Mersey Railway was the first part of the passenger railway connecting the communities of Liverpool, Birkenhead, and now the rest of the Wirral Peninsula in England, which lie on opposite banks of the River Mersey, via the Mersey Railway Tunnel.
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The Mersey Railway remained independent after the railway grouping of 1923, although it became closely integrated with the electric train services operated by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway over the former Wirral Railway routes after 1938.
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The Mersey Railway was nationalised, along with most other British railway companies, in 1948.
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In 1871 the Mersey Railway was given the necessary permissions for an orthodox two track railway connecting the Birkenhead Railway near their Rock Ferry station through a tunnel under the Mersey to an underground station serving Liverpool.
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Mersey Railway contracted construction to John Waddell, who appointed Charles Douglas Fox and James Brunlees as Engineers.
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The Mersey Railway's Workshop was built next to Birkenhead Central; stabling was provided at Birkenhead Park.
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Mersey Railway was formally opened on 20 January 1886 and public services started on 1 February.
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Electrification was approved by Parliament in the Mersey Railway Act of 1900, which terminated the bankruptcy, and in July 1901 the Westinghouse contract was signed.
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The Wirral section was electrified with a DC third rail system, the Mersey Railway retaining its fourth rail but moving the positive conductor to 16 inches from the running rail.
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In 1948, on nationalisation of the railways, the Mersey Railway became the Mersey section of the London Midland Region.
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