Plan and section of the land from Bolton to Chequerbent required for the use of the Bolton and Leigh Railway. Copied by J Whitehead, 1827.

The Bolton and Leigh Railway linked the town of Bolton with the Leigh Canal, a branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The railway stopped short of crossing the canal to meet the planned Liverpool and Manchester Railway due to concerns that objections from the canal owners would prevent the railway from being built. A link between the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and the Bolton and Leigh was established in 1831 when the Kenyon and Leigh Junction Railway bridged the 2.5 miles gap between the railways.

The Bolton and Leigh railway was the first public railway in Lancashire, opening in 1828, two years before the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The first steam locomotive on the railway was Lancashire Witch, built by Robert Stephenson & Co.