The N&ER line never became the primary route from London to York, but the Great Eastern Railway eventually (from 1882) participated in a joint railway, the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway, which gave it access to Doncaster, and by means of running powers to York. A significant flow of coal ran south from Yorkshire to London, and for a while an express passenger train, the Cathedrals Express, ran over the route. The cathedrals were Ely, Peterborough and Lincoln, and the service ran from 1892 to 1918.