Manchester and Birmingham Railway
| Dates of operation | 1840–1846 |
|---|---|
| Successor | London and North Western Railway |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Previous gauge | 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) |
The Manchester and Birmingham Railway was built between Manchester and Crewe and opened in stages from 1840. Between Crewe and Birmingham, trains were worked by the Grand Junction Railway. The M&BR was merged into the London and North Western Railway in 1846.
After the building of the Grand Junction Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, investors began to look for other routes south of Manchester. From 1835, the GJR was considering a branch to the Potteries, while the Manchester and Cheshire Junction Railway was planning a line from Manchester to Crewe with branches outwards. Meanwhile, George Stephenson was investigating a line from Manchester and to the Potteries, which developed into a proposal for a "Manchester South Union Railway". Also involved were proposals for competing lines through the Trent valley to Rugby.
After two years of proposals and counter-proposals, what emerged was a scheme to run from a junction from the GJR at Chebsey, with branches to Macclesfield and Crewe, into Manchester Store Street, which received Parliamentary authorisation in 1837. There were plans to take the line to Rugby, but for a number of reasons, including lack of finance, they were put in abeyance.
A section between Heaton Norris and a temporary station at Travis Street in Manchester was opened first in 1840 carrying nearly two thousand passengers in the first twenty weeks. However, there still remained to be built an enormous 22 arch viaduct over the River Mersey at Stockport. In 1841 the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway, which was to share Store Street, also began running into Travis Street. Store Street finally opened in 1842 and later became known as London Road. (It became Piccadilly in 1960). Services were extended to Sandbach but entry to Crewe, where it would use GJR metals to Birmingham, proved more difficult. In the end it was agreed that the GJR would work the trains south of Crewe, while the M&B would work them into Manchester.
...
Wikipedia