. The arrangement was agreed, and ratified by the Midland and Eastern Railway Act of 23 July 1866. The Midland and Eastern Railway was operated by the GNR and the Midland Railway jointly, authorised by Act of 1867.
  The Midland and Eastern Railway leased the Norwich and Spalding line, but the N&SR remained nominally independent (until 1 July 1877). It needed to go to Parliament to plead that it had, in good faith, tried to make the Sutton to Wisbech line, but had been prevented; and that the line had in fact been built by the PB&SBR; this was accepted and the M&SR was released from the prohibition on declaring a dividend. The Midland and Eastern Railway now effectively controlled the whole of the western section of the future M&GNJR, except for the Peterborough to Sutton Bridge line, which was still controlled by the Midland Railway.
  The Midland and Eastern was jointly owned by the GNR and the Midland Railway, but it operated more or less independently. The Joint Committee did not meet between 1867 and 1880; trains of the two owning companies ran their own trains on the lines. In this period the network was referred to as the Bourne and Lynn Joint Railway.
caption: Spalding and Sutton Bridge railways in 1866
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