Furness Railway

The Furness Railway was a British railway company that existed from 1844 to 1922. The length of the route network was the last year of operation, 254 km, in 1902 there were still 306 km. The Furness Railway was mainly active on the Furness Peninsula in the North West of England.

History

The Furness Railway was founded on May 23, 1844, when the British Parliament the Furness Railway Act passed. The track was designed primarily for the transportation of iron ore and slate and led by the Piel Pier on the Roa Iceland to the mines and quarries in Dalton-in- Furness and Kirkby -in- Furness. The opening of this section was made on August 11, 1846, the passenger traffic was recorded in December of the same year.

In April 1854, the line was extended by Ulverston, then in several steps through the acquisition of other companies to Whitehaven, by Carnforth, as well as to Lakeside and with the acquisition of the Coniston Railway Broughton -in- Furness to Coniston. In Carnforth was connecting to the network of the London and North Western Railway. The Ulverston and Lancaster Railway Association from August 27, 1857, the Furness Railway with the city of Lancaster, and was taken over in 1862 by this. 1867 was a branch line of Arnside added after Hincaster where connection was to the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway. In the same year the Furness Railway was long Furness and Midland Joint Railway access to the network of the Midland Railway on the 15 km. With the construction of the port of Barrow-in- Furness railway helped to ship in the rapidly growing amounts of iron ore, steel and limestone and slate on this port.

The original route did not lead directly into the town of Barrow -in- Furness, where the headquarters and workshops were operating. The trains had first contact at the head station on the Piel Pier before they could continue their journey. Only in 1882 the new station in Barrow-in -Furness was opened.

With the entry into force of the Railways Act 1921 on 1 January 1923, the Furness Railway went on in the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

The still commercially operated parts of the Furness Railway route network have been merged into the Cumbrian Coast Line and the Furness Line.