Eventually the complex relationship between the M&BR, the GJR and the L&BR was resolved by their merger in 1846 to form the London and North Western Railway. The long-awaited Trent Valley Railway opened in 1847. The Manchester and Birmingham had put other plans forward, including a line from Rugby to the Midland Railway at Syston near Leicester, authorised in 1846 and the Coventry and Nuneaton Railway. Also in 1846 the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway had been authorised, supported strongly by the M&BR and the Midland, joining the latter's line to London. In the event it only reached Rowsley due to financial difficulties, but the merger was a considerable embarrassment to the Midland, since the LNWR was naturally opposed to a competing line to the capital.
