This main line railway is open. The line runs from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street High Level and carries both express services between those locations and local trains.
The line was built as an intercity route between Edinburgh and Glasgow to carry passengers and goods.
When first opened the fastest trains, carrying mail, took an hour and a half. Those stopping at the ten stations, and two termini, took two hours.
ScotRail runs a regular passenger service runs between Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street High Level.
The line runs west from Edinburgh to Linlithgow, Falkirk, Lenzie and Glasgow. The route was chosen to be as level as possible and skirts round the north of the high ground south of Falkirk and the Monklands.
These locations are along the line.
This is a terminus with seven platforms to the north of George Square in Glasgow. The railway was electrified in 2016.
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Cowlairs Tunnel (also known as Queen Street High Level Tunnel) runs north from Glasgow Queen Street High Level half way up the Cowlairs Incline to Pinkston. It is a double track tunnel 999 yds long.
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The Cowlairs Incline is a double track mile and a quarter long uphill gradient running north from Glasgow Queen Street High Level to the former station at Cowlairs. The southern half of the route is within the Cowlairs Tunnel.
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This junction was formed in 1992 with the opening of the south to east curve of the Cowlairs Chord (British Railways). The chord provides direct access to Cumbernauld for trains from Glasgow Queen Street High Level, formerly commencing from Springburn with a connecting Milngavie-Queen Street Low Level-Springburn shuttle. The original Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway is ...
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More detailsThis was a station located at the top of the Cowlairs Incline. The station had an island platform. Nearby was the steam engine which hauled the cable bringing trains up the incline from Glasgow Queen Street High Level. A footbridge from the south end of the platform connected to the Cowlairs Works. The platform was originally very narrow and was widened around 1908 (after removal of ...
More detailsThese carriage sidings were on the east side of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway south of Cowlairs West Junction. The Turkey Yard was immediately to the east and, beyond that, the Sighthill Branch (Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway) and the City of Glasgow Union Railway.
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This was the railway works of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, located on the west side of the railway at the north end of the Cowlairs Incline. Cowlairs station was on the east side of the works, connected to it via a footbridge.
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This is a four way junction. The 1842 Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway is met by the 1855 Sighthill Branch (Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway) and the 1858 Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway. The City of Glasgow Union Railway^s north end reached here in 1875. In addition the Cowlairs Works was to the south, on the west side.
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An island platform on the west side of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and within the triangle of lines formed by Cowlairs West Junction (to the west), Cowlairs West Junction (to the south) and Cowlairs East junction (to the north). The platform was served by two loops on the west side of the main line directly west of Eastfield Shed.
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Eastfield Shed did not date from the opening of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. It replaced Cowlairs Shed, which closed, located north of the Cowlairs Works.
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This junction is located at the north of a triangular junction. A curve was put in during 1878 between the 1842 Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and 1858 Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway. Its opening allowed goods and mineral trains to run from the north bank of the River Clyde towards Stirling, Falkirk and Edinburgh without requiring a reversal.
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This is a two platform station on the Edinburgh and Glasgow main line and is served by local trains. The main building is on the Glasgow bound platform. The station crosses over Crowhill Drive on a bridge. It is located at Bishopbriggs Cross.
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This signal box was at the west (Glasgow) end of Cadder Yard. The box was on the south side of the main running lines, the westbound (down) yard departure/headshunt lines being to the south of the box.
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This was a large marshalling yard on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway built by the North British Railway. It was hump shunted. The northern part of the yard was looped and the southern part was originally a set of dead end sidings shunted from the west but later looped.
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This is a two platform station. There is a car park on both sides of the station and the main station building is on the Glasgow, westbound, platform.
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This junction was east of Lenzie station and was the western end of a west to south curve which connected the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway to the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway. The curved line - known as the Bull Curve and requiring a banker going downhill (!) for heavy trains - was single track and connected with the double track mainlined and Garngaber Yard on the south ...
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More detailsThis is a double track five arch masonry viaduct which carries the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway over the Bothlin Burn and which also crossed the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway. The embankment to the east also crossed a feeder for the Forth and Clyde Canal. The viaduct is around 300 ft long.
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More detailsThis junction opened in 1895 with a North British Railway built connection from Waterside (on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway) south to [[Bridgend Junction (on the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway. It allowed westbound trains on E&G to reach the blast furnaces around Coatbridge without having to run round and reverse at Garngaber High Junction.
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More detailsThis set of sidings were for Gartshore Coal Pits Nos 9 and 11. These were approached from the west and located on the south side of the line. The signal box was on the north side of the line just west of the point of connection of the sidings.
