Cheshire Lines Committee

The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain, with 143 route miles. Despite its name, approximately 55% of its system was in Lancashire. In its publicity material it was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway. It served Birkenhead, Chester, Knutsford, Liverpool, Manchester, Northwich, Southport, , Warrington, Widnes and Winsford.

The CLC was formed by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) in 1862 to regulate traffic on four proposed lines in Cheshire (listed below), formalised by the Great Northern (Cheshire Lines) Act 1863, and the Midland Railway (MR) became an equal partner under the Cheshire Lines Transfer Act 1865. Under the Cheshire Lines Act 1867 the CLC became an independent organisation, although its management consisted of three directors of the three companies. Its purpose was to control lines in Lancashire and Cheshire, an area dominated by the LNWR. In its early years, the driving force behind the expansion of the railway was Sir Edward Watkin.

It was granted powers to build a line 34 miles (55 km) long, opened in 1873, from a temporary station in Manchester to Liverpool. The section from near Cressington to Liverpool was along the Garston and Liverpool Railway, which had been absorbed on 5 July 1865. From 1874 the CLC was headquartered at Liverpool Central station.

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