The first railway to reach the town was the Cheshire Midland Railway (CMR) route from , which opened to traffic on 1 January 1863. The CMR was one of the constituent routes of the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) from its formation, and the WCR was built by the CLC. The original CMR terminus station in Northwich was likely the building that became the goods station but was replaced early, in 1869, as the continuing line towards Hartford was being constructed as part of the West Cheshire Railway (WCR).