Joint Railway - United Kingdom

United Kingdom

There are many examples of joint railway working in the United Kingdom. The more important ones included:

• Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GN): Midland Railway and Great Northern Railway (MR/GNR), latterly London and North Eastern Railway and London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LNER/LMS). This was the UK's biggest joint railway system at 183 miles (295 km) and operated with its own locomotives and rolling stock. The system stretched mainly east-west from Great Yarmouth via South Lynn to Bourne and Peterborough and thence via the parent companies' systems to Leicester and the Midlands and to London King's Cross. A north-south route ran from Norwich City to Cromer. The two routes crossed at Melton Constable, the joint railway's main engineering centre.
• Cheshire Lines Committee: Great Northern, Great Central and Midland Railways (GNR/GCR/MidR), 140 miles (230 km) operated with its own rolling stock.
• Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway: the Great Northern and Great Eastern Railways. From Huntingdon and Spalding to Doncaster, with a branch to Ramsey. 123 miles (198 km)
• Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway: London and South Western Railway (LSWR) and Midland Railway. 101 miles (163 km) operated, with its own locomotives and rolling stock until 1930.
• East London Railway: the Great Eastern, London, Brighton and South Coast, South Eastern and Chatham, Metropolitan and District Railways (GER/LBSCR/SE&CR/MetR/District) 7 miles (11 km)
• Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Committee: the Metropolitan and Great Central Railways
• Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway: LNWR/GCR. 9 miles (14 km). Electrified in 1931
• Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway: the Caledonian, Glasgow and South Western, London and North Western and Midland Railways. 82 miles (132 km)
• Preston and Wyre Joint Railway: L&YR/LNWR. 45 miles (72 km)
• Great Western and Great Central Railways Joint Committee: the Great Western and Great Central Railways. 41 miles (66 km)
• Severn and Wye Joint Railway: Great Western Railway and Midland Railway. 39 miles (63 km)
• Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway: the Great Western and London and North Western Railways. 56 miles (90 km)
• Shrewsbury and Wellington Railway: the Great Western and London and North Western Railways. 10.5 miles (16.9 km)
• South Yorkshire Joint Railway: GCR/GNR/L&YR/MidR/NER. 20 miles (32 km)
• Furness and Midland Joint Railway: 9+1⁄₂ miles (15 km)
• Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Joint Committee: Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Railway, Mansion House to Aldgate on the Circle Line. 1 mile (1.6 km)
• Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway (N&S): the Midland and Great Northern and the Great Eastern Railway). There were two stretches of line: the most important ran along the East Anglian coast from Lowestoft to Yarmouth, while a much shorter stretch ran from Cromer to Mundesley on the North Norfolk coast. This line was a unique joint railway in that one of its parents was itself a joint railway.
• Axholme Joint Railway : North Eastern and Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways (NER/LYR) 27.5 miles (44.3 km)
• Forth Bridge Railway: the North British, Great Northern, North Eastern and Midland Railways. 2,765 yd (2,528 m)
• County Donegal Railways Joint Committee: the Northern Counties Committee and Great Northern Railway (Ireland). 111 miles (179 km) of 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge track in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, with its own locomotives and rolling stock.