The EMR was formed in 1881, when the Lynn & Fakenham, the Yarmouth Union and the Yarmouth and N Norfolk Railways all combined. After absorbing the Midland and Eastern Railway and the Peterborough, Wisbech & Sutton Bridge Railways the company itself was itself incorporated into the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway in 1893.

Railway company in Costa Rica, known to have been active 1886

British owned railway operating in Argentina, opening in 1874. The company merged with the Central Argentine Railway in 1902.

1847-1922, railway company, England The title "Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway" was adopted by the Manchester & Leeds Railway in July, 1847 following its absorption of a number of earlier local railways, the largest of which was the Manchester and Leeds Railway. In 1922, Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway amalgamated with London and North Western Railways; the expanded LNWR subsequently formed part of the London and North Western Railway.

The West Australian Land Company Limited was established in London in 1885 to take over a contract for the construction of the Beverley to Albany Railway. The company was succeeded in 1898 by the Great Southern Railway Company of Western Australia.

Formed as the Hoylake Railway Company in c1863. It became the Hoylake and Birkenhead Tramway Company in 1870, and then the Hoylake & Birkenhead Rail and Tramway Company in 1872. In 1881, the company became the Seacombe, Hoylake and Deeside Railway, following rail extentions. It was purchased by the Wirral Railway Company Ltd in 1884, although continued to operate as a separate company until being fully absorbed in 1891.

Railway company in Venezuela, established in the 1880s, and closed in the 1950s.

The Mersey Railway opened in 1886, connecting Liverpool, Birkenhead, and the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is the world's oldest underground railway outside London. Due to pollution in the Mersey tunnel, many passengers preferred the ferries, and the railway was bankrupt by 1900. It recovered in 1903 with the adoption of electric traction, and remained independent until nationalisation in 1948.