The North Union Railway was an early British railway company, operating two main routes, from to and from to , all in Lancashire. The northerly part of the routes sharing the line from Euxton to Preston.
The company was created in 1834 with the first parliamentary authorised railway amalgamation. The two companies amalgamated were the Wigan Branch Railway (WBR) and the Preston and Wigan Railway (P&WR). In 1844 the company acquired the Bolton and Preston Railway (B&PR).
The company operated independently until 1846, then under joint lease of London and North Western Railway (L&NWR) and Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&Y) but continuing as an independent company until 1889.
In 1889 it was absorbed by the lessees with the line from Parkside to Euxton going to the L&NWR and the line from Euxton to Bolton (the former B&PR) being taken by the (L&Y). The section from Euxton to becoming jointly owned.
Most of the line eventually became part of the West Coast Main Line (WCML).
Formation
The Wigan Branch Railway obtained an Act of Parliament on 29 May 1830 to build a line from the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) near to Wigan. The Act included a branch to the south of Wigan, the Springs branch, connecting to collieries in the district.
The Preston and Wigan Railway had been authorised in 1831 to construct a railway between and but was struggling to find sufficient share subscriptions to start construction. The directors considered abandoning the project but decided that an amalgamation with the WBR would be of benefit to both companies. Within a month the board of the WBR resolved to consolidate with the P&WR.
The North Union Railway (NUR) was created by an Act of Parliament on 22 May 1834 which authorised the amalgamation of the Wigan Branch Railway (WBR) and the Preston and Wigan Railway (P&WR), the first-ever parliamentary approved railway amalgamation.
When it was created, the North Union Railway consisted of the single-track line constructed by the Wigan Branch Railway(WBR) from the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) at to but little else. The WBR did not own any locomotives or rolling stock, its operations were all supplied under contract by the L&MR.
The construction of the Wigan to Preston section did not start until after the amalgamation and the formation of the NUR.
Parkside to Wigan 1834-1838
Within a month of the amalgamation the railway appointed Charles Vignoles as engineer on the railway at a salary of £1,200 (equivalent to £ in ). His duties were to supervise the building of the Wigan to Preston line and oversee the running of the already built Parkside to Wigan line. The building and supervision of the Springs branch was not included and became a separate contract.
A maintenance contract was let to Smith & Eckersley in May 1835, it was extended for a further two years.
Passenger service
The L&MR had provided passenger services to the WBR under contract, they continued to provide passenger services for the line under NUR ownership. The service continued as thrice daily each way between Parkside and Wigan.
Freight service
The L&MR had initially provided the WBR with freight services but in 1834 the WBR offered John Hargreaves, an established carrier in the North West, the lease for operating the goods service on their line. Hargreaves, in partnership with his son (also called John Hargreaves) declined the offer and made a counter offer based on the previous years receipts which was accepted by the new North Union Railway, as this was now after the merger of the railways. In July 1835 the son, John Hargreaves junior took over as the sole lessee over the Parkside to Wigan section of the line for all goods traffic with the exception of those who already had the right to operate their own trains, mainly coal mine owners like Richard Evans who operated Edge Green Colliery which was just to the west of the NUR line and connected to it with a standard gauge siding.
The NUR carried H.M. Mails to Wigan, the mails being brought to Parkside from Liverpool and Manchester each evening, they were then handed to the guard of the Wigan train who handed them on to a messenger on arrival at Wigan.