The Birkenhead Railway was formed on 1 August 1859 as a result of the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Railway merging with the Chester and Birkenhead Railway. The new company was originally called the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway, but in 1859 shortened its name to The Birkenhead Railway. It was taken over, on 1 January 1860, by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and the Great Western Railway (GWR), becoming a joint railway. It remained a Joint Railway until Nationalisation of the railways in 1948.