Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway

The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 4 July 1838. It was opened to passenger traffic on 21 February 1842, between its Glasgow Queen Street railway station (sometimes referred to at first as Dundas Street) and Haymarket railway station in Edinburgh. Construction cost £1,200,000 for 46 miles (74 km). The intermediate stations were at Corstorphine (later Saughton), Gogar, Ratho, Winchburgh, Linlithgow, Polmont, Falkirk, Castlecary, Croy, Kirkintilloch (later Lenzie) and Bishopbriggs. There was a ticket platform at Cowlairs. The line was extended eastwards from Haymarket to North Bridge in 1846, and a joint station for connection with the North British Railway was opened on what is now Edinburgh Waverley railway station in 1847.

Patronage on the line quickly reached double the railway's initial estimates, and by 1850 58 locomotives and 216 coaches were needed to handle the traffic. Goods traffic started in March 1842 and slowly increased, overtaking passenger revenue by 1855.

The line still runs today as the main line between Edinburgh and Glasgow. It was electrified and improved under the auspices of the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme. 8-car electric Class 385 trains started operating from Monday 29 July 2019 between Glasgow and Edinburgh via Falkirk High. The fastest trains are scheduled to take 42 minutes.