Manchester and Birmingham Extension Railway
Plans for the Manchester & Birmingham Extension Railway were deposited in February 1838, but parliament had revised its standing orders and it was no longer possible for the Bill to be considered in the 1838 session. It would have to wait a full year.
During this lengthy period there were talks with the Grand Junction Railway, and it appeared that agreement was reached. However, it turned out that the two sides interpreted the wording that had been agreed rather differently. The agreement collapsed, and the Grand Junction opposed the Stone–Rugby line in parliament in 1839 as did the London and Birmingham Railway.
There was a great parliamentary battle: with 459 individual objections to consider, even the enquiry into the Bill’s compliance with standing orders took no less than twenty-three days. Nevertheless, the Bill passed this hurdle and went on to receive a second reading, even though it was (unusually) subjected to a vote at this stage. But it failed to complete its committee stage.
The Extension’s supporters wanted to try again, but circumstances were by now rather different. The favourable economic conditions of the mid-1830s were gone; capital was no longer so readily forthcoming; the Manchester & Birmingham’s financial position was worsening.
The Grand Junction made a new approach, suggesting abandonment of the Potteries line and working all traffic via Crewe. Agreement was reached in October 1839. The Manchester & Birmingham committed itself to the construction of the Crewe branch and guaranteed that if the Trent Valley line should be built the Grand Junction should have use of it.
The Grand Junction confirmed the Manchester & Birmingham’s right to make its junctions both at Norton Bridge and at Crewe and promised favourable charges for traffic routed via Crewe. Although it was to be some time before it announced the fact, the Manchester & Birmingham effectively stopped work on the Potteries line. Its priority now was to generate revenue as quickly as possible and completion of the Crewe line was the only feasible way of doing this.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Virgin Trains