Early authorisations There was a frenzy of railway promotions in Scotland in 1845; there had been widespread controversy over a route from central Scotland to England, where a railway network was forming, and the public discussion encouraged thought of Scottish routes too. On 31 July 1845 the
Caledonian Railway was authorised, with the then enormous capital of £1,500,000, to build from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Carlisle. On the same day the
Scottish Central Railway (SCR), the
Dundee and Perth Railway, the
Aberdeen Railway and the
Scottish Midland Junction Railway (SMJR) were authorised. The was to build from Castlecary (forming a connection with the Caledonian and the already existing
Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway) to Perth; the Aberdeen Railway was to build from Guthrie, near Arbroath, to Aberdeen, with branches to Montrose and Brechin; and it was to lease the
Arbroath and Forfar Railway, a local stone block sleeper line. The was to link Perth and Forfar. Together the three railways would connect central Scotland to Perth, Forfar and Aberdeen, and with the Caledonian and its allies they would link to London as well. Even before authorisation the Caledonian had strategic plans to control these and other, lines, forming a widespread Caledonian area of control in Scotland. As its capital would all be required to build its railway, it was unable to purchase the lines; instead it agreed leases of the other (as yet unauthorised) companies; this required no cash down payment, but a heavy commitment to periodical lease charges later. In due course, the Caledonian was to find that these payments were unaffordable, and it was able to escape them by demonstrating that they were
ultra vires, that is, that their company had no powers to make such commitments. Moreover, Parliament was at times hostile to large combinations of lines, and declined to assent to some amalgamations. Quite apart from this dubious outcome, relations between the companies were not always amicable, and in fact the Scottish Central Railway was robustly independent for some years. However the Aberdeen Railway and the remained in a "loose association" with the Caledonian.
The Aberdeen Railway The Aberdeen Railway built its line from a triangular junction near Guthrie and Friockheim, not far from Arbroath, northwards to Aberdeen. It leased the Arbroath and Forfar Railway (A&FR), on the basis that the would upgrade its track. It had been built as a stone block sleeper line on the local track gauge of 5 ft 6in (1,676 mm) and the Aberdeen Railway seems not to have fully understood the financial implications of converting this to a modern double track main line on the standard gauge. The had very little money to pay for the conversion itself. (The Arbroath and Forfar Railway Company continued to exist until 1923 as a financial shell only, receiving the lease payment from the lessees.) The Aberdeen company ran into financial difficulties of its own, running out of cash in 1848 after building from Guthrie to Dubton, with branches to Brechin and Montrose. After appealing for help from larger railways, it decided it did not care for the terms of any offer to help, and issued preference shares to its own shareholders (in modern parlance a
rights issue). It managed to build to Ferryhill, a temporary terminus on the southern edge of Aberdeen, opening in 1850. Now the Burgh objected to plans the railway thought had been agreed, to take the line into the city, but after much negotiation the line was extended to a terminus called Guild Street in Aberdeen, opening in 1854.
The SNER in action From the passing of the '''''' (
19 & 20 Vict. c. cxxxiv) on 29 July 1856 the operated a railway from Perth to Aberdeen, with branches to Blairgowrie, Brechin and Montrose, as well as the stub to Newtyle, which connected with the
Dundee and Newtyle Railway. The antipathy with the was done away with, and Dundee traffic was now regularly routed via Arbroath. While the main line between Perth and Aberdeen was the highlight, there was much intermediate traffic at this date, chiefly agricultural. At Perth the used the General station build and managed by the Scottish Central Railway. The station was increasingly becoming a traffic hub, and by an act of Parliament it was transferred to the control of a joint committee, representing all the users. This took effect on 8 August 1859. The approach lines, both north and south of the station, belonged to the , and the was charged the equivalent of six miles running for the use of 320 yards of line on the northern approach. The objected to this and when negotiation failed to produce a result, the established a temporary platform just north of the lines; the station was called Perth, Glasgow Road. trains from the north terminated there and connecting passengers had to make their own way through the streets to the main stations. The dispute lasted a few weeks until an arbitrator allowed the to use the tracks for an annual payment of £100. The new line and the joint station came into use on 4 December 1867, by which time the had been absorbed by the Caledonian Railway.
Methven branch In 1858 a local railway promoted by local people opened, connecting Methven to Perth; it joined the main line at Almond Valley Junction, some distance north of Perth, and was worked by the , and from 1856 by the . The purchased it in 1864.
Alyth branch Local interests elsewhere promoted a railway connection to Alyth, from Meigle on the former main line. It opened in 1861 and was worked by the . The absorbed it in 1863.
Sold to the Caledonian Railway The Scottish North Eastern Railway had been formed by the amalgamation of two smaller companies in 1856. It had long been in a "loose association" with the Caledonian Railway, and on 10 August 1866 it was itself absorbed into the Caledonian by the '''''' (
29 & 30 Vict. c. cccl). The Caledonian now controlled lines from Carlisle to Aberdeen. While this appeared to be the outcome it had long desired, it came at a heavy price: Parliament was becoming uncomfortable with the monopoly power of large railway concerns, and granted the
North British Railway (NBR) running powers over much of the northern part of the Caledonian system. The was building its own
line from Arbroath to north of Montrose, where it made a junction (
Kinnaber Junction) with the Caledonian Railway. In 1878 the bridged the
Firth of Tay at Dundee, giving it direct access from Edinburgh and Fife to the north shore of the Firth, and Parliament ordered that the Dundee and Arbroath Railway be transferred to joint ownership: jointly between the Caledonian Railway and the . This took effect from 1 February 1880, and gave the an independent route from Edinburgh to Kinnaber, and running powers from there to Aberdeen.
From 1923 Under the terms of the
Railways Act 1921, the main line railways of Great Britain were "grouped"; the Caledonian Railway was a constituent of the new
London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and the North British Railway was a constituent of the new
London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). For the time being there continued to be two competing routes to Aberdeen from the south. When the railways were nationalised in 1948 this state of affairs continued and the pattern of passenger and goods trains remained relatively unaffected by the new common ownership. However the decline in usage of the railways, especially local railways in sparsely populated areas, forced consideration of rationalisation, and it was determined that the former NBR route should continue, with the former route closing. This took effect in 1967. The main route for trains from central Scotland to Aberdeen was therefore via Dundee, Arbroath and Montrose. Thus the Dundee and Arbroath line was still in use; the A&FR line was closed except for a short section at Arbroath from the station to the point of divergence of the NBR and Caledonian lines. The old Aberdeen Railway was retained from Kinnaber Junction to Aberdeen. The former line from Perth to Forfar was closed except for the first section to Stanley Junction, where the Inverness line diverged. The entirety of the rest of the system closed (although some local goods connections remained in use for a while). The heritage section of the Brechin branch is now operated by the Caledonian Railway Brechin Ltd, which started operation in 1993. The railway network is substantially unchanged from that time; domestic Scottish passenger services are operated by
ScotRail. A limited through service from London to Aberdeen and from London to Inverness is operated by
London North Eastern Railway. Trains to and from English destinations other than London are operated under the brand name
CrossCountry, and night sleeping car trains to and from London are operated by
Caledonian Sleeper. ==Route maps==