London's Stations.

London's enormous passenger stations annually attract visitors from every land, and for the student of railway working these hives of industry ever present the most profitable of object lessons. The busiest of all main-line stations in London is the Liverpool Street terminal of the London and North-Eastern system, which is used by about 250,000 passengers daily. Between the hours of seven and ten o'clock in the morning, some 90,000 passengers pour into the terminus, and about the same number leave between four and seven o'clock in the evening. Over 1200 trains arrive and depart each day, all steam operated, and during the rush hours as many as 54 trains are dealt with in sixty minutes in each direction.

Liverpool Street station dates back to 1874, when it replaced the old Shoreditch terminus. page 19 It was enlarged twenty-four years ago to its present total of 18 platforms. These lead to three pairs of Up and Down lines, and working is controlled by two signal cabins, having 244 and 136 levers respectively. Liverpool Street is the point of departure for the continental services routed via Harwich and for all points in East Anglia. It is also the hub of a vast suburban zone covering the eastern parts of Greater London, Essex and Hertfordshire.