Scottish Central Railway

The Scottish Central Railway was formed in 1845 to link Perth and Stirling to Central Scotland, by building a railway line to join the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway near Castlecary.

The line opened in 1848 including a branch to South Alloa. The line immediately became part of the forming trunk railway network in Scotland, and amalgamation with other railways was considered, and in 1865 the Scottish Central Railway amalgamated with the Caledonian Railway.

The main line continues in use today as a major part of the Scottish Railway network carrying frequent passenger services and a significant freight traffic.

In earlier years Perth had been an important trading town, but in the 1830s its significance was being overshadowed by the cities of central Scotland. There were short local railways in the area around Dundee, but connection to the emerging network further south, and potentially in England, seemed to be essential, and proposals were put forward from 1841 to achieve that. The opening of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) in 1842 emphasised the need, and a railway connection from Perth to join the E&GR was an expedient way to satisfy it. In fact the early objective was to connect at the north end with the Dundee and Newtyle Railway, which had opened in 1831.

A meeting took place on 23 February 1844 to move the matter forward and a prospectus was issued in the following month. By April 1844 there were references to the Central Railway, and E&GR agreement to making a connection was reported; the Caledonian Railway too was becoming a reality, as the prime connection between central Scotland and the English network, and connection to the Caledonian would give that added access.

The Caledonian saw the synergy of a linkage with the Scottish Central and proposed an alliance, offering to pay certain Parliamentary and other expenses. The Caledonian policy was aggressive expansion (even though it had not yet obtained authorisation for its first line); the price was that the Scottish Central would permanently ally with the Caledonian and give the Caley primacy as far north as Stirling. The SCR declined the offer.

Surveys of the route were carried out, and a route selected following the present-day main line from Larbert to Perth, except for the location of the Perth station; and there was to be a branch line to Crieff. The Bill for the line went to the 1845 session of Parliament, and the Scottish Central Railway obtained its Act on 31 July 1845. The engineers for the line were Joseph Locke and John Edward Errington.

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