The line left the main Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway at Cardonald and travelled in a north-westerly direction towards the River Clyde.

This arrangement ran from 1903 to 1907; after that passenger services were provided solely by the Glasgow and South Western Railway.

[2] Freight branches were also built to service traffic on the River Clyde at: This was due in part to the building of the King George V Dock at Shieldhall: the south side opened in 1931;[4][5] and the west side in World War II.

[4] In addition, the Deanside and Braehead Transit Depots opened in World War II to handle increased traffic through the docks.

The building of a coal-fired power station at Braehead after World War II also lead to considerable freight traffic on the King's Inch branch.