Before the GP&GR

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the City of Glasgow had long been growing in industrial and commercial importance. With that growth came the need for transport of manufactured goods and raw materials, and at first crude horse-operated tramways responded to that demand, particularly short lines built to convey minerals to waterways. The River Clyde itself was a major traffic artery, but difficult navigational problems made it impossible for large vessels to reach the city. Increasingly, sea-going ships berthed at Greenock, and goods were trans-shipped there to smaller boats that could navigate the Clyde. Passengers too changed at Greenock to reach the city.

Passenger traffic was heavy following the introduction of steam vessels: traffic density may be judged from the fact that in the years 1838 and 1839 there were 69 collisions on the river.^[1]

Greenock itself grew in importance; it had a harbour in 1710, and became a focus for international trade, and the town developed numerous industries, including shipbuilding, metal working, sugar refining and hat making.^[1][2]

A railway proposed

The successful operation of the "coal railways" in the west of Scotland, notably the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway, encouraged thoughts of a railway between Greenock and Glasgow, and in 1836 these thoughts took the form of a prospectus for a company. This led to a parliamentary bill, but at the same time another proposed railway, the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway was being presented; the two lines would have very similar routes between Glasgow and Paisley, and it became plain that Parliament would be reluctant to authorise two adjacent lines; moreover the landowners would be hostile to the double loss of amenity. The respective promoters responded to this by agreeing on a jointly made and operated line between Glasgow and Paisley.

In fact land acquisition was a significant issue for the company. Houston station was built only because Lord Douglas made that the price of his withdrawing opposition to the bill, and although the company was pleased to have obtained all the necessary lands without legal sanction (except in one case), it paid 18.1% of its capital for land, compared with 12 - 13% for comparable lines. Its parliamentary costs were also much higher than for other lines.^[3]

Both companies were authorised by Act of Parliament of 15 July 1837.

The Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal had been authorised by Parliament, but in fact was only built between Glasgow and Johnstone; Parliament wished to prevent partial construction of the new railways, and the authorising Acts required construction to be undertaken from both ends of the lines.^[4][5][6]

Construction and opening

The track gauge had not yet been decided; the coal railways already active in the west of Scotland used a gauge of 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm) and for a time it was thought that this gauge would be adopted. At this stage the design of the line was in the hands of Thomas Grainger who had been largely responsible for the coal railways. However much thought was being given by others to a line connecting Glasgow and the English railways. The line was to become the Caledonian Railway; trunk railways in England were already established and standard gauge was in general use there. The implications of a railway network were now understood, and the Greenock line decided to adopt standard gauge. The GPK&AR followed suit.^[7]

The first Secretary to the company appointed in 1837 was Captain Mark Huish; at that time he was new to railway management. He later went on to become the General Manager of the London & North Western Railway Company.^[8]

The contract for the first seven miles of the railway was agreed in 1839, the engineer being Joseph Locke supported by his partner John Errington; the contractor was Thomas Brassey.^[6][9][10] This was to be the first work of Locke in Scotland; and Brassey's fourth contract.^[10]

The GPK&AR was able to open to traffic on the joint section between a temporary terminus in Glasgow at Bridge Street and Paisley, for a demonstration run on 13 July 1840; it opened fully to the public the following day; the GPK&AR went on to extend towards Ayr in the following months. The GP&GR was unable to open at this stage, due to serious difficulties in forming the Bishopton tunnel and the rock cuttings approaching it, and it was not until 31 March 1841 that it was able to open.^[4]

The permanent Bridge Street station opened a week later, on 6 April 1841.^[5]

The section between Glasgow and Paisley was managed by a joint committee, of representatives of the GP&GR and GPK&AR; it was known as the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway: the section of line was jointly owned with the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway.^[4]

The construction had significantly overrun Grainger's estimates: he had quoted £393,000 and the Company had exhausted its £666,666 of share and loan capital, and had had to apply for powers for a further £200,000 in loans. Shareholders were critical of some of the contract arrangements, which appeared to be wasteful, if not corrupt.^[6]

