The original Act of Parliament gave the M&CR no powers to deviate from its connection to the N&CR to a more convenient Carlisle terminus. At this time, the route for the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway and its partner the Caledonian Railway were being prepared, and the proposed main line to Scotland was arranged to pass to the west of Carlisle (and very close to the Crown Street site) to allow a common central station to serve all the Carlisle railways. The Maryport Company preferred to proceed with its own station at Crown Street on Botchergate. The Act authorising this received the royal assent on the same day (6 June 1844) as the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway's Act: a clause in the M&CR's Act established that the powers (such as compulsory purchase) given the L&CR under their Act had priority, provided that these powers could not be exercised to prevent the M&CR acquiring the bare minimum of land required for its branch. Litigation then ensued, but although the M&CR lost the case, it succeeded in reaching its Crown Street land by a branch from the Canal line, and opened its station there on 30 December 1844; trains backed into and out of the station.