Midland Railway - The Euston Square Confederacy

The Euston Square Confederacy

The London and Birmingham Railway and its successor the London and North Western Railway had been under pressure from two directions. Firstly the Great Western Railway had been foiled in its attempt to enter Birmingham by the Midland, but it still had designs on Manchester. At the same time the LNWR was under threat from the Great Northern's attempts to enter Manchester by means of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.

The LNWR was led by the brilliant but totally unscrupulous Captain Mark Huish. At first, observing the poor state of the Midland finances, he had proposed an amalgamation which Ellis opposed, seeking better terms. He then formed an alliance with the MS&LR and the Midland against the Great Northern, which became known as the Euston Square Confederacy.

An agreement was reached whereby passenger traffic was shared and the Midland would be compensated for passengers taken by the GN. Another problem which arose in 1851 coincided with the Great Exhibition. The GN had just opened and took most of the Midland's traffic. The Midland retaliated by cutting its fares, resulting in a price war in which journeys were virtually being given away. Gladstone, who was the minister responsible for railways at that time, imposed a traffic sharing scheme between the two lines for journeys from Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. In time the Midland grew stronger and, when relationships were soured between Huish and the MS&LR, the Confederacy was virtually at an end.