[a][2] Local industrialists formed the Bolton, Wigan and Liverpool Railway Company in 1844 with the intention of breaking the L&MR monopoly, in 1845 they decided to include Bury in their plans and applied for parliamentary powers, these were granted in the Liverpool and Bury Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict.
c. cclxxxii) on 27 July 1846 by the Manchester and Leeds Railway[act 3] who needed no persuasion in acquiring a route to Liverpool.
The act also allowed for the LO&PR to be leased or sold to the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) and this happened in October 1846.
The line opened for goods traffic a month later than passengers whilst a wagon hoist was installed at Liverpool.
Upholland tunnel at 959 yd (877 m) went through coal measures and rock and proved to be very wet and troublesome requiring pumping.
[18] From the joint L&YR/ELR station at Liverpool Great Howard Street/Liverpool Borough Gaol [d] the joint line ran northwards through Bootle Lane (later became Kirkdale) to Walton Junction where the ELR line to Ormskirk and Preston which was under construction branched off, the line to Bury veering eastwards, immediately after the junction was Preston Road (which later became Rice Lane) then Simonswood (which later became Aintree then Fazakerley) to Kirkby.
[26] Darcy Lever was the first station after Bolton, then Bradley Fold, Black Lane and Bury Knowsley Street.
[29][30] From the south end of the great brick arch the line curved eastwards around the wall of the borough gaol, crossed the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and then rose to the new terminus where the tracks were 25 ft (7.6 m) above Tithebarn Street, the height being necessary to keep open the canal and several streets passing beneath.
[act 6][34] Plans were drawn up and approved by both companies for the branch but no progress was made before the powers expired in 1853.
These were granted in the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (Liverpool Dock Branches) Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict.
The other branch ran via a vertical-lift bridge over Regent Road to two High-level coal branches in Bramley Moore and Wellington docks, maintaining the higher level of the line enabled coal to be delivered directly into ships using shutes.
[42][43] The L&YR introduced multiple-unit third-rail electric powered trains from Exchange station to Southport Chapel Street from March 1904, with a full service from 13 May 1904.
[45] As part of the electrification work for the creation of Merseyrail, the line to Kirkby was electrified, as diesel multiple units were banned from operating in the new tunnels for safety reasons.
In order to maintain a through service to the city, the section from Walton Junction to Kirkby was third-rail electrified, with the remainder of the line towards Rainford and Wigan remaining diesel operated.
[47] The lines from Walton junction into Liverpool were doubled which needed two new tunnels at Kirkdale, all four tracks being brought into use on 24 April 1904.
[52] With the exception of the section from Bolton to Bury (closed on 5 October 1970, along with the continuation through to Castleton) and the closure of Liverpool Exchange station in 1977 the line is still in use.
The Liverpool end of the line now runs as part of Merseyrail's Link Tunnel[broken anchor].
[54] In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line between Bolton and Bury which was listed as Priority 2 for reopening.