 The Macclesfield , Bollington and Marple Railway ( MB & M ) was a joint line which the NSR participated in . A short line of just under 11 miles ( 18 km ) it was opened with the Manchester , Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway ( MS & L ) in 1869 to give the NSR to Manchester independently of the LNWR . As relationships between the NSR and the LNWR grew better the reason for the line lessened as the MB & M route to Manchester was 5 miles longer than the LNWR route . > Both passenger and freight traffic was handled by the MS & L ( or as it later became the Great Central Railway ) with the buildings maintained by the NSR . 
