The Manchester and Southport Railway in England was formed by an Act of 22 July 1847 to link Manchester and Southport.^{[act 1]} Before the line opened it was acquired jointly by the L&YR and the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) on 3 July 1854.^{[act 2][3]}

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Manchester and Southport Railway

Overview
Locale	Greater Manchester Lancashire Merseyside North West England
Dates of operation	22 July 1847–3 July 1854
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map Legend Southport London Street Southport Chapel Street Liverpool, Crosby & Southport Rly to Liverpool Southport Central Southport Ash Street St Luke's West Lancashire Railway to Preston Meols Cop Butts Lane Halt Blowick Liverpool, Southport & Preston Jn Rly to Altcar Bescar Lane New Lane Burscough Bridge Burscough Curves Liverpool, Ormskirk & Preston Rly Liverpool     Preston Hoscar Moss Newburgh Appley Bridge Gathurst Liverpool and Bury Railway to Liverpool North Union Railway to Preston Wigan (2nd station...1860-1896) Wigan Wallgate (since 1896)} Wigan North Western Wigan (1st station...1848-1860) North Union Railway to Warrington Ince Lancashire Union Railway St Helens     Blackburn L&YR Pemberton Loop to Liverpool Hindley Crow Nest Junction Liverpool and Bury Railway to Bolton Daisy Hill Bolton and Leigh Railway Leigh     Bolton Hag Fold Atherton Central L&NWR Tyldesley Loopline Eccles     Bolton Walkden Moorside and Wardley Swinton Pendlebury Irlams o' th' Height Manchester and Bolton Railway to Bolton via Agecroft Pendleton (Broad Street) Manchester and Bolton Railway to Bolton via Brindle Heath Windsor Bridge Junction Salford Crescent Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Liverpool Lines to Manchester Piccadilly via Ordsall Chord Oldfield Road Salford Central Manchester Exchange Manchester Victoria This diagram: view talk edit

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The line was opened in several sections. The first 3 miles (4.8 km) were constructed in Wigan when on 20 November 1848 the L&YR opened its line from Walton Junction (in north Liverpool) to Lostock Junction on the L&YR line between Salford and Preston.^{[lower-alpha 1][5]} There were two stations on this section, Wigan and Hindley. Another station was opned later, on 1 June 1863, at Ince.^[6]

The second section of line to open was on 9 April 1855 from Wigan to Southport London Street, the first part of this line to Burscough Bridge was wholly owned by the L&YR, the remainder was jointly owned by the L&YR and the East Lancashire Railway (ELR).^[7] The delay in opening this section was due to L&YR finding itself in "severe financial difficulties" and it took the issue of a mandamus to spur the L&YR into action.^[8]

There were six stations on this section, described as "solid, substantial, well built of stone in the Elizabethan style, neat without undue ornament", on this section, Gathurst, Appley Bridge, Newburgh (which became Parbold), Burscough Bridge, New Lane and Bescar Lane.^[9][10]

The line terminated at the ELR Southport London Street station which was still under construction at the time.^[10] Operations were transferred to Southport Chapel Street in 1857 with London Street station firstly becoming a 'repairing shed' (according to the 1894 Ordnance Survey), then becoming a goods station and ultimately being absorbed into Chapel Street station when it was rebuilt in 1914.^[10][11][12] Other stations were opened later, Cop End (which became Blowick) on 1 April 1870 and Hoscar Moss on 1 November 1870.^[13] Finally Barton Street opened on 1 July 1883, this station became St Luke's and sometimes St Luke's Road.^{[lower-alpha 2][15]}

The route utilised some existing infrastructure at its Manchester end. The line from Manchester Victoria to Salford Central was opened in 1844, prior to that the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal Company had opened a line in 1838 from Salford Central to Bolton Trinity Street and this line was utilised as far as Windsor Bridge, near the site of the present day Salford Crescent station.^[16]

A new line was constructed from Windsor Bridge junction to Hindley where it joined the existing line to Bolton and Bury, the former Liverpool and Bury Railway. This line opened in sections, firstly on 13 June 1887 from Windsor Bridge to Swinton with stations at Pendleton Broad Street, Pendlebury and Swinton, Irlams o' th' Height was opened later in 1901.^[17][16][18]

The next section opened a year later on 2 July 1888, it ran as far as Atherton Central with stations at Moorside and Wardley, Walkden and Atherton Central.^[19][20]

The final section of line from Atherton Central to Crow Nest Junction, just before Hindley station opened on 1 October 1888, there were stations at Hag Fold and Daisy Hill.^[21][22]

The ELR was acquired by the L&YR on 13 August 1859 and from then the whole line was owned by the L&YR.^{[act 3][3]}

The route is still in use to day as Northern's Manchester to Southport Line.