Cheshire Lines Committee
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The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was the second largest joint railway in Great Britain. Despite its name 143 route miles were in Lancashire. In its publicity material it was often styled as the Cheshire Lines Railway. It served the cities and towns of Liverpool, Manchester, Stockport, Warrington, Widnes, Northwich, Winsford, Knutsford, Birkenhead, Chester and Southport.
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[edit] Formation
Initially the Cheshire Lines group had been formed by a joint committee of the Great Northern Railway and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) in 1862 to regulate traffic on four proposed lines in Cheshire (listed below). This was made official by the Great Northern (Cheshire Lines) Act of 1863. The Midland Railway became an equal partner under the Cheshire Lines Transfer Act of 1865. Under the Cheshire Lines Act of 1867 it became a wholly independent company, although its management consisted of three directors of the three companies. Its purpose was to gain control of lines in Lancashire and Cheshire, an area which was dominated by the LNWR. In its early years the driving force behind the expansion of the railway was Sir Edward Watkin.
It was granted the powers to build a line to Liverpool, which opened 1873, from a temporary station in Manchester, and totaled 34 miles (54.7 km) in length. The section from Liverpool was on the Garston and Liverpool Railway which had been absorbed on 5 July 1865. From 1874 the CLC was headquartered at Liverpool Central station.
It was necessary to bring the various operations into a single terminus. The Midland and the MS&LR were using London Road (now Piccadilly) which the latter shared with the LNWR. Accordingly Manchester Central was built in 1880.
[edit] Grouping and nationalisation
In 1923 the Midland Railway, along with the LNWR, was grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, while the MS&LR (by then the Great Central Railway) became part of the London and North Eastern Railway. The line continued to be joint, with a 1/3 share LMS and a 2/3 share by the LNER. On nationalisation in 1948, both parent companies became part of British Railways, and shortly after the whole line came under the control of the London Midland Region.
[edit] The CLC today
The CLC routes between Liverpool and Manchester, and Manchester and Chester via Northwich, survive. Several CLC stations remain in their original form, such as Widnes, Warrington Central and Urmston. Liverpool Central station has been demolished, whilst Manchester Central Station is now the Manchester Central Conference Centre.
[edit] Lines
Created with:
- Stockport and Woodley Junction Railway [1]
- Cheshire Midland Railway
- Stockport, Timperley and Altrincham Junction Railway [2]
- West Cheshire Railway [3]
Absorbed:
Built:
- Skelton Junction to Cressington Junction line as part of Liverpool to Manchester line (CLC) railway.
- North Liverpool Extension Line
- Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway
[edit] References
- Holt, G.O., A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Volume X: The North West, David & Charles, 1978. ISBN 0-946537-34-8
- Radford, B., Midland Though The Peak Unicorn Books, 1988.
- Dyckhoff, Nigel. Portrait of the Cheshire Lines Committee, Ian Allan, Shepperton, 1999. ISBN 0-7110-2521-5
