The Grand Junction Railway gained an Act of parliament in 1833. The engineers were George Stephenson with Joseph Locke as his deputy, with Locke taking control of the work in 1834. It ran from Curzon Street, Birmingham to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, Lancashire. It passed close to Wolverhampton and through Stafford and Warrington. The Grand Junction Railway opened in 1837 and was the first trunk line in Europe. The Grand Junction Railway amalgamated with the Liverpool Manchester Railway in 1845 and the Trent Valley Railway in 1846 and in the same year the three were joined to form the London and North Western Railway.