The Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee was incorporated by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway and Midland Railway Companies (Joint Lines) Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. xxv) as a joint venture between the Midland Railway and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.
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For many years the Midland had been wishing to extend its line from London St.Pancras to Manchester, via Derby and the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway.
It was thwarted by the London and North Western Railway which already had a line from Manchester to London, via Birmingham and had built a branch line to Buxton. Meanwhile, The Great Northern Railway was also averse to more competition in the area, and the MS&LR wished to expand southwards from its main line from Manchester, via Penistone, to Sheffield. The three joined forces in a series of tripartite agreements, which not being sanctioned by Parliament, were of doubtful legality.
However James Allport, with some other Midland directors, met some members of the MS&L board while surveying the area. Allport had worked for the MS&LR and was familiar with the state of their finances. Since it was clear that the Midland was determined to enter Manchester, the MS&LR agreed to a joint scheme. The Midland would take its line from Millers Dale as far as New Mills, and the MS&LR would build its branch from Hyde on its main line to Hayfield via New Mills.
This agreement, including the Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee, was formalised in the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (Additional Powers) Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. clxxviii) of 6 August 1872 [1]
In 1867 the line had opened into Manchester Store Street, by then renamed London Road (now Piccadilly), which the MS&LR shared with the LNWR. However, the committee, seeking a more direct route, opened a line through Bredbury and Reddish in 1875.
Increasing friction with LNWR led to the Cheshire Lines Committee being formed and when Manchester Central opened in 1880 trains were diverted at Romiley through Stockport Teviot Dale (as it was originally spelt). [2]
This entailed another new line, the Manchester South District Railway, from Heaton Mersey to Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Although incorporated in 1873, there was a lack of interest on the part of the MS&LR and the GNR (the Midland's partners in the CLC). It was therefore taken under the wing of the Sheffield and Midland Committee, with the Midland taking overall control in 1877. The line finally opened in 1880.
However, by the end of the century congestion around Stockport had increased, and with speed limits, gradients and curves, the Midland looked for yet another route. The New Mills and Heaton Mersey Railway was authorised in 1897 from New Mills South Junction, between New Mills and Buxworth through Disley Tunnel.
The earlier lines remain busy as the Hope Valley Line, as does that from New Mills through Disley Tunnel, where it branches to the old LNWR line from Buxton at Hazel Grove railway station into Stockport. However the stations from Hazel Grove to Manchester Central closed in 1967 and have practically disappeared, although the section of the railway between Didsbury and Manchester Central has reopened as a Metrolink line. There are hopes that this will extend further in the future through Heaton Mersey, and then leaving the alignment and heading into Stockport town centre.
It became a corporate body, renamed the Great Central and Midland Joint Committee, on 22 July 1904. It was vested in the British Transport Commission under Transport Act 1947.
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It amalgamated with several other railways to create the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at grouping in 1923.
The Hope Valley line is a trans-Pennine railway line in Northern England, linking Manchester with Sheffield. It was completed in 1894.
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsby. It pursued a policy of expanding its area of influence, especially in reaching west to Liverpool, which it ultimately did through the medium of the Cheshire Lines Committee network in joint partnership with the Great Northern Railway (GNR) and the Midland Railway.
The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated 143 miles (230 km) of track in the then counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. The railway did not become part of the Big Four during the implementation of the 1923 grouping, surviving independently with its own management until the railways were nationalised at the beginning of 1948. The railway served Liverpool, Manchester, Stockport, Warrington, Widnes, Northwich, Winsford, Knutsford, Chester and Southport with connections to many other railways.
The Ashton, Stalybridge and Liverpool Junction Railway (AS&LJR) was opened in 1846 to connect the industrial town of Ashton-under-Lyne to the developing railway network, and in particular to the port of Liverpool. It was a short line, joining the Manchester and Leeds Railway at Miles Platting and the connection to Liverpool was over that line and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
The Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway ran from a junction with the Midland Railway at Ambergate to Rowsley north of Matlock and thence to Buxton.
Chinley railway station serves the rural village of Chinley in Derbyshire, England. The station is 17+1⁄2 miles (28.2 km) south east of Manchester Piccadilly, on the Hope Valley Line from Sheffield to Manchester. It is unstaffed and is managed by Northern Trains.
Hazel Grove railway station is a junction on both the Stockport to Buxton and Stockport to Sheffield lines, serving the village of Hazel Grove, Greater Manchester, England.
New Mills Central railway station serves the town of New Mills in Derbyshire, England. It is on the Hope Valley Line between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield, 12+3⁄4 miles (20.5 km) east of the former. The town is also served by New Mills Newtown station, which is on the Buxton to Stockport and Manchester line.
Dove Holes Tunnel is a tunnel built by the Midland Railway between Peak Forest Signal Box and Chapel-en-le-Frith in Derbyshire in 1860–64, now carrying the Great Rocks Line.
The Buxton line is a railway line in Northern England, connecting Manchester with Buxton in Derbyshire. Passenger services on the line are currently operated by Northern Trains.
Disley Tunnel was built by the Midland Railway in 1902 on its line between New Mills South Junction and Manchester Central, which was more direct than the congested and difficult lines through Stockport Tiviot Dale.
The Stockport and Woodley Junction Railway was incorporated on 15 May 1860 to build a 2 miles 61 chains (4.4 km) railway from Stockport Portwood to a junction with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway's (MS&LR) authorised Newton and Compstall line at Woodley.
The Cheshire Midland Railway was authorised by an act of Parliament, passed on 14 June 1860, to build a 12-mile-65-chain (20.6 km) railway from Altrincham on the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway to Northwich.
The Stockport, Timperley and Altrincham Junction Railway (ST&AJR) was authorised by an act of Parliament, passed on 22 July 1861 to build a 8 miles 17 chains (13.2 km) railway from Stockport Portwood to Altrincham.
Cheadle Heath railway station was a stop on the Midland Railway's New Mills and Heaton Mersey line; it served the suburb of Cheadle Heath in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England.
Hazel Grove (Midland) was a railway station in Hazel Grove, formerly in Cheshire, England; it was in use between 1 July 1902 and 1 January 1917 on the Midland Railway's New Mills to Heaton Mersey line.
The Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway was an early railway company in England which was opened in 1857 between Stockport Edgeley and Whaley Bridge.
The South Manchester Line (SML) is a tram line of the Manchester Metrolink in Manchester, England, running from Manchester city centre to Didsbury. The line opened as far as St. Werburgh's Road in 2011 and then to East Didsbury in 2013 as part of phase three of the system's expansion, along a former railway trackbed.
The Manchester South District Railway (MSDR) was a British railway company that was formed in 1873. It was formed by a group of landowners and businessmen in the south of Manchester, England, with the purpose of building a new railway line through the city's southern suburbs.