The line opened in 1845. It was built by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway with Joseph Locke as its engineer. In 1847, the railway merged with the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway, the Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway and the Grimsby Docks Company to form the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway; it changed its name to the Great Central Railway (GCR) in 1897. Ownership passed to the LNER in 1923 and, finally, to British Railways Eastern Region in 1948.