First years of operation

On opening, the company had stations at Bridge Street in Glasgow and at Paisley (both on the Joint Section), Bishopton, Port Glasgow and Greenock.^{[note 1]}

The 1850 Bradshaw timetable shows nine trains each way between "Glasgow, Paisley, and Greenock", with no tabular indication of running: the starting times only of the trains is shown. The first from Greenock started at 5.30 a.m. (except on Mondays), or as soon thereafter as the arrival of the mail steamer from Belfast will allow.^[11]

The Company paid a good dividend, an annualised equivalent of 4% was declared at the first half-yearly meeting in 1841, but this was before any actual operating income had come in. When actual receipts were known this quickly reduced and never exceeded 2% (annualised). At over 50% the ratio of operating costs to income was poor, and it emerged that a track maintenance contract had been let at first for £250 per mile to the managing director's nephew-in-law, while the GPK&AR paid about £85 per mile to an independent contractor.^[12]

Amalgamation with the Caledonian Railway

For some time the alliance between the Caledonian Railway and the GP&GR was strong, and in 1847 the Caledonian obtained Parliamentary authority to absorb the Greenock line. This proved to be more contentious than it had appeared: the terms of share transfer were difficult as the GP&GR held out for guaranteed income, and as the Caledonian considered the financial situation of the Greenock company, it became alarmed at apparent financial impropriety in the company. The Caledonian's own finances were not strong, and the alarm increased with time, and on 6 May 1850 the Caledonian board decided to try to repeal the Act of amalgamation.

In fact this was not proceeded with, and in time the Caledonian relented, and on 26 May 1851 an amalgamation agreement was signed; it was enacted by Parliament on 7 August 1851. The Caledonian paid an annuity to the shareholders of the former Greenock company.^[5]

Steamer connections

The passenger traffic on the line exceeded original estimates; a particular growth traffic was passengers connecting with steamers at Greenock for the island resorts. Business people acquired residences on the islands and other Firth of Clyde locations, and in many cases travelled each weekend. The journey time was critical, and goods and parcels traffic for the steamers was required to be sent down by the previous train; passengers making the connection hurried through the streets of Greenock. The station faced Cathcart Street and the steamers berthed at Custom House Quay, a few minutes away.

Rothesay became extremely popular as a resort, and as demand for journeys to and from the islands established, it was recognised that Greenock was not ideal in providing the railhead. A more suitable location was Wemyss Bay, where a pier giving closer access to Rothesay was available. The Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway was formed, obtaining Parliamentary authorisation on 17 July 1862. It left the Greenock line at Port Glasgow and skirted the southern margin of Greenock, climbing on to high ground before descending into Wemyss Bay. The line opened on 15 May 1865 and was worked by the Caledonian Railway. Although the Wemyss Bay company was friendly to the Caledonian, relations were sometimes strained; a joint committee oversaw the operation of the line.

The year 1865 saw a more ominous development, when the Greenock and Ayrshire Railway (G&AR) was authorised. It was to join with the Glasgow and South Western Railway and would form a directly competing line for Glasgow to Greenock traffic. The Greenock and Ayrshire line opened to passenger traffic on 23 December 1869, after several weeks running goods trains only. Its Greenock terminus was at Albert Harbour, and the trains ran directly to the berths. Immediately aggressive price competition started, resulting in impossibly cheap fares. The G&AR had an advantage in throughout journey times to Firth of Clyde destinations, and abstracted a large share of the business from the Caledonian. At that time both the Caledonian trains and the G&SWR trains were using Bridge Street station in Glasgow; that station became very congested.

The desperate competition for business, and duplication of steamer sailings, continued for some time, until in March 1871 a traffic pooling agreement was reached: the CR would receive 57.67% of traffic income.

The Wemyss Bay company now protested: it had not been involved in the pooling negotiations and it demanded a better share. The dispute went to arbitration, and the arbitrator's award went against the Caledonian Railway.^[5]

Now another player entered the field: the North British Railway opened a pier at Craigendoran, on the right bank of the Clyde, in 1882.

