The Slamannan Railway opened on 30 July 1840, extending eastwards from the Ballochney Railway at Arbuckle to Causewayend, near Linlithgow, on the Union Canal, giving onward access to Edinburgh. The Slamannan company instituted a passenger service from 4 August 1840 between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Passengers could leave the Union Canal basin at Port Hopetoun in Edinburgh by boat, and transfer to a Slamannan train at Causewayend; the train then ran to Townhead in Glasgow, successively traversing the Slamannan line, the Ballochney, the Monkland and Kirkintilloch and the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railways. The journey time was about four hours—about the same as the stage coach journey.