The railway reached Fallowfield in 1891, with Fallowfield station opening on 1 October. The following May, the Great Central Railway extended the line to Sheffield. The driving force behind the Great Central was its general manager, Edward Watkin, whose ambition was to link Manchester and Sheffield with the expanding markets of Continental Europe. The station closed to passengers in July 1958, but the railway line remained in place for another 30 years, used by freight and express trains. The Great Central occupies the ground floor of a retail/residential block built over the railway lines into the former Great Central Station which stands facing this pub.