Liverpool Street station was built as the new London terminus of the Great Eastern Railway (GER) which served and . The GER had been formed from the merger of several railway companies, inheriting as its London terminus. Bishopsgate was inadequate for the company's passenger traffic; its Shoreditch location was in the heart of one of the poorest slums in London and hence badly situated for the City of London commuters the company wanted to attract. Consequently, the GER planned a more central station. The original intention was to build a terminus which reached as far south as the road "London Wall", and which would be as tall as the Broad Street station which was being planned at the same time, however the city authorities did not permit the more southerly location.