The Maryhill Line is a suburban

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

linking central

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

and Anniesland via

Maryhill Maryhill ( gd, Cnoc Màiri) is an area of the City of Glasgow in Scotland. Maryhill is a former burgh. Maryhill stretches over along Maryhill Road. The far north west of the area is served by Maryhill railway station. History Hew Hill ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. It is part of the

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) is a Transport Scotland#Regional Transport Partnerships, regional transport partnership for the Strathclyde area of western Scotland. It is responsible for planning and coordinating regional transport ...

network. The line between Glasgow and Maryhill forms a part of the

West Highland Line The West Highland Line ( gd, Rathad Iarainn nan Eilean - "Iron Road to the Isles") is a railway line linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban in the Scottish Highlands to Glasgow in Central Scotland. The line was voted the top rail journey in the ...

(linking the WHL and

North Clyde Line The North Clyde Line (defined by Network Rail as the ''Glasgow North Electric Suburban'' line) is a suburban railway in West Central Scotland. The route is operated by ScotRail Trains. As a result of the incorporation of the Airdrie–Bathga ...

with the former

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 ...

main line out of Glasgow Queen Street High Level) and was reopened to stopping passenger services in 1993. The line was reopened by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...

and Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive. Local services over the route had previously ended in the early 1960s, though it remained open thereafter for /Mallaig & trains and freight traffic. In 2005 it was extended to Anniesland via a new station at

Kelvindale Kelvindale ( gd, Dail Chealbhainn) is a district in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Kelvindale shares the G12 postcode with the neighbouring residential districts of Kelvinside, Hillhead, Hyndland, Dowanhill, as well as Gartnavel ...

in the north west of the city. The route serves the following places: *

Queen Street * Ashfield * Possilpark and Parkhouse * Gilshochill * Summerston *

* Anniesland

Historical routes

The Maryhill line runs on the formations of the following historic railways: *

between and Cowlairs Junction *

Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway The Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway was independently sponsored to build along the north of the River Clyde. It opened in 1858, joining with an earlier local line serving Balloch. Both were taken over by the powerful North British Ra ...

between Cowlairs Junction and Maryhill Park Junction *

Stobcross Railway The Stobcross Railway was a railway line in Glasgow, Scotland, built by the North British Railway to connect from Maryhill to the new dock being built at Stobcross; the dock became the Queen's Dock, opened in 1877. The line was opened first, i ...

between Maryhill Park Junction and

Operations

Maryhill Line services connect with the Argyle and

s at station, where the branch terminates in a

bay platform In the United Kingdom and in Australia, a bay platform is a dead-end railway platform at a railway station that has through lines. It is normal for bay platforms to be shorter than their associated through platforms. Overview Bay and isla ...

built as part of the extension from Maryhill. Prior to 2005, trains terminating at Maryhill had to proceed empty to Knightswood North Junction (near , where the route joins the North Clyde suburban network) to reverse and change lines before returning to Glasgow. This procedure took several minutes (whilst the driver changed ends) and consequently restricted capacity at the busy junction – diverting the service to Anniesland freed up additional paths on the North Clyde route through there and allowed more trains to run between the south side of the city and the branch. The connection from Maryhill junction to Westerton is used by Oban and Mallaig trains. In 2015, a connection was installed between the Maryhill Line and the Glasgow-bound North Clyde Line at Anniesland, to act as a diversionary route into Glasgow Queen Street from Edinburgh and the North. The line is not

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

, though there have been calls from various bodies and Glasgow MSPs to do so in recent years (as it is one of the few routes not included in plans for the future upgrading of the network on the north side of Glasgow)."MSP calls for Glasgow train line to be electrified"
Paterson, S ''Glasgow Evening Times'' article 4 March 2016; Retrieved 26 August 2016 Passenger services are operated by

ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail ( gd, Rèile na h-Alba), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise ...

using Class 156, Class 158 and Class 170

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are als ...

s. There has been a Sunday service on the line since 17 May 2014.

References

{{Railway lines in Scotland Transport in Glasgow Railway lines in Scotland Standard gauge railways in Scotland Maryhill