 Sanctioned by the Great Northern Railway Act of 4 August 1906, it left the WR&GR west of Hampole station and was brought into use on 8 March 1909.With the completion of these short links the route mileage of the WR&G totalled miles.At the beginning of 1923 most of the main line railways of Great Britain were "grouped" under the Railways Act 1921 into one or other of four new, large, concerns.