| Edinburgh
and Glasgow Railway
This line is open. The line runs from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street. ScotRail runs a shuttle between the cities every 15 minutes. A new station at Edinburgh Park opened in 2003. |
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 Edinburgh Waverley Station, west end. |
 Queen Street, with Glasgow's City Chambers and the College of Building and Printing in the background. |
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and Edinburgh is the rapidly expanding capital of Scotland. Between the two cities are other towns such as Falkirk and Linlithgow.
The line was originally opened from Glasgow Dundas Street (later re-named Queen Street) to Edinburgh Haymarket. It was extended east to meet the North British Railway. Branches were built to Campsie, South Queensferry and Corstorphine. A number of independent branches were opened to locations such as Helensburgh, Falkirk and Bathgate. The company was absorbed by the North British Railway, a company which the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway had itself promoted.
The line runs from Edinburgh to Glasgow to the north of the Monklands District and M8 motorway, approaching Glasgow from the North East and Edinburgh from the West.
The line connects (some of these lines are closed) with the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway, City of Glasgow Union Railway and the Sighthill Branch (Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway) at Eastfield, Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway and the Campsie Branch (Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway) at Lenzie, Scottish Central Railway at Greenhill, the Stirlingshire Midland Junction Railway at Polmont, the Slamannan Railway at Manuel, the South Queensferry Branch at Ratho, the Forth Bridge Connecting Lines at Winchburgh and Saughton, and the North British Railway, Corstorphine Branch (Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway) and Caledonian Railway in Edinburgh.
Today ScotRail runs express trains from Edinburgh's main station, Waverley, west to Glasgow. This was not the original eastern terminus of the line, this was further west at Haymarket. Waverley station is a busy one, particularly its western end from which trains run to Glasgow, Fife, Aberdeen, Inverness and Bathgate and points in between. There is a good provision of bay platforms at the western end, a main eastbound and westbound platform and two faces of the 'suburban' island platform (the trains round the south suburban circle ran from these platforms). Despite this number of platforms, and with the increasing frequency of trains and new services crossing the city, the station is at capacity and there are plans to increase the number of through platforms.
This was the original Eastern terminus of the line for Edinburgh. The station is still open and has four platforms. The tracks were continued east to join the North British Railway at Waverley station (the main station in Edinburgh today - formerly called North Bridge station).
The train-shed from here was removed to Bo'ness (new) when that station was opened on the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway (formerly the Slamannan Railway).
This junction was formerly known as Duff Street Junction. The Edinburgh Station and Branches (Caledonian Railway) line starts here giving access to the main line of the Caledonian Railway since the closure of the Princes Street terminus.
The junction faces East towards central Edinburgh.
This depot is located to the North of the running lines at Haymarket. The depot is still in operation to service Diesel locomotvies and Diesel Multiple Units. To the east of the Depot the lines were once crossed on a bridge by the lines of the Caledonian Railway's Granton branch. The photograph is care of ScotRail.
This junction faces east towards Haymarket station and is where one of two spurs from the Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway joins the main line from the south.
A number of lines joined the railway here. The line through to Dalry Road and Princes Street on the Caledonian Railway started from here. The junction faced west.
Just to the west of the first junction was a second one, also facing west towards Falkirk. This is where one of two spurs from the Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway joins the main line from the south.
At the junction the Corstorphine Branch joined the line at an east facing junction.
At this point the track of the Forth Bridge Connecting Lines separate to the north. The junction faces east towards Edinburgh.
This station is closed. This station served both the Forth Bridge Connecting Lines and the main line to Glasgow.
A new station to serve the 'Edinburgh Park' development has been opened here.
This station is closed.
This junction was located immediately to the east of Ratho station. It was an east facing junction and the South Queensferry Branch lines ran north from here to Kirkliston and South Queensferry. This branch pre-dates the Forth Bridge Railway and its lines to South Queensferry. The branch and junction are closed.
This station is closed. Its platforms were on the Glasgow to Edinburgh main line. To the north was a further 'Ratho' station on the South Queensferry Branch.
This is the junction for the Edinburgh and Bathgate Railway. The junction faces east towards Edinburgh. To the west of the junction on the main line is a lengthy viaduct. The junction was formerly known as Bathgate Junction.
This is a lengthy and impressive viaduct the line uses to cross the River Almond and its floodplain.
This former junction faced north. Here the line from the Broxburn Oil Works joined the main line. Just to the north were sidings for the Niddry Castle Refinery. This refinery was served by a narrow gauge electrified railway which connected it to mines at Duddingston..
This station is closed. Immediately to the south is Winchburgh Tunnel.
At this point the track of the Forth Bridge Connecting Lines separate to the north. The junction faces west towards Falkirk. As a result of a cost cutting exercise, the line branches of as a single track which becomes double after a few yards.
This station is closed.
This two platform station is open.
This station is closed. Under this station in a cutting was Manuel Low Level on the Slamannan Railway's extension line to Bo'ness.
Here a line from the south from the Slamannan Railway railway joined at an east facing junction. To the north a tightly curving line left from a west facing junction which joined the Slamannan Railway's line to Bo'ness. This curve was used by passenger trains running from Polmont to Bo'ness. After the re-opening of the Manuel to Bo'ness section of the line as the preserved railway the "Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway" the junction here was re-instated such that trains from the branch follow the former tight curve to a reversing spur where they reverse onto the main line at a west facing junction. There was a sizeable brickworks by the junctions here.
