Grand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was a British railroad company that existed from 1833 to 1846 . Their route led from Birmingham via Wolverhampton , Stafford and Crewe to the vicinity of Warrington , where there was a connection to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) opened in 1830 . From 1838, the GJR operated the world's first mail train in which sorting took place on the move.
In 1833 parliament passed the law to build the 132 km long route. It was planned by George Stephenson and Joseph Locke and put into operation on July 4, 1837. The main workshop was in Crewe. Shortly after the opening, the end point in Birmingham was moved from the Duddeston district to Curzon Street station, where there was a connection to the London and Birmingham Railway .
In 1840, the GJR took over the Chester and Crewe Railway shortly before it opened. The company drove the development of the North Union Railway (ONLY) towards Preston and was also involved in the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway and the Caledonian Railway . In 1845 the GJR merged with the L&MR and consolidated their position with the takeover of the NUR (together with the Manchester and Leeds Railway ).
The GJR was very profitable and was able to pay dividends of at least 10 percent every year. In 1846 the company was incorporated into the London and North Western Railway . Today the GJR route forms the central section of the West Coast Main Line .
