| Manchester and Southport Railway | |
| Locale: | Greater Manchester Lancashire Merseyside North West England |
| Start Year: | 22 July 1847 |
| End Year: | 3 July 1854 |
| Map State: | open |
The Manchester and Southport Railway in England was formed by an Act of 22 July 1847 to link Manchester and Southport. Before the line opened it was acquired jointly by the L&YR and the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) on 3 July 1854.
The line was opened in several sections. The first were constructed in Wigan when on 20 November 1848 the L&YR opened its line from Walton Junction (in north Liverpool) to on the L&YR line between Salford and Preston. There were two stations on this section, and . Another station was opened later, on 1 June 1863, at .
The second section of line to open was on 9 April 1855 from to, the first part of this line to was wholly owned by the L&YR, the remainder was jointly owned by the L&YR and the East Lancashire Railway (ELR). 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.
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,,, (which became Parbold),, and .
The line terminated at the ELR station which was still under construction at the time. Operations were transferred to 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.[1] Other stations were opened later, (which became Blowick) on 1 April 1870 and on 1 November 1870. Finally opened on 1 July 1883, this station became St Luke's and sometimes St Luke's Road.
The route utilised some existing infrastructure at its Manchester end. The line from Manchester Victoria to was opened in 1844, prior to that the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal Company had opened a line in 1838 from to Bolton Trinity Street and this line was utilised as far as Windsor Bridge, near the site of the present day station.
A new line was constructed from Windsor Bridge junction to 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 with stations at, and, was opened later in 1901.
The next section opened a year later on 2 July 1888, it ran as far as with stations at, and .
The final section of line from to Crow Nest Junction, just before station opened on 1 October 1888, there were stations at and .
The ELR was acquired by the L&YR on 13 August 1859 and from then the whole line was owned by the L&YR.
The route is still in use to day as Northern's Manchester to Southport Line.