The Caledonian Railway main line When the first main line between central Scotland and the English railways was being planned, the
Annandale Route was favoured by many promoters; with some variations from the earliest planned route, that became the
Caledonian Railway main line, nowadays part of the West Coast Main Line. The plans included a route to Edinburgh, and at first this was to leave the Glasgow to Carlisle line at Symington. This would have had the advantage of bringing Biggar into the route, but the alignment on from there was more difficult, and Glasgow to Edinburgh traffic would have had a much longer route. The Edinburgh line as actually built in 1849 left the Glasgow line at Carstairs instead.
Symington to Broughton Biggar was an important town, and the topography of the region was such that a railway connection posed no engineering difficulty. Local interests promoted a railway from Symington, on the Caledonian Railway main line. The Caledonian Railway was friendly to them, seeing their line as a possible launching point for access to the Lothian coalfields. In 1857 plans for the line were taking definite shape, with the guidance of the engineer
John Miller. The line was to be built for £30,290. At the insistence of the Caledonian, the land was to be acquired for double track, although only single track was to be laid at first: the Caledonian clearly saw the line as a future trunk route. The authorised capital of the new line was £36,000 with permitted loan capital of £12,000. The proprietors found it difficult to raise all the capital and appealed to the Caledonian Railway for help; the Caledonian subscribed £7,500 on condition that £20,000 was sourced locally, and this was done. The line opened from Symington to Broughton on 5 November 1860, and it was worked by the Caledonian Railway.
Symington station The junction with the main line at Symington was a little distance north of the earlier station there. It is likely that arriving branch trains simply reversed from the point of junction to the station, but this was not a long term arrangement, and the passenger station was moved to the junction, opening there on 30 November 1863. The former station remained as a goods station.
Extending to Peebles During the construction period, the company decided to extend the line to Peebles, which was an important burgh. The extension was clearly prompted by the Caledonian Railway, and they advanced £6,000 for the parliamentary deposit, and promised to subscribe 20% of the extension's capital cost of £75,000. It was agreed that when the line was open to Peebles, the Caledonian would purchase the line at cost. The act of Parliament permitting the extension included authorisation to connect to the NBR line.
Closure The passenger traffic had never developed as had been hoped, and the line from Peebles to Symington was closed to passengers on 5 June 1950, although Biggar saw some special school traffic until 14 August 1950. Goods traffic continued until the line from Peebles West to Broughton closed completely on 7 June 1954, and the final closure (from Symington to Broughton) was on 4 April 1966. The section of the old line between Broughton and Biggar (starting beyond the coal yard in Broughton) is used as a footpath. The section from Neidpath Viaduct to Lyne Station is also a public footpath. When the branch line closed in 1954, the Peebles (West) goods yard continued in use, served by the link line from the NBR line. Since the closure of the NBR engine shed, engines requiring to be turned crossed to the Caledonian goods station to turn on the turntable there. Peebles West Goods Depot and the link line were closed completely on 1 August 1959. ==Passenger train service==