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The Chester and Birkenhead Railway had assumed friendly relations with the [[Chester and Crewe Railway]] (C&CR), and it depended on the C&CR for access to the railway network. During the construction phase of the C&CR it simply ran out of money, and on 1 July 1840 it was taken over by the Grand Junction Railway. The GJR had always been hostile to the Chester and Birkenhead Railway, so this was a serious setback; a number of collaborative schemes at Chester between the two companies were now unlikely to be possible. Each company would have its own station at Chester, although there would be a connecting line by-passing both.<ref name = maund7>Maund, pages 7 to 9</ref>
The [[Chester–Crewe line]] of the Grand Junction Railway was opened on 1 October 1840. The GJR was in close partnership with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and were discouraged from collaborating with the Chester and Birkenhead, which the L&MR regarded as a competitor. Accordingly, the GJR train times at Chester were contrived to avoid any convenient change of trains to the C&BR, and this went as far as the Irish mails having to be carried across the street in Chester from one station to the other, even though there was a through track.
=== Opening ===
The line was built as a single line with structures made suitable for later doubling of the line. The track gauge was to be
A directors' inspection train ran over the line on 10 September 1840 and the official opening took place on 22 September 1840. In the morning a staff and contractors' train made the round trip from Birkenhead to Chester; there were no passing places and no electric telegraph, so the official party of honoured guests had to wait at Birkenhead with no knowledge of whether the other train was returning on time. The ordinary public service started the next day, 23 September, with five passenger trains each way daily, three on Sundays. From 15 December some passing loops had been installed, and the train service frequency could be improved, to two-hourly.<ref name = maund9>Maund, pages 9 to 12</ref>
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==Further reading==
*{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/railwaysgreatbr00whisgoog|title=The Railways of Great Britain and Ireland Practically Described and Illustrated|first=Francis|last=Whishaw|edition=2nd|location=London|publisher=John Weale|year=1842|pages=
== External links ==
* [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/b/birkenhead_monks_ferry/index.shtml Disused Stations: Birkenhead Monks Ferry railway station]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chester-Birkenhead line}}
[[Category:Historic transport in Merseyside]]
[[Category:Rail transport in Cheshire]]
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