This upset residents of the towns through which the line was planned to pass and they eventually petitioned Parliament to force the completion of the route.

The entire section to the NSR main line at Kidsgrove was authorised on 5 July 1865 opening as follows: With the towns that the line served being located on hilltops, the geography of the route was renowned for its severe gradients and sharp curves, especially around Tunstall, Burslem and Hanley.

After reaching the summit of the line at Newchapel, a 1 in 40 descent led to a cutting near the Birchenwood Coke Works on the approach to Kidsgrove.

[3] Services were cut back later that year and by 1961 there were just five passenger trains daily from Stoke-on-Trent to Hanley and Tunstall, none of which ran outside the peak hours.

[5] The northern part of the route remained open until 1976 to transport coal from an opencast mine at Park Farm, near Goldenhill.