6th April 1873
Jersey Eastern Railway Company is registered
The Jersey Eastern Railway Company was registered on 6 April 1873 and immediately began construction of the line between St Helier and St Catherine’s. The first part opened exactly one year later, which is remarkable by modern standards. However, the section linking Gorey at St Catherine’s was never completed, and neither was the connection across St Helier. The capital therefore had two termini, and passengers had to change trains if journeying from one side of Jersey to the other.
No line was ever constructed along the north coast or up the middle of the island. Following the closure of Jersey’s two railways and the railway on Guernsey, Alderney now has the Channel Islands’ only working line.
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Other events that occured in April
An attempted elopement fails
- In the 1930s, it simply wasn’t done to get married without first obtaining your father’s permission. Ada Maud West learned that the hard way.
- Read more…
French catamaran, St Malo, strikes rocks
- A rescue operation swung into action when Saint-Malo, a French-owned catamaran, struck La Frouquie rock off Jersey with 307 passengers aboard.
- Read more…
The St Saviour wireless case show trial
- By 1943, the war was turning against Germany, and its forces realised they needed to control the flow of information. They banned radios.
- Read more…
Inquiry opens into naked, burned motorist
- A man was found naked and burned to death in Jersey in unexplained circumstances in April 1946. An open verdict ruling was given.
- Read more…
