It was not long before a businessman started to operate a coach direct from Princes Street in Edinburgh to Causewayend, cutting 45 minutes off the journey (at a premium price) and of course by-passing the canal transit altogether. This proved popular, and the G&GR (apparently the driving force in this joint operation) encouraged the development of the stagecoach connection: the stagecoach operator would offer a fare reduction in return for being the favoured connection at the Edinburgh end. The Union Canal had provided considerable financial support to the Slamannan company in its early days and it was now being squeezed out. Reliability of the westbound canal trip seems to have been poor, and on 5 November 1841, the Slamannan board decided that the westbound train would leave at the advertised time whether or not the connecting boat had arrived. As this made the boat-and-railway journey practically impossible, the G&GR stopped selling through tickets for that journey, and the poor Union Canal had to try to reinvigorate its intercity business over the Forth and Clyde Canal instead.