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The Barrhead Branch was a branch line built by the Glasgow and South Western Railway in Scotland. It connected Potterhill railway station on the south side of Paisley with a new Barrhead Central railway station. The line was sometimes known as the Barrhead Central Railway. It was made in reaction to competition for local passenger traffic, and for a time a circular service operated from Glasgow via Paisley and Barrhead. However income from the line was disappointing, and the passenger service was cut back, finally closing in 1917. As a goods-only route it remained open until 1970. None of the line is open now. ==History== Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the Directors of the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) realised that the emphasis for suburban passengers had moved away from infrequent services to main population centres. Moreover, in urban area, new competition was arising from omnibus services and street tramways. They responded by planning frequent services on suburban routes, calling at new stations close to developing industrial sites. In 1885 the Paisley Canal Line opened, with stations on the south side of Paisley, and in 1886 a short branch southwards to Potterhill was opened. For the time being this remained a terminus.〔David Ross, ''The Glasgow and South Western Railway: A History'', Stenlake Publishing Limited, Catrine, 2104, ISBN 978 1 84033 648 1〕〔Stephenson Locomotive Society, ''The Glasgow and South Western Railway, 1850 - 1923'', published by the SLS, London, 1950〕 There was bitter rivalry between the G&SWR and the Caledonian Railway (CR); both companies had a presence at both Paisley and Barrhead, and in 1897 the CR obtained Parliamentary authority to build the Paisley and Barrhead District Railway, serving the district between the two towns. The G&SWR had a Barrhead station on the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway (GB&KJR) but the station there was inconveniently located, and on 19 August 1898 the G&SWR obtained an Act of Parliament for a number of developments, including an extension of the line from Potterhill to a new central station at Barrhead, with a spur to join the GB&KJR, facing Glasgow.〔Ross, page 143〕 The line opened on 1 October 1902; the new Barrhead station was named Barrhead Central. A circular passenger service was operated from Glasgow St Enoch via Paisley, Potterhill, Barrhead Central and Nitshill; the anti-clockwise service was described as the ''inner circle'' and the other direction was the ''outer circle''.〔 Barrhead Central was a terminus, and the circular service involved a reversal there. While the more frequent service found some success in the Glasgow and Paisley urban areas, competing against omnibuses and street tramways, patronage on the more rural area between Barrhead and Paisley was disappointing. On 1 October 1907 the circular passenger service was discontinued, and trains worked from St Enoch to Barrhead Central via Paisley and Potterhill, and separately from St Enoch to Barrhead Central via Nitshill. The line between Potterhill and Barrhead Central was closed to passenger services on 1 June 1913 . Operation of these services did not pay, and on 1 January 1917 under the stress of World War I conditions, both Potterhill and Barrhead Central stations were closed to passengers.〔 The through line continued in use for goods services, and a factory for the confectionery manufacturer Cadbury was established with a private siding connection.〔Wham〕 The line closed to all traffic on 2 March 1970. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Barrhead Branch」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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