Monkland Railways

Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway

In 1826 the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway (M&KR) opened, with the primary purpose of carrying coal from the Monklands collieries, south of Airdrie to Kirkintilloch, from where it could continue to market in Glasgow and Edinburgh over the Forth and Clyde Canal. As a pioneering railway, it adopted a track gauge of 4 ft 6 in, and at first operated as a toll line, allowing independent hauliers to move wagons, using horse traction. It later acquired steam locomotives and ran trains itself. At first it was successful, and when the iron smelting industry became a huge success within the railway's area, it became even more successful.

Ballochney Railway

As coal extraction developed, pits were opened further north and east than the M&KR reached, and the Ballochney Railway was constructed to serve some of them, running from Kipps, near Coatbridge, to pits around Arbuckle and Clarkston, and a quarry. It opened in 1828. The area it reached was on high ground, and two rope-worked inclines were necessary to gain altitude.

Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway

The Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway was opened in 1831 connecting the Monklands directly to Glasgow without the need to transshipment to a canal.

Wishaw and Coltness Railway

The Wishaw and Coltness Railway opened from 1833, connecting iron pits and works further east to Whifflet (then spelt Whifflat) for access to the Coatbridge ironworks.

Slamannan Railway

There was a large area of undeveloped moorland between Airdrie and the banks of the Forth, and a railway was promoted to develop the region. There were optimistic ideas of serving new collieries in the area, as well as the advantage of connecting Monklands to Edinburgh more directly. The Slamannan Railway opened in 1840 between Arbuckle and Causewayend, a wharf on the Union Canal; it had a rope worked incline down to the wharf. Onward transport to Edinburgh involved transshipment to canal barges.

The largest section of the Monkland Railways network now in operation is the line between Coatbridge and Bathgate; it carries (2015) a well-patronised fifteen-minute interval passenger service between Helensburgh and Milngavie, and Edinburgh.

The north-south line between Gartsherrie and Whifflet carries freight, and the Gartsherrie to Garnqueen section carries a passenger service to Cumbernauld, the remnant of the earlier anomaly where Caledonian express trains used this North British Railway section.

The remainder of the network is closed. The Ballochney inclines in the Airdrie area are still easy to identify, and the moorland area of the Slamannan line is relatively undeveloped, except nearer Airdrie where extensive open-cast mining has obliterated any remaining trace of the railway.

In 1846 it became clear that the E&GR directors favoured a purchase of the coal railways, giving it immediate access to the collieries and ironworks, and gaining possession of the territory against newly promoted lines. Such a sale appeared at first to please everyone, but Lancashire shareholders in the E&GR felt that the terms of such a takeover were too favourable to the small Scottish lines, and a major row broke out in the E&GR: the scheme was dropped. In this period, numerous other railways were promoted and alliances seemed to be formed and abandoned quickly, but the only large newcomers were the E&GR and the Caledonian Railway.

Having been rebuffed by the E&GR, the Monkland companies decided upon a formal merger, and obtained the necessary sanction by an act of Parliament, the Monkland Railways Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. cxxxiv) on 14 August 1848. The new Monkland Railways Company was formed with a nominal share capital of £329,880, the sum of the capital of the three former companies; the shares were converted as follows:

Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway £25 shares converted to £22 16s 0d in Monkland Railways shares

Ballochney Railways Railway £25 shares converted to £40 10s 10d in Monkland Railways shares