The story
The Cheshire Midland Railway Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict. c. xc) was promoted by landowners and supported by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR). The London and North Western Railway were given leave to subscribe to the undertaking but they chose not to and the MS&LR found help from Great Northern Railway (GNR) instead.
A further act, the Cheshire Midland Railway Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. cxiii), modified the route and provided for the official involvement of the MS&LR.
Together the MS&LR and GNR formed a joint committee to operate this railway along with three others that had been authorised but were not yet open. Together these railways connected up to provide an alternative route into North Cheshire that avoided Manchester.
Each company was to provide an equal amount of capital and four representatives to the joint management committee. This arrangement was confirmed by the Great Northern Railway (Cheshire Lines) Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. cxlvii). This act had not, however, formally set up a separate legal body, providing instead for the two companies to manage and work the four railways through their existing structures.
This arrangement eventually led to the formation of the Cheshire Lines Committee in 1865. The line was then formally brought under the direct joint ownership of the MS&LR and GNR in 1865 by the Cheshire Lines Transfer Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. cccxxvii). The act allowed the Midland Railway to join as an equal partner, which it did in 1866. and finally The Cheshire Lines Committee was authorised by the Cheshire Lines Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c. ccvii) as a fully independent organisation with a board formed from three directors from each of the parent companies.
Today the railway forms part of the Mid-Cheshire Line.
From Wikipedia’s article on Cheshire Midland Railway, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3