Each of the main line companies after the Grouping has an article listing all companies who became part of, and jointly part of, individual companies. Many of those had been in separate existence since being set up in the 19th Century , and were only in 1923 losing that individuality.
The list is by no means complete: in 1846 alone there were 272 railways agreed by Act Of Parliament , although not all of those were built, since it was the time of the Railway Mania .
- {Link without Title} Much of the information contained in this article is taken from ''The Railway Year Book, 1912'' (The Railway Publishing Company Limited), which set out the railways in that order. At the time the term ''Scotch'' was in use.
- A comprehensive list of line and branch closures is contained in this article
- (incorporated 1845 )
- --- Wishaw & Coltness Railway
- --- Glasgow, Garnkirk and Coatbridge Railway opened 1831
- --- Dundee & Newtyle Railway opened 1831 (incorporated in Scottish Central Railway)
- --- Scottish Central Railway (to Perth and Dundee )
- --- Scottish North Eastern Railway (to Aberdeen )
- --- Callander & Oban Railway opened 1 July 1880
- --- Lanarkshire & Ayrshire Railway
- --- Cathcart District Railway
- --- Brechin & Edzell District Railway
- --- Killin Railway
- (title assumed 1850 )
- --- Kilmarnock & Troon Railway: First railway in Scotland, opened in 1811 ; originally worked by horses, converted to steam operation in 1817
- --- Glasgow & Ayr Railway opened 12 August 1840
- --- Ardrossan Railway
- (incorporated 1846 )
- --- Aberdeen & Turriff Railway
- --- Aboyne and Braemar Railway
- --- Alford Valley Railway
- --- Banffshire Railway
- --- Banff, Macduff & Turriff Extension Railway
- --- Banff, Portsoy and Strathisla Railway
- --- Deeside Railway
- --- Deeside Extension Railway
- --- Formartine & Buchan Railway
- --- Inverurie & Old Meldrum Railway
- --- Keith & Dufftown Railway
- --- Morayshire Railway
- --- Strathspey Railway
- (title assumed 1865 )
- --- Dingwall & Skye Railway opened 19 August 1870
- --- Duke of Sutherland's Railway opened 19 June 187
- --- Findhorn Railway opened 18 April 1859
- --- Inverness & Aberdeen Junction Railway opened 18 August 1858
- --- Inverness & Nairn Railway (INR) opened 5 November 1855
- --- Inverness & Perth Junction Railway opened 9 September 1863
- --- Inverness & Ross-shire Railway opened 23 March 1863
- --- Nairn and Keith Railway opened 1858 amalgamated with INR 1861
- --- Perth & Dunkeld Railway opened 7 April 1856
- --- Sutherland Railway opened 13 April 1868
- --- Sutherland & Caithness Railway opened 28 July 1874
- (incorporated 1844 )
- --- Monkland & Kirkintilloch Railway first public steam railway in Scotland opened 1826
- --- Edinburgh & Dalkeith Railway opened 1831
- --- and ‘’fifty formerly independent companies’’, including the following:
- --- Invergarry & Fort Augustus Railway
- --- Newburgh & North Fife Railway
- --- Dundee & Arbroath Railway
- --- Edinburgh Suburban & Southside Junction Railway
- incorporated between 1864 and 1904
- --- Oswestry and Newtown Railway 30 miles: incorporated 6 June 1855 ; opened 1860 - 1
- --- Llanidloes and Newtown Railway 12.25 miles: 4 August 1853 ; 1859 . Until 1861 this section of the line was completely isolated
- --- Newtown and Machynlleth Railway 23 miles: 27 July 1857 ; 1863
- --- Oswestry, Ellesmere and Whitchurch Railway 18 miles: 1 August 1861 ; 1863 - 4
- --- Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway 86 miles: July 26 1861; 1863-69
- --- Mid-Wales Railway 45.5 miles: 1 August 1859 ; 1 September 1864 . This Railway maintained complete independence from the Cambrian until 1 January 1888, when the latter took over working the line; and on 1 July 1904 when the two Railways amalgamated.
- --- and several railways opened in the 1860s
- incorporated 23rd May 1832 (1ft 11½ins gauge)13½ miles opened 1836 still independent.
- (Furness) (first section) opened 11 August 1846
- --- Ulverston And Lancaster Railway opened 1857 amalgamated with Furness in 1862
- incorporated 1897
- --- Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway: formed by an amalgamation of:
-- Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne & Manchester Railway
-- Sheffield & Lincolnshire Junction Railway
-- Great Grimsby & Sheffield Junction Railway
-- Grimsby Docks Company.
