[1] Meanwhile, the Great Western Railway was planning to reach Manchester and in an effort to block this, the Market Drayton extension was completed in February 1870.

[1] Dwindling passenger numbers after World War II meant that there were only two trains daily from Stoke to Market Drayton, and services ceased on 7 May 1956 when they were cut back to Silverdale.

Express Dairies had a creamery with private siding access to Pipe Gate, allowing its preferred transport partner the GWR to provide milk trains to the facility, for onward scheduling to London.

The station site at Newcastle-Under-Lyme has been landscaped, and Market Drayton's has been demolished and built on by both a Morrisons store and an industrial complex.

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.