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More detailsThere are loops on either side of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway at Gartshore, historically the interchange point with the Bairds of Gartshore's Railway which ran north serving many coal pits. The Gartshore Exchange Sidings were just to the north.
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This is a two platform station originally serving a large area but with low population.
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More detailsThis was a two platform station with the main station building on the westbound platform. There were no goods facilities at first, but a small yard was added to the south of the line, west of the station and reached from the west.
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More detailsThis signal box opened east of Dullator station to serve Dullator Colliery (on the north side of the line) and Dullator Sand Quarry (south side). The colliery originally opened in 1913 but failed by 1914 before being resunk in 1934.
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This mine was located east of Dullator on the north side of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway.
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This was a two platform station at the west end of the Castlecary Viaduct. To the north of the station was the Castlecary Fireclay and Lime Works which was rail served from the east (and had a tramway to the Forth and Clyde Canal).
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This viaduct enjoys an impressive setting and will be better known to road users than rail users as it crosses the M80. The viaduct is double track, 582 ft long overall, 95 ft high and has eight arches.
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This Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway curve never opened but the earthworks still partly remain.
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At this junction trains from Glasgow to Edinburgh divide from those from Glasgow to Stirling and Perth. It is the junction between the former Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway of 1842 and the Scottish Central Railway of 1848. Both lines are double track.
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This was a relatively short lived station on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway which was an exchange point between that line and the Scottish Central Railway also serving the local, somewhat underpopulated, area. It must have been useful for railway employees however.
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This was a two platform station almost surrounded by brick works. The station was partly built on a bridge over a road, the station buildings being to the east of this and platforms extending over to the west. There was a goods yard to the south of the line, west of the station and a goods line bypassed the station to the south.
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This was the west end of a loop which left the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway to serve works at Rough Castle and Port Downie on the Forth and Clyde Canal before rejoining the line at Falkirk High goods.
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Lime Road Goods Station, a yard near Roughcastle, was east of Roughcastle Junction. It was a siding with a loop on the north side of the line, accessed from east. There was a signal box opposite to the south. The west end was later connected to create a loop off the eastbound line.
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More detailsThis is a two platform station in the south of Falkirk. There is a car park to the north, the former goods yard, and a new station building on the eastbound platform, replacing two typical North British Railway buildings which faced each other on each platform.
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This is a double track tunnel of 845 yds length. The tunnel is just to the east of Falkirk High station. The line passes under the west end of the Callendar House grounds here.
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This box controlled access to the Shieldhill and Redding Collieries Railway, a private mineral line.
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This shed was west of Polmont station and Polmont Junction to the south side of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. The shed was approached from both east and west. The site was bounded to the south by the Union Canal.
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This panel box is on the north side of Polmont Junction. It replaced Polmont Junction and Bo^ness Junction [1st] signal boxes in 1979.
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This junction is between the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway of 1842 and the Stirlingshire Midland Junction Railway of 1850.
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This is a two platform station on the Edinburgh and Glasgow main line. There is a station building on the eastbound platform.
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This signal box was east of Polmont station on the north side of the line. East of the station a long siding on the south side of the line was converted into a loop and a bay platform single track was added to the east end of the eastbound platform.
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This junction gave the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway access to the Bo'ness branch (Slamannan and Borrowstounness Railway). Approach was from the west. Both lines were doubled with the branch dropping to single track after Bo'ness Low Junction. This layout dated from 1893 when a signal box (^Manuel High Level^) opened here. The original 1851 connection was not direct but by ...
More detailsThis is the junction for the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway [Preserved] located at the west end of the former Manuel High Level station. Access to the line is by reversal from the eastbound line of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway to a headshunt on the north side of the line.
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This was largely an interchange station between the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and the routes to Bo'ness and Slamannan. There were three high level platforms, two on the main line and a bay at the west end of the westbound platform for trains to Blackston Junction and beyond. Manuel Low Level was below at the east end of the high level station. When opened there was very ...
More detailsThis is a double track 23 arch masonry viaduct, 442 yards long and 70 ft high, west of Linlithgow station.
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This was a goods yard in the west of Linlithgow, west of Linlithgow station itself. The sidings were on a loop on the north side of the line. To the west is the Avon Viaduct.
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This is a two platform station. An original station building stands on the eastbound platform, a remarkable survivor. The building is two storeys, one seen from the platform. At its east end is a covered area. The west end of the eastbound platform is slightly cantilevered out over St Michael^s Wynd.