- --- South Yorkshire Railway opened 9 September 1854 , merged with GCR 1 August 1864
- --- Wigan Junction Railway
- --- Wrexham, Mold And Connah's Quay Railway
- --- North Wales And Liverpool Railway
- --- Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancashire Railway
-
- --- Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) opened 20 June 1839 ; original 5ft gauge converted to standard in 1845
- --- Northern & Eastern Railway incorporated 1836 gauge conversion as with ECR
- --- Norfolk Railway
- --- Harwich Railway
- --- East Anglian Railway
- --- East Suffolk Railway
- incorporated 1846
- --- Edgware, Highgate And London Railway incorporated 1862
- --- London & York Railway
- --- Direct Northern Railway
- incorporated 1835 , opened London to Maidenhead Bridge 4 June 1838 , completed throughout to Bristol 30 June 1841
- --- Hayle Railway opened 23 December 1837 , closed for rebuilding 16 February 1852 , reopened by West Cornwall Railway
- --- Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway opened Swindon to Cirencester 31 May 1841 , opened throughout to Cheltenham 13 October 1847
- --- Bristol And Exeter Railway opened to Bridgwater 14 June 1841 , completed in stages to Exeter 1 May 1844 , amalgamated with GWR 1 January 1876
- --- Cornwall Minerals Railway opened 1 June 1874 replacing and connecting several earlier railways and tramways. Amalgamated with GWR 1 July 1896
-- Par Tramway, construction started c. 1841 , completed north of Pontsmill 1847 , extended to Par Harbour 1855
-- Newquay Railway authorised by Act of Parliament 1844 , completed 1849
-- Lostwithiel And Fowey Railway opened 1 June 1869 , closed 1 January 1880 , transferred to CMR 27 June 1893 and reopened 1893
-- Newquay And Cornwall Junction Railway opened 1 July 1869 , transferred to CMR 1 June 1874
- --- Liskeard and Caradon Railway opened 28 November 1844 , vested in GWR 1 July 1909
- --- Shrewsbury and Chester Railway opened 4 November 1846 , amalgamated with GWR 1 September 1854
- --- South Devon Railway opened 30 May 1846 , completed in stages to Plymouth 2 April 1849 , amalgamted with GWR 1 February 1876
-- Torquay branch opened 18 December 1848
-- South Devon and Tavistock Railway opened 22 June 1859
-- Dartmouth and Torbay Railway completed 16 August 1864
-- Launceston and South Devon Railway opened 22 June 1865
-- Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway opened 4 July 1866
-- Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway opened 1 May 1872
- --- Berks and Hants Railway opened Reading to Hungerford 21 December 1847 and Reading to Basingstoke 1 November 1848
- --- Wiltshire, Somerset and Weymouth Railway, opened Chippenham to Westbury 5 September 1848 ; completed in stages to Weymouth 20 January 1857
- --- Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway opened 1 June 1849 , amalgamated with GWR 1 September 1854
- --- South Wales Railway opened Chepstow to Landore 18 June 1850 , Chepstow Bridge opened 19 June 1862 , amalgamated with GWR 1 January 1862
- --- Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway opened 19 September 1851
- --- Vale of Neath Railway opened 24 September 1851 , amalgamated into GWR 1 February 1865
- --- West Cornwall Railway opened 11 March 1852 including previous Hayle Railway, transferred to GWR 1 January 1868
- --- Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway opened 11 July 1853
- --- Wycombe Railway opened 1 August 1854
- --- Abingdon Railway opened 2 June 1856
- --- Bridport Railway opened 12 November 1857 , bought by GWR 1 July 1901 , closed 5 May 1975 (see notes )
- --- Liskeard and Looe Union Canal, railway opened 11 May 1858 , vested in GWR 1 January 1923
- --- East Somerset Railway first stage opened 9 November 1858 , completed 1 March 1862
- --- Great Western and Brentford Railway opened 18 July 1858
- --- Cornwall Railway opened to Truro 4 May 1859 , extended to Falmouth 21 August 1863 , amalgamated with GWR 1 July 1889
- --- West Midlands Railway formed 1 July 1860 , amalgamated with GWR 1 August 1863
-- Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway opened at Worcester 5 October 1850 , completed from Wolverhampton to Oxford in stages by April 1854
-- Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway opened 2 January 1851
-- Worcester and Hereford Railway opened 25 July 1859
- --- Ely Valley Railway opened 1 August 1860
- amalgamation of three railways including:
- --- Cowes & Newport Railway incorporated 1859
