A joint railway is a railway operating under the control of more than one railway company: those companies very often supplying the traction over the railway. 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): joint working by Midland Railway and Great Northern Railway (MR/GNR), and 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 (295km) and operated with its own locomotives and rolling stock. The system stretched mainly East-West, from Yarmouth via South Lynn to Bourne and Peterborough and thence, via the parent companies' systems, to Leicester and the Midlands or to London King's Cross. A North-South route ran from Norwich (City terminus) to Cromer. The two routes crossed at Melton Constable, the joint railway's main engineering centre.
- Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway (N&S): in the strange position of having as one of its two parents another joint railway, the Midland and Great Northern (the other was 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.
- Isle of Axholme Joint Railway : joint working by North Eastern and Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways (NER/LYR) 27.5 miles (44km)
- Cheshire Lines Committee: Great Northern, Great Central and Midland Railways (GNR/GCR/MidR) 140 miles (224km) operated with its own rolling stock.
- Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line, from Huntingdon and Spalding to Doncaster, with a branch to Ramsey: operated jointly by the Great Northern and Great Eastern Railways (GNR/GER) 123 miles (197km)
- East London Railway: run by a committee of the Great Eastern, London, Brighton and South Coast, South Eastern and Chatham, Metropolitan and District Railways (GER/LBSCR/SE&CR/MetR/District) 7 miles (11km)
- Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Committee: operated by the Metropolitan and Great Central Railways (MetR/GCR)
- Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway: LNWR/GCR 9 miles (14km) electrified in 1931
- Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway: owned by the Caledonian, Glasgow and South Western, London and North Western and Midland Railways (CR/G&SWR/LNWR/MR) 82 miles (131km) [1]
- Preston and Wyre Joint Railway: L&YR/LNWR before amalgamation in 1922 45 miles (72km)
- Great Western and Great Central Railways Joint Committee: operated by the Great Western and Great Central Railways (GWR/GCR) 41 miles (66km)
- Severn and Wye Joint Railway: Great Western Railway (GWR)/MidR 39 miles (62km)
- Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway: operated by the Great Western and London and North Western Railways (GWR/LNWR) 56 miles (90km)
- Shrewsbury and Wellington Railway: operated by the Great Western and London and North Western Railways (GWR/LNWR) 10.5 miles (17 km)
- Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway: London and South Western Railway (LSWR) and Midland Railway 101 miles (162km) operated with its own locomotives and rolling stock.
- South Yorkshire Joint Railway: GCR/GNR/L&YR/MidR/NER 20 miles (32km)
- Furness and Midland Joint Railway: 9½ miles (15km) [2]
- Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Joint Committee, Mansion House to Aldgate on the Circle Line: MetR/District 1 mile (1.5km)
- Forth Bridge Railway; owned by the North British, Great Northern, North Eastern and Midland Railways (GNR/MR/NBR/NER) 2765yds (2528m)
- County Donegal Railways Joint Committee: owned by the Northern Counties Committee and Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (MidR(NCC)/GNR(I)) and operating over 111 miles (178 km) of 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge track in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with its own locomotives and rolling stock.
Bibliography
- Casserley, H. C. (1968). Britain's Joint Lines. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0024-7
