Manchester and Milford Railway

The Manchester and Milford Railway was a Welsh railway company, intended to connect the industrial areas of Northwest England with a deep-water port on Milford Haven, giving an alternative to the Port of Liverpool.

Despite the title it was planned to connect other railways at Llanidloes and Pencader, near Carmarthen, and achieve the object in its name by connections with other lines, most of which were only planned. The M&MR had continuous difficulty in raising capital and also in operating profitably, but thanks to a wealthy supporter it opened from Pencader to Lampeter in 1866. Realising that its originally intended route to Llanidloes would be unprofitable, it diverted the course at the north end to Aberystwyth, which it reached in 1867.

Sunk by financial difficulties, it was eventually absorbed into the Great Western Railway in 1911. Passenger operation ceased in 1964 and milk trains ran to a creamery until final closure in 1973.

In the early years of the nineteenth century, Manchester and the surrounding districts had become dominant in many manufacturing industries, particularly textiles. As the volume of the trade increased, the import of raw materials, and the export and coastal transport of finished goods assumed an ever more important consideration in the industrial process. The port of Liverpool was conveniently located and became the chief west coast port, and as trade with the Americas developed, Liverpool grew in importance.

The cost and time taken for transport to and from Liverpool was nevertheless significant, and the existing water-borne transport routes were expensive and slow. In 1830 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened, immediately becoming a financial and commercial success. Although it was prime, Liverpool was not the only west coast port-- it was rivalled by Bristol--but the thoughts of some business people turned to alternatives, and in 1845 the Manchester and Milford Haven Railway was proposed. This would create a new deep water port on Milford Haven in south-west Wales, and build a railway line connecting to Manchester. Milford Haven had the advantage of being located further west than Liverpool, with a corresponding shortening of the sea passage. The route was to start at Crewe, already connected to Manchester by the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, and run by way of Oswestry, Devil's Bridge, Lampeter and Haverfordwest. The line was to be broad gauge although the difficulties of the break of gauge at the northern end were not clearly elucidated.

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