Glasgow, Airdrie & Monklands Railway (railway company: 1846: Scotland)

Between 1836 and 1846 the number of blast furnaces in and around Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, increased from 10 to 60, and the existing railways proved inadequate. In 1846, several Monkland ironmasters, including J B Neilson, John Wilson of Dundyvan, William Dixon and Colin Dunlop, promoted a new direct railway into Glasgow. It was to be 11 miles long and to run via Shettleston to a terminus in the heart of Glasgow. The majority of the shareholders were from the Monklands area around Coatbridge and Airdrie in North Lanarkshire.

The Glasgow, Airdrie & Monklands Railway Act of 1846 was unusual among railway acts passed at this time as it depended on getting access to a central goods station in Glasgow yet the tightly packed streets of the city centre offered little scope to the builders.

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