Glasgow, Bothwell, Hamilton and Coatbridge Railway
| Locale | Scotland |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1877–1879 |
| Successor | North British Railway |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
The Glasgow, Bothwell, Hamilton and Coatbridge Railway was a railway company in Scotland, built to serve coal and ironstone pits in the Hamilton and Bothwell areas, and convey the mineral to Glasgow, and to ironworks in the Coatbridge area. It was allied to the North British Railway, and it opened in 1877. Passenger services followed.
As a late competitor to the dominant Caledonian Railway, it was always secondary in the area, and the passenger service ceased by 1955. The mineral traffic declined sharply and the last goods train ran in 1961.
The Monklands district near Airdrie was the source of plentiful coal, which was in demand for residential and industrial purposes in Glasgow and elsewhere, and in 1826 the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway was opened to convey the mineral to the Forth and Clyde Canal for onward transport. Discovery of the excellent blackband ironstone in the area, and the development of the hot blast system of smelting iron ore, led to a massive growth of iron industries and mineral extraction in the Coatbridge and Airdrie region. The Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway found itself perfectly located to serve the new industries.
In 1831 the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway opened, running directly to Glasgow, and as the iron industries grew, other "coal railways" opened. Their technology was primitive and horse traction was dominant in the early years. In 1845 the Caledonian Railway obtained an authorising Act of Parliament to build a main line from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Carlisle. To gain access to Glasgow the Caledonian arranged to take over the Garnkirk and Glasgow line and an associated railway, the Wishaw and Coltness Railway, and the main line was planned to follow the route of those railways. The Caledonian Railway opened in 1848 and gained control of the railways connecting the iron industry to Glasgow; at the time onward conveyance by sea from quays in Glasgow was significant, and the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway too retained its share of the traffic, although its routes were not well suited for connecting to Glasgow and the west coast.
The boom in coal and iron in the Monklands was massive, but as years passed, the best seams began to be worked out, and discoveries were made further south; the general area around Hamilton was found to be especially fruitful, and once again the Caledonian Railway found itself well placed to handle the traffic: it already had a line to Hamilton, and branches from that line and from Motherwell gave access to many pits; the smelting and other finishing activities still took place in the Monklands, so that much mineral traffic went to that area from the pits around Hamilton.
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