Local promoters set about creating a railway to rectify the problem: the destination for the minerals was to be Coatbridge and Maryhill.

The promoters also hoped that high class residences would be built along the line, creating residential travel to business in Glasgow.

[5] The independent company failed to generate the subscriptions necessary to construct the line, particularly in the face of the manifest reluctance of the NBR.

Baird Brothers already had an extensive mineral tramway network in the Kilsyth area serving their mines and smelters, and they were no strangers to the use of their power to influence events.

The transit for their mineral traffic to Glasgow would have been longer, but from the NBR's point of view the whole of the business would be lost to a competitor.

This was to run through Strathkelvin from Kilsyth to Birdston, joining the Campsie branch there and giving access to both Coatbridge and Glasgow over their own lines; and the proposal also included an eastward line to reach Falkirk and to join the Caledonian at Bonnybridge; clearly the latter was intended to exclude the Caledonian Railway from further incursion.

Having secured authority for this entirely tactical railway, the NBR now came to terms with Baird Brothers and the Kelvin Valley promoters, and it was agreed to build the Kelvin Valley line generally as originally planned, only deviating near Kilsyth to adopt the Kilsyth Railway alignment, as this suited Baird Brothers better.

The NBR subscribed £30,000 to the Kelvin Valley and agreed to work the line for 50% of gross receipts, provisionally guaranteeing 5.25% on capital.

However agitation from the Kelvin Valley company – of course principally the Baird Brothers – motivated it to construct that section; it was open for goods traffic on 4 June 1879.

This hugely relieved the pressure on the cramped and congested Queen Street terminus, and the NBR was now able to establish a passenger service pattern over the Maryhill line.

From 1886, trains generally started at Bridgeton Cross, running through Queen Street Low Level and Maryhill, to Torrance and Kilsyth.

By this time motor buses and improved roads were abstracting much passenger and goods traffic from the railway.

[10] In 1960 an enthusiasts' railtour ran on the line, hauled by the preserved locomotive Glen Douglas, which is now housed in the Riverside Museum in Glasgow.