Nantwich and Market Drayton Railway

The line was doubled during 1866–67, to match the Wellington and Drayton Railway which opened in October 1867, thus providing a link for the GWR between the Midlands and the Northwest.

Most ran between Crewe and Wellington, some continued to/from Manchester to the north and Worcester or Wolverhampton (for Paddington) to the south, or included through coaches for the extended routes.

Typically there were about twenty trains a day in each direction, of which two would be local goods, and the remainder would be through traffic, either non-stop over the line or stopping only at Market Drayton.

In 2017, the Shropshire Star released an article detailing calls by Owen Meredith who was a candidate for the constituency of Newcastle-Under-Lyme.

He was quoted as saying "I want to see a feasibility study into re-opening the Market Drayton branch line or similar route to connect Newcastle with Stoke and HS2.“[6] This was further backed up by the MP for Stoudley near Market Drayton, Andrew Stanley, who was also quoted as saying "It would be better, and probably easier, to re-open the line through Audlem to Nantwich and on to Crewe to connect with HS2.

"[7] In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line between Stoke and Wellington which was listed as Priority 2 for reopening.