Extension to Gourock

In 1841 the Greenock station in Cathcart Street had seemed perfect, but as the Clyde steamer trade developed, its location had become a disadvantage; relations with the Wemyss Bay company were often difficult. Gourock was only 3 miles (5 km) from Greenock by land but considerably more convenient for shipping.

In April 1865 the Greenock and Ayrshire Railway (G&AR) put a Bill to Parliament for a line connecting the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) to Greenock and its harbours. This met objections, and the Caledonian Railway made its own proposal for a branch from Cathcart Street in a tunnel under the Well Park, along on the south side of Market Street and Tobago Street, then turning down the valley of the West Burn to the Albert Harbour. They later modified this to run a distance along Ardgowan Street in the west end before turning down to the harbour. The G&AR Bill was revised and gained approval in June, the Caledonian Bill passed in 1866. After negotiations, the Caledonian abandoned their scheme in 1868, and in 1869 the G&AR opened their line which ran in a tunnel under west end streets down to its terminus as Albert Harbour railway station (later renamed Princes Pier). The G&AR merged with the G&SWR in 1872.^[13]

The two railway companies put forward rival proposals in November 1865 for a line to Gourock, but met strong opposition from feuars of west end properties. On 16 April 1866 the Committee of the House of Commons decided in favour of the Caledonian option. In June 1869 the Caledonian agreed to buy the Gourock Harbour Company for £4,916 13s 4d. Various other proposals were made for a line to Gourock, and Gourock Town Council approved a proposal to use spoil from a railway tunnel to make a breakwater across Gourock Bay, forming a harbour.^[13] The Caledonian had ideas of making a transatlantic ocean terminal at Gourock,^[14] and in 1878 attempted to get Parliamentary approval, but this was rejected.^{[citation needed]}

The Caledonian Railway realigned its route to run beside the cemetery south of Greenock Royal Infirmary to the nearby junction between Inverkip Street and Newton Street,^[15] and was granted permission in September 1882 to build Greenock West station at that junction.^[16] From there, the Newton Street Tunnel was to be 1 mile 350 yards (1.929 km) long,^[17] the longest main line railway tunnel in Scotland.^[18]

In December 1883 both the G&SWR and the Caledonian Railway promoted competing bills for extending their respective railways to Gourock. The G&SWR proposed a branch from their tunnel under the junction of Ardgowan Street and Robertson Street. Greenock Council opposed openings to tunnels in the streets, and objected to both.^[19] The Caledonian's proposals for "Construction of Railway from Greenock to Gourock, with a Quay or Pier at Gourock" were included with other projects in The Caledonian Railway (No. 2.) Bill. This cleared the House of Commons in April and was passed by Erskine May to the House of Lords,^[20][21] which gave authorisation on 28 July 1884.^[22][23]

The whole project cost £600,000.^[22] Construction work began in 1885, the contractor was Hugh Kennedy & Son, Partick. Adjacent to the Cathcart Street station, the old Wester Greenock castle and Mansion House were demolished in 1886 before taking a tunnel under their grounds in Well Park. The line continued beside Market Street (now King Street), then via a short tunnel and deep cuttings to Greenock West station.^[24][15]
From there, work began on 11 March 1888 on the long tunnel which runs under the whole length of Newton Street, continues ahead under its junction with Lyle Road, then curves behind the Mariners Home to emerge at Drums Farm near Fort Matilda station. Tunnelling work employed thirty to forty men on each face, working day and night.^[25][26] Spoil from the tunnel and cuttings was used for landfill out from Gourock's Shore Street to the long new wooden wharf for steamboats which extended 0.5 miles (0.80 km) northwards on the west side of the bay, curving westward to the pierhead at Kempock Point. Gourock station was then built on the reclaimed ground on the inland side of the pier.^[27][28]

Caledonian Steam Packet Company

In 1888, with completion of the railway anticipated in a year, the Caledonian Railway directors sought arrangements for steamer services from the new pier. They instructed the company's general manager James Thompson to write to all the private steamer owners requesting them to call at Gourock Pier, and offering facilities. Replies varied: while some ignored it, David MacBrayne offered to have the Ardrishaig steamer call at the pier. The directors decided to make their own arrangements, and the company applied for powers to own and operate its own steamships. In March 1889 this was rejected, following spirited opposition from the steamer operators themselves. The solution was the formation of a nominally independent company, the Caledonian Steam Packet Company (CSPC).

