 The line opened on 28 May 1838 , and the company had purchased four locomotives from Bury , Curtis , and Kennedy , two from George Forrester and Company , and two from William Fairbairn & Sons . Between the opening date and 9 January 1839 the railway carried 228 @,@ 799 passengers – far more than had been carried on the canal . Shortly thereafter passenger services on the canal ceased and the boats were sold off . In 1846 the company was taken over by the Manchester and Leeds Railway , which itself became the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway ( L & YR ) the following year . In 1890 the L & YR widened the line through Salford . Locks 4 , 5 and 6 were moved slightly to the north and the tunnel under the railway was replaced by a bridge ( although it is still referred to as a tunnel ) . 
