May 1872. It replaced a nearby station called Mile End (not to be confused with the current Underground station of the same name) which was located on the eastern side of Cambridge Heath Road. To the west of the station the new Liverpool Street terminus was being constructed but this was not ready. A new station at Bishopsgate (Low Level) had been constructed and initial services towards London terminated there for a short period. On 2 October 1874 operations commenced through to Liverpool Street. At this time there were a single pair of tracks ready for traffic with two more were being constructed. These opened in May 1875 and the new Liverpool Street opened on 1 November 1875 with the old Bishopsgate station closing to passengers on the same day. The line towards Liverpool Street fell at a 1 in 70 gradient west of the station whilst the Bishopsgate lines continued on a more or less level gradient. Bethnal Green had four platforms two of which served the Enfield/Chingford lines and two of which served the Great Eastern Main line towards Stratford. The old Bishopsgate station was converted to a goods depot and some rearrangement of the original facilities took place in an area which became known as Spitalfields Depot. The depot included a wagon hoist that allowed wagons to be transferred to the East London Line which operated at a lower level. A direct rail link had been planned here in the 1880s but was never developed. By the 1880s it was clear that Liverpool Street required further extension and this included a third set of running lines between Bethnal Green and the terminus. Parliamentary approval was given in 1888 with work starting in 1890. The new set of lines were opened on 4 April 1891 and at Bethnal Green the tracks were rearranged so trains from Enfield and Chingford used these. The former GEML tracks were now served by suburban trains to and from Stratford whilst two new lines through the area acted as the through lines for longer distance trains. In 1891 an additional two tracks were opened between Globe Road and Devonshire Street and Bethnal Green where room for a further two tracks was provided for. Then in 1894 an additional pair of tracks were opened between Bethnal Green and Hackney Downs. During World War 1 the station was considered for closure along with some lesser