Opening of extension line, Gourock pier

The eastern section of the line was reported completed on 3 May 1889, and on 4 May a special train took Caledonian directors over the whole route to show them the progress of the work.^[29] The extension officially opened on 1 June 1889,^[30][28] with the first train departing Gourock at 05:25 taking workmen to Greenock and Port Glasgow, driven by the engineer Dugald Drummond who had designed and got built the Caledonian Railway 80 Class "Coast Bogies" for the route. The first arrival at Gourock with passengers from Glasgow at 07:20 met a "warm reception".^[31]

The station buildings were completed in 1890, as was the railway turntable at the south end of the pier.

The Wemyss Bay company once again took offence, for the Gourock steamer connection would deprive them of traffic. However terms for acquisition of the Wemyss Bay company by the Caledonian Railway were agreed in August 1889. Parliamentary authority was required for this, and there was some delay in obtaining it, but the two companies now acted in concert until the necessary Act was passed on 27 July 1893.^[1]

For some time this proved highly successful, but competition was fierce between the Caledonian (with the CSPC) via Gourock, the G&SWR via their impressive terminal at Greenock, Princes Pier, and the North British Railway via Graigendoran. The competition led to triplication of services vying to provide the fastest transit from island resorts to the City.^[1]

Nock describes the scene in about 1893:

In the half hour following 4 p.m. the Glasgow terminal stations between them despatched no fewer than eleven boat trains, and with these trains were associated thirteen steamers! On the Caledonian no luggage at all was permitted at all on the Clyde boat expresses. When no more than 2 minutes was scheduled at Gourock between arrival of the train and departure of the boat one cannot be concerned with such trifles as luggage! ... At the very height of the rivalry the Caledonian booked the 4.8 p.m. from Glasgow Central to run the 26.2 miles to Gourock in 32 minutes. Although the line is on a fairly easy gradient the run was complicated buy the need to slow down at the junctions at Paisley, and again over the continuous curvature of the extension line from Greenock Central through Fort Matilda to Gourock.^[32]

Improved dock facilities at Greenock

The Burgh of Greenock went to considerable expense to ensure that its harbour facilities were kept up to date; in 1880 the harbour at Garvel on the eastern side of Greenock was further extended. It provided three miles (5 km) of quays with the most modern mechanical handling equipment. A new connection to dock lines was provided there from the Greenock line at Ladyburn, just west of Bogston station, where an engine shed was also provided.^[7]

The twentieth century

After 1900 the carriage of goods assumed increased importance, and the Burgh of Greenock particularly expended considerable effort in improving dock facilities. The grouping of the railways under the Railways Act 1921 consolidated the Caledonian interest with the G&SWR, although relatively limited rationalisation took place. After World War II there was a brief resurgence of the holidaymaking spirit of a sail doon the watter but changing social habits brought this to serious decline in the 1960s, and at length the steamer connection was distanced from railway operation.

In the early 1960s electrification of suburban routes around Glasgow was being implemented, on the 25 kV ac overhead system. After several routes had been electrified, in October 1964 the Gourock and Wemyss Bay lines were authorised for treatment. The Glasgow and Paisley Joint Line was quadruple track, but was reduced to double track as part of the work, and the Wemyss Bay branch was to be partly singled. The track bed in Newton Street Tunnel was lowered to provide electrification clearances. 19 three-car units were ordered for the services, from Cravens, part of the Metro Cammell group; the units became class 311.

A partial service to Gourock started on 5 June 1967, with a full electric passenger service from 5 September 1967.^[33]