Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway Co (railway company: 1838-1865: Scotland)

The Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway Co obtained an Act of Parliament in 1838 and opened, in 1842 , a line between Glasgow Dundas Street Station (later re-named Queen Street) to Edinburgh Haymarket station, giving a swift direct passage between the two cities for the first time. The 46 mile line was completed at a cost of £1.2 million which compared favourably with the £1.4 million that the 30 mile line between Liverpool and Manchester had cost. Journeys between the cities took 2.5 hours and 4 trains ran each way daily. The line was extended east to meet the North British Railway in 1846. Branches were built to Campsie, South Queensferry, West Lothian; and Corstorphine, Edinburgh. A number of independent branches were opened to locations such as Helensburgh, Argyll and bute; Falkirk; and Bathgate, West Lothian.

In 1847 , the Wilsontown, Morningside & Coltness Railway agreed to promote a bill for amalgamation with the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway but the law prohibited the amalgamation of companies which had not expended half of their authorised capital, which was the case with the Wilsontown, Morningside & Coltness Railway. The purpose of the law was to stop larger lines from buying up smaller companies and thus nullifying the purpose of parliament in passing the original railway act for the smaller line. As a result, the lines did not merge until 1849 yet the Wilsontown, Morningside & Coltness Railway was managed independently until 1850 when the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway took it over.

The Edinburgh-Glasgow route produced fierce competition between the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway and the Caledonian Railway who competed for the inter-urban traffic. In 1854 fares were reduced to 6d, half the previous price, for a third class ticket between the two cities on both lines. The price war continued until July 1856 when the two companies signed a 'joint purse' agreement, with 30.64 per cent going to the Edinburgh & Glasgow and 69.36 per cent to the Caledonian.

The company was absorbed in 1865 by the North British Railway Co , a company which the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway had itself promoted. The line is still used as the main link between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

David Thomas, A regional history of the railways of Great Britain: Scotland vol 6 (Newton Abbot, 1971)

From the guide to the Records of the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway Co, Scotland, 1846-1865, (Glasgow University Archive Services)