page_title: Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway
section_title: Construction and opening
hierarchical_section_title: Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway / History / Construction and opening
caption_attribution_description: English: Diagram of railway lines in Ardrossan, Ayrshire, Scotland in 1890
context_page_description: The Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway was an independent railway company built to provide the Caledonian Railway with a shorter route for mineral traffic from the coalfields of Lanarkshire to Ardrossan Harbour, in Scotland.
  It opened in stages from 1888, being extended to Neilston and Newton, giving the Caledonian Railway a fully independent route by 1904. At the Ayrshire end the line duplicated the existing Glasgow and South Western Railway route at a time when bulk coal exports could be handled more economically in Clydebank, so that the primary purpose of the line was short-lived. The Caledonian Railway hoped to develop suburban traffic in south Glasgow where the new line passed through those districts, but street tramcars limited the success of this.
  The duplicate routes to Ardrossan were wasteful and, as traffic declined, closures took place from 1930. The eastern section from Neilston and Newton to the Cathcart circle lines developed as outer suburban railways, and were electrified in the 1960s. Those branches, as they became, continue in intensive passenger use at the present day, but are the only remaining sections of the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire line remaining in operation.
context_section_description: Robert McAlpine and Company was chosen as contractor for the construction of the line.
  The line from Barrmill crossed difficult terrain and had steep gradients, but from Kilwinning to Ardrossan the G&SWR was already occupying the best route, and the new line had to be content with an alignment behind all the towns, discouraging passenger use.
  The first section of the line opened from Barrmill to Ardrossan station on 3 September (ceremonial) and 4 September 1888 (full public), although the extension works to the harbour at Ardrossan were incomplete, and a temporary spur was laid in to connect with the G&SWR there at first.
  The Kilbirnie branch from Kilbirnie Junction, known as Giffen from 2 October 1889, was opened for goods traffic on 1 November 1889, and to passengers on 2 December 1889. Although Kilbirnie was a significant town, with a population of 3,405, the dominant feature of the branch was the ironworks at Glengarnock (and also a chemical works there), situated on the west side of the G&SWR main line. The new branch crossed over the G&SWR line and there was a large siding complex at the ironworks, already served by the G&SWR.
  The passenger service operated from Kilbirnie to Giffen only, with no through trains beyond that point.
  At Ardrossan, the Montgomerie Pier station and steamer terminal was opened on 30 May 1890. This immediately ignited bitter competition for the passenger traffic between Glasgow and the Clyde islands and to Belfast, with some very fast through journeys being timetabled.
  Within one week in 1899, 677 traders, merchants and industrialists of Ayr, dissatisfied with the poor service of the G&SWR monopoly, petitioned the Caledonian to extend the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire line to Ayr. The Caledonian did not immediately respond, and the Provost, Town Clerk and a deputation of magistrates went to the Caledonian headquarters and presented a written guarantee of half the traffic of 560 traders for ten years if the Caledonian would construct the line. The Caledonian seriously examined the scheme; a branch off the proposed line to Troon was considered. The (as yet unfinished) Irvine branch would be doubled and the length of the route from Glasgow would be almost identical to the G&SWR's route. Such a line would have been a coup in the battle against the rival G&SWR, but a more balanced view prevailed: the line would have cost £440,000 and would have been subject to an immediate price war, frustrating any likelihood of great profits and the construction would have exhausted the Caledonian's fund of capital for major works, for which the priority lay elsewhere.
  The extension to Irvine was opened on 2 June 1890, with through carriages from Glasgow.
caption: Ardrossan lines 1890