This station is open. There was a bay platform here to the north of the station and east of the roadbridge for trains to Bo'ness. It is today a two platform station.
At this east facing junction the Stirlingshire Midland Junction Railway line join the main line. This line today froms a loop from here to Greenhill which has Falkirk Grahamston station on it and provides access to the lines north through Stirling.
This station is open. It has two platforms and a sizeable car-park.
At Greenhill Upper Junction the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway is met by the former Scottish Central Railway the route of which is still open and runs from here to Perth. There was a station here. Until recently the signalbox shown in the photographs here was open, however it has been replaced by one built in the former switchroom at the site during the Cowlairs re-signalling scheme.
This station is closed.
This station is closed.
This two platform station is open and serves the northern part of Cumbernauld.
Here there is a passing loop on either side of the line.
> Alex Graham's memories of Gartshore.
This junction is dismantled. Formerly the a connection from the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway approached here from the south to an east facing junction. There was a coal mine to the north of the junction whose bing remains intact.
> Alex Graham's memories of Waterside.
This was a siding for the Woodilee.
> Alex Graham's memories of the Woodilee siding.
This junction is dismantled. Formerly the a connection from the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway approached here from the south to a west facing junction. There were a number of stations built on the main line here over the years for interchange between the two lines. The connection to the Monkland line was known as "the bull's horn".
> Alex Graham's memories of Garngaber junction.
This station is open. The Campsie Branch (Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway) branched off to the north (junction facing west). The station was formerly known as "Campsie Junction". The railway company issued "builder tickets" which encouraged house owners to build a house here in exchange for competative prices for moving materials and cheaper travel for household members.
> Alex Graham's memories of Lenzie station.
This was a very early hump-shunted yard. The hump was located to the west of yard and located to the north of the main line. Most of the yard (lifted in the early 1980s) has now gone and the site now provides passing loops on either side of the main line with a few maintenance sidings to the south side.
A short mineral branch once started from the location and ran south from of the yard. To the west end of the yard and to the north of the main line was an oil depot - the stump of the Wilderness plantation branch which ran northwards. The Oil depot closed in the late 1980s.
> Alex Graham's memories of Cadder Yard.
This branch is closed. The branch served a few coalmines.
This two platform station is open. The station is located on an embankment. A number of freight tramways ran between Bishopbriggs, coalmines and the Forth and Clyde Canal.
Here the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway joins the main line, the junction faces north. The line was crossed by the Hamiltonhill Branch of the Caledonian Railway here, which ran at right angles to the main line. The plate girder bridge is now removed.
This depot is now closed. In the 1980s this depot had the largest allocation of diesel locomotives of any in Scotland. It was located on the east side of the main line, adjacent to the Cowlairs North and South junctions. The photograph looks north towards the site of the former depot. Today First Engineering have a depot here, seen on the right.
A new ScotRail train maintenance depot has opened on the site of the former steam and diesel shed see Eastfield re-opening.
The steam depot which one occupied this site was famous for its works clock-tower.
At this point the line is joined by the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway (junction faces south), City of Glasgow Union Railway (junction faces north) and the Sighthill Branch (Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway) (junction faces North and is immediately next to the Glasgow Union Line (but slightly further South) - both running South East as a quadruple track branch (Sighthill Branch to the West, Union line to the East). Within this junction was a carriage cleaning depot and the Turkey yard (named after the Turkey Red Dye company whose wagons chiefly occupied these sidings). The Turkey Red Dye Company owned the Dalmonach (in the vale of Leven) and Ferryfield works.
A new signalbox has been commisioned near here which controls all the lines between Glasgow Queen Street and Greenhill junctions by both the Lenzie and Cumbernauld routes.
This new line leaves the Edinburgh line at a junction facing Glasgow Queen Street. The chord joins the City of Glasgow Union Railway at a junction facing South, towards Springburn. The chord was built to give access to the line to Cumbernauld from Queen Street. The chord leaves the main line to the East of the point where the Cowlairs Works were located on the West of the main line and by the location of the closed Cowlairs station.
Cowlairs was a very large locomotive works located in the north of Glasgow. It was to the west side of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. The works built locomotives, carriages and any other equipment that the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (and later the North British Railway) required in its system.
From the 1930s on it was mostly used to overhaul engines. The works closed completely in the 1960s. The site is now an industrial estate.
The works had about 60 parallel track running next to the main line leading into various sheds. The works were approached by tracks to the north.
This station is closed. The station was an island platform on the curve at the north end of the Cowlairs Incline.
This incline was operated initially by means of a rope on a loop, hauled by a steam-engine located at Cowlairs. This method was later replaced by banking engines. Today, modern trains are able to operate on the incline without assistance.
This branch is closed. A shortened version (a coal depot) existed until the 1980s.The branch was approached by a junction facing north and the branch was located to the west of the main line. A spur from the Caledonian Railway crossed the main line to the south of the junction point which connected into this system.
Glasgow Queen Street (High Level)
This station is the main Northbound destinations terminus in Glasgow. Trains for Aberdeen, Cumbernauld, Dunblane, Dundee, Edinburgh Waverley, Falkirk Grahamston, Fort William, Inverness, Mallaig, Maryhill, Oban, Perth and Stirling depart from here.
Under the station is Glasgow Queen Street (Low Level). For journeys south one has to walk or catch a bus to Glasgow Central Station (High Level). Originally the station was called Dundas Street.