- incorporated 1847 . In 1846 the Liverpool & Bury Railway was amalgamated with the Manchester and Leeds Railway, which became known as The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847
- --- Manchester And Leeds Railway incorporated 1836
- --- Manchester & Bolton Railway opened 1838
- --- Ashton, Stalybridge & Liverpool Junction Railway 1844
- --- Liverpool & Bury Railway 1845
- ---
- --- Wakefield, Pontefract & Goole Railway opened 1848
- (LNWR) formed by amalgamation in 1846 , there were 45 formerly independent railways within the LNWR, including:
- --- Liverpool And Manchester Railway opened 15 September 1830
- --- London And Birmingham Railway (first section) opened 20 July 1837 ; opened throughout 17 September 1838
- --- Grand Junction Railway opened 1837
- --- Chester And Crewe Railway opened 1846
- --- Chester And Holyhead Railway opened 1848 to Bangor 1850 to Holyhead
- --- Manchester And Birmingham Railway
- --- Lancaster And Carlisle Railway
- --- Cromford And High Peak Railway
- --- Kendal And Windermere Railway
- --- Watford and Rickmansworth Railway opened 1 October 1862 closed 1998 possible reopening (see Watford Tube Station )
- (LSWR)
- --- London & Southampton Railway opened (first section) 21 May 1838 ; renamed LSWR 183
- --- Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway opened 23 May 1832 , sold to LSWR autumn 1846 but not leaglly vested in that company until 1 July 1886
- --- Richmond Railway opened 27 July 1846
- --- Windsor, Staines and South Western Railway opened 1848 / 1849
- --- Southampton and Dorchester Railway opened 1 June 1847 ; extended to Weymouth 20 June 1857
- --- Staines, Wokingham and Woking Junction Railway opened 1856
- --- Lymington Railway opened 12 July 1858 , closed 1967
- :
- --- Surrey Iron Railway (SIR) opened 1804 (4ft gauge):
-- Croydon Merstham and Godstone Railway - extension of SIR
- --- London & Croydon Railway incorporated 1835 opened 1839
- --- London & Brighton Railway opened throughout 21 September 1841
-
- --- East Kent Railway incorporated 1853
- incorporated 1862 amalgamated with Midland Railway 1912
- --- London & Blackwall Railway
- (first section) opened 1845 . Remained independent until the 1923 Grouping
- (MetR)
- --- North Metropolitan Railway incorporated 1853 ; became MetrR 1854 . Other sections followed in 1860 - 70
- ''' by amalgamation:
- --- North Midland Railway
- --- Midland Counties Railway
- --- Birmingham And Derby Junction Railway
- --- Leicester And Swannington Railway opened 14 July 1832
- --- Sheffield & Rotherham Railway 1838
- --- Birmingham & Gloucester Railway opened 17 December 1840
- --- Little North Western Railway (Skipton - Lancaster) opened 1 June 1850
- --- Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Goole Railway Company
- Midland And Great Northern Joint Railway incorporated 1893
- ''' by amalgamation of
- --- Swindon, Marlborough & Andover Railway incorporated 1873
- --- Swindon & Cheltenham Extension Railway incorporated 1881
- (NER) incorporated 1854
- --- Stockton & Darlington Railway incorporated 1821
- --- Newcastle & Carlisle Railway incorporated 1829
- --- Blyth and Tyne Railway amalgamated with NER in 1874
- --- York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway
- --- York & North Midland Railway
- incorporated 1846 original name:
- --- East & West India Docks and Birmingham Junction Railway
- incorporated in 1845 to promote three railway schemes. Three Acts of Parliament on 26th June 1846 were given to the one company. Main line opened in 1848. Further Acts were all granted to the NSR Co. which remained independent until the 1923 Grouping.
- incorporated 1854
- incorporated 1836
- --- London and Greenwich Railway
- --- Canterbury and Whitstable Railway
- incorporated 1836 . Among the eight railways amalgamated with the TVR is one early railway:
- --- Aberdare Railway opened 1846
- Company incorporated 1832 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea, carried passengers from 1865 . Still independent and since 1954 a leading heritage railway.
- The railway from St Austell was complete by 22 June 1829 but not incorporated until 20 February 1873 as the Pentewan Railway & Harbour Company Limited. An Act of Parliament on 7 August 1874 authorised the use of locomotives. It was closed from 4 March 1918 .
- This was opened on 30 January 1826 and was locomotive worked from 1 December 1864 . It was closed from 27 September 1915 .
- incorporated 1855 to carry iron ore; passenger service from 1865 ; closed to all traffic 1898 see article here
History Of Rail Transport In Great Britain
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