At first, the passenger trade seemed to boom, with the daily train leaving Townhead at 10:15 a.m. and the westbound journey starting by boat at 7:00 a.m. An omnibus ran from the centre of Edinburgh to connect, departing at 6:45 a.m. Fares were 7s 6d (first class and cabin on the boat), and 5s (second class and steerage). The journey took something over four hours, comparable with the stagecoach transit; a throughout boat trip over the Union Canal and the Forth and Clyde Canal continued in operation for the time being, taking 7½ hours. By October the Union Canal had procured a second boat and there were now two railway-and-canal journeys each way daily.