The Kenyon and Leigh Junction Railway (K&LJR) was constructed to link the Bolton and Leigh Railway (B&LR), which terminated at the Leigh Branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) at Kenyon.

The Bolton and Leigh Railway (B&LR) was the first public railway in Lancashire. It opened for goods on 1 August 1828, and thus preceded the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) by two years. Passengers were carried from 1831. The railway operated independently until 1845 when it became part of the Grand Junction Railway.