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This was a two platform station just to the north of the rail served Philpstoun Oil Works with which it was associated. The works had its own railway network spreading out to various oil shale mines.
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This junction opened in 1890 between the 1842 Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and the approach to the then new Forth Bridge. It is the western end of a line which runs to Dalmeny. This was a double track junction.
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This was a two platform station located partly in the cutting just to the north of Winchburgh Tunnel.
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This is a double track tunnel with the former Winchburgh station at the north end and the former Broxburn West Signal Box for the Niddry Castle Oilworks to the south. At both ends it approaches in long cuttings.
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This box controlled access to the Niddry Oilworks sidings from the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. The sidings were on the east side of the line, approached from the south.
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This was a short lived station. It opened not long after the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway but was too distant from Broxburn itself and closed shortly afterwards.
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This junction on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was for the Broxburn Oil Works branch, the Broxburn Railway. The branch also served the Albyn Oil Works. The branch was approached from the north.
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This is a seven arch viaduct which crosses the A89. The viaduct is 139 yds long overall and 55 ft high. To the east is the much longer Almond Valley Viaduct.
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This is a double track masonry 36 arch viaduct. The viaduct is 681 yds long overall and 60 ft high. The east end of the viaduct crosses the River Almond, the rest crossing the low lying land to the west. Alternative names for this viaduct are Almond Viaduct, Ratho Viaduct and Newbridge Viaduct.
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Bathgate Junction was created with the opening of the Edinburgh and Bathgate Railway line west to Bathgate [1st] in 1849. It met the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway of 1842.
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This former station gave rise to the curiosity that is Ratho Station, a small village on the edge of Edinburgh with no station. (Akin to Balfron Station or even Stromeferry (no ferry)). Ratho Station, the village, developed to the north of the station.
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This junction was east of Ratho station (on the 1842 Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway) and Ratho (Low Level) (on the 1866 South Queensferry Branch (North British Railway)), formed with the branch opened.
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The passenger and goods stations at Gogar were at different locations. Gogar is a rural area right on the western edge of Edinburgh.
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This is a two platform modern glass and steel station built in Edinburgh Park, a business park to the south of the Gyle Centre and to the west of Edinburgh.
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More detailsThis was a four platform station on raised embankments to the east side of Saughton Road in western Edinburgh.
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This junction is west of Edinburgh. This is where the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway of 1842 is met by the Forth Bridge Connecting Lines (North British Railway) of 1890. The location is just east of the former Saughton station. Both lines are double track and from the east of the junction to Edinburgh the line is quadrupled.
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This signal box was around a quarter of a mile to the east of the original connection between the 1890 Forth Bridge Connecting Lines (North British Railway) and the 1842 Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway at Corstorphine Junction. The signal box was on the south side of the line. The box opened in 1894, a year in advance of the quadrupling of the line between Corstorphine Junction and ...
More detailsThis junction opened in 1876 when the Wester Dalry Branch and Dalry Road Lines (Caledonian Railway) opened, allowing Caledonian Railway trains from Edinburgh Princes Street to join the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway westbound and then, via the Stirlingshire Midland Junction Railway, join the Scottish Central Railway at Larbert Junction and run north to Stirling, ...
More detailsThis is a train maintenance depot in the west of Edinburgh, just west of Haymarket station and accessed from the east.
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This junction is west of Haymarket station and Haymarket East Junction. The junction opened with the Edinburgh, Suburban and Southside Junction Railway junction in 1884.
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This coal yard was immediately east of where the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was crossed by the Granton Branch (Caledonian Railway).
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This goods yard was built to the north of Haymarket station. Approach was from Haymarket Central Junction and Haymarket Coal Yard was just to the west, also on the north side of the line.
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This junction is directly west of Haymarket station. It opened in 1964, finally completing the line from Slateford Junction [1st] laid down in 1859. The connection was known as the Duff Street Spur. This joined together the former Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and the Edinburgh Station and Branches (Caledonian Railway).
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This is a five platform station in the west of Edinburgh where the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and Caledonian Railway divide. An 1842 Georgian building, by John Miller, dating from the opening as a terminus now fronts a station which is a train, tram and bus interchange.
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The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was extended east from Haymarket through Haymarket Tunnels to what is now Edinburgh Waverley station through Princes Street Gardens and the Mound Tunnels under The Mound in 1846.
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This is the main station in Edinburgh and acts as both a terminus and through station. The larger part of the station is covered by a large glazed roof by Blyth and Cunningham and is an island platform with bays at either end. There is a smaller island platform outwith the main roof on the south side.
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