Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway

It was formed by extending the earlier independent Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilston Direct Railway, which is also described here; that line was taken over by the joint company.

The Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilston Direct Railway (GB&NDR) was authorised on 4 August 1845 to build its line of nine miles (15 km) with a capital of £150,000.

[1][page needed] The Glasgow terminal was somewhat remote from the city—Glasgow Bridge carried a toll at this time—but a small railway company could ill afford a central terminus.

By the 1840s it was evident that they had a more strategic role, and in 1846 a Royal Commission deliberated on the desirable location of passenger and goods terminals to serve the city of Glasgow and the quays on the Clyde.

In fact the Admiralty demanded a swing bridge for the Clyde crossing, and combined with other opposition, the scheme faced too much obstruction, and was reduced to the construction of a terminal station called South Side, in the angle of Pollokshaws Road and Cathcart Street.

[note 1] In 1846 the Ardrossan Company had obtained Parliamentary authority to build a line from Crofthead, intended terminus of the GB&NDR, and Kilwinning and Kilmarnock.

[2][page needed] The GB&NDR opened its line as far a Barrhead terminus on 27 September 1848; the station was in the Grahamston district below the town, and on the north-west side of the Water of Levern.

of 1 August 1849, by which time the CR had succeeded in reducing its financial commitment to the original GB&NDR shareholders; even so the outlay was £16,500 on a 999-year lease; "receipts were barely enough to cover the working costs".

[2][page needed] On 1 June 1849 the Clydesdale Junction Railway CJR was completed, terminating at South Side station.

The lines would be closely parallel, and at this time the respective shareholders strenuously made it clear that the duplicate expenditure was wasteful.

In fact the proposals were held in suspense for some time, until in the 1869 session a bill was put forward merging the schemes entirely: the rival companies agreed to build the line jointly from Crofthead to Kilmarnock.

The G&SWR had already constructed a short length northwards from Kilmarnock, and now extended that to make an end on junction with the GB&NDR line at Neilston.

However the Glasgow terminal remained the awkwardly located South Side station: the connection towards St Enoch was not ready.

The track between Barrhead and Kilmarnock was singled as part of the rationalisation of the route in the mid 1970s following the electrification of the West Coast Main Line, with a passing loop at Lugton.

However, in 2009 the section between Stewarton and Lugton was redoubled, forming a dynamic loop, as part of capacity improvements between Glasgow and Kilmarnock.