The line was the idea of the identically named Longton, Adderley Green and Bucknall Railway Company (LAG&B) which was granted approval in the Longton, Adderley Green and Bucknall Railway Act 1866 (29 & 30 Vict.

[1] Construction was not fast and it was nine years after approval before the line opened in September 1875.

[2] The coal-owner and railway director William Francis Gordon put his Lawn Colliery at Bucknall on the market in 1870, anticipating its completion.

[4] The line remained split until closure in the 1960s when the 0.5 miles (0.80 km) branch from Millfield Junction closed at the end of December 1963.

The longer 3.675 miles (5.91 km) branch from Botteslow Junction closed the following year.