 | |
| Industry | Railway company |
|---|---|
| Founded | 23 August 1831 |
| Defunct | 1846 |
| Fate | Amalgamation |
| Successor | Manchester and Leeds Railway |
| Headquarters | 28 New Bailey St & 10 Bolton St, Salford[1] |
Key people | Jesse Hartley (engineer) |
The Manchester and Bolton Railway was a railway in the historic county of Lancashire, England, connecting Salford to Bolton. It was built by the proprietors of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Navigation and Railway Company who had in 1831 converted from a canal company. The 10-mile (16 km) long railway was originally to have been built upon most of the line of the canal, but it was eventually built alongside the Salford and Bolton arms of the canal. The act of Parliament, the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal and Railway Act 1831 (1 & 2 Will. 4. c. lx),[2] also allowed the construction of a connection to Bury, but technical constraints meant that it was never built.
The railway required significant earthworks, including a 295-yard (270 m) tunnel. The railway termini were at Salford railway station and Trinity Street station in Bolton. The railway was opened in 1838 to passenger and freight services. In 1841 it was extended to Preston, and in 1844 to Victoria railway station in Manchester. It amalgamated with the Manchester and Leeds Railway in 1846.
The railway is in use today as part of the Manchester to Preston Line, although some of the original stations are no longer in use.
- ^ Pigot & Slater 1841, p. 173.
- ^ An Act to enable the Company of Proprietors of the Canal Navigation from Manchester to Bolton and to Bury to make a Railway from Manchester to Bolton and to Bury, in the County Palatine of Lancaster, upon or near the Line of that Canal Navigation, and to make a collateral Branch to communicate therewith, afterwards known and cited in acts of Parliament by the short title of 'The Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal and Railway Act 1831'