Origins
In the first decades of the nineteenth century, the area surrounding Airdrie supported numerous coal pits and ironstone mines, and improved iron and steel making processes encouraged a huge development in demand for the raw materials. Extraction of the mineral required an efficient means of transporting it to market, and canals and railways had been promoted. The Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway (M&KR) opened in 1826, opening up collieries south of Airdrie by giving them a connection to the Forth and Clyde Canal.
The Ballochney Railway was promoted to extend that access to the area north and east of Airdrie, connecting them to the M&KR at Kipps, between Coatbridge and Airdrie, and thence onward, predominantly via the Forth and Clyde Canal. The Ballochney Railway company was incorporated on 19 May 1826; its Act of Parliament authorised share capital of £18,431 and borrowings of £10,000. The Forth and Clyde Canal company agreed to subscribe for stock in February 1826, when economic depression in Glasgow made money scarce. £3,300 was subscribed by English investors.
As was usual, the Act laid down maximim toll rates for the railway: "For all Goods, Wares, Merchandize, Coal and other Things: 3d per Ton, per Mile
"For pasing up or down any one of the Inclined Planes, or for any part of one, and for every Inclined Plane, 6d in addition."
Read more about this topic: Ballochney Railway
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