Cheshire Lines Committee

Cheshire Lines Committee

1926 map of CLC
Overview
Locale	Lancashire and Cheshire
Dates of operation	1863–1947
Predecessors	Stockport and Woodley Junction Railway Cheshire Midland Railway Stockport, Timperley and Altrincham Junction Railway West Cheshire Railway Garston and Liverpool Railway The Liverpool Central Station Railway
Successor	British Railways
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	143+1⁄4 miles (230.5 km) (1925)[1]
Track length	441 miles 1 chain (709.7 km) (1925)[1]

The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain.^[2] The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated 143 miles (230 km) of track in the then counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.^[2] The railway did not become part of the Big Four during the implementation of the 1923 grouping, surviving independently with its own management until the railways were nationalised at the beginning of 1948.^[3] The railway served Liverpool, Manchester, Stockport, Warrington, Widnes, Northwich, Winsford, Knutsford, Chester and Southport with connections to many other railways.^[3]