The Manchester and Leeds Railway was a British railway company that built a line from Manchester to Normanton where it made a junction with the North Midland Railway, over which it relied on running powers to access Leeds. The line followed the valley of the River Calder for much of the way, making for easier gradients but by-passing many important manufacturing towns. Crossing the watershed between Lancashire and Yorkshire required a long tunnel. The line opened throughout in 1841.
Early on, the company realised that the initial route required expansion, and branches were built by the company or by new, sponsored companies. In Manchester steps were taken to make a railway connection with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and a connecting line was built, including an important joint passenger station, named Victoria station.
The pace of expansion accelerated, and in 1846 it was clear that the company's name was no longer appropriate, and the opportunity was taken, when getting Parliamentary authority for further amalgamations, to change the name to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway; this took effect by an act of Parliament, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Act 1847 (10 & 11 Vict. c. clxiii) of 9 July 1847. From that time, coupled with the considerable expansion of the network, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway took on a new dynamic.[citation needed].