Wolverton Works was established in 1838 by the London and Birmingham Railway. The London and Birmingham Railway amalgamated with the Grand Junction Railway in 1846 to become the London North Western Railway (LNWR). Initially the works built and repaired locomotives. In 1877 locomotive work ceased and was transferred to Crewe Works. Wolverton Works became the LNWR Carriage Works. By 1907 it was the largest carriage building and repair works in Britain employing some 4500 staff at any one time in the period 1900 – 1924. After Grouping in 1923 Wolverton Works became the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company’s Carriage and Wagon Works, building and maintaining both carriages and wagons. During World War Two Wolverton Works repaired Whitley bombers, produced sections of Horsa gliders, and converted nearly 700 commercial motor vans into armoured vehicles. Following nationalisation Wolverton Works operated as a major works until 1962. It then became a carriage repair works only on part of the original site. From 1970 onwards the Wolverton Works was operated by British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL). Upon the re-organisation of BREL in 1986 Wolverton Works passed to British Rail Maintenance Ltd. Subsequently, the site was owned by Alstom, and then by Railcare Ltd. In 2013 the Knorr-Bremse group of companies acquired the site from Railcare Ltd (in administration). As at February 2014 Knorr-Bremse Railservices (UK) Ltd occupies it.

The London & North Western Railway Co (LNWR) was established in 1846 following the amalgamation of the London & Birmingham, Manchester & Birmingham and Grand Junction Railways. The new company was the largest joint stock company in Britain, and initially had a network of approximately 350 miles (560 km) connecting London with Birmingham, Crewe, Chester, Liverpool and Manchester. The LNWR continued to expand and by 1868 the company had added links to Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds, Swansea and Cardiff. However, attempts to amalgamate with Midland Railway ended in failure. By 1871 the London & North Western Railway employed 15,000 people. As part of the 1923 Grouping the LNWR became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) Railway.

The construction of a rail link between London and Birmingham was first mooted in 1823 by John Rennie, who surveyed the route via Oxford and Banbury. Over the next two decades two rival schemes emerged to build the railway, over the two factions joined together and called on George Stephenson to adjudicate over the best route. Stephenson and his son Robert were prevailed on to act as engineers for the venture. Facing stiff opposition from landowners the Bill was presented to Parliament in 1832, it failed on its first attempt to pass but was successful the following year after an appropriate amount of compensation was offered to landowners affected by the line's construction. The London & Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was 112 miles long and was reckoned to be some of the largest civil engineering works at the time. In addition to the scale of the project, the civil engineers' also encountered several technical challenges in the course of its construction, notably at Kilsby Tunnel, the Tring cutting and Wolverton embankment amongst others. Multiple connecting railways were proposed during the L&BR's construction as a nascent national rail network began to be posited and the L&BR emerged as a trunk line. The line opened in sections from London with the first section from London to Tring opening on 1 January 1838, with the final section from Rugby to Denbigh Hall opening on 17 September 1838, previously a rail replacement coach was used on this section. The London terminus was located at Euston, which included the imposing Doric Arch and the world's first railway hotel. Until 1844, the section from Euston to Camden was hauled by stationary engine due to the gradient. The Birmingham terminus was located at Curzon Street and the Principal Building was completed in complementary neo-classical style. The railway proved to be financially successful and came to absorb other lines. In 1846 the L&BR merged with Manchester and Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway to form the London and North Western Railway, connecting London with Birmingham, Crewe, Chester, Liverpool and Manchester.