... that the amount of traffic which ... may be expected, is not such a would be likely to afford an adequate return for the construction of two distinct lines of railway, the one from Darlington to Edinburgh, and the other from Lancaster to Glasgow." They declared that the Anandale route was to be preferred, but "the promoters must prove their bona fide intention to complete the English portion of the line, otherwise preference would be given to the East Coast route". However their report was not binding: it was hedged with numerous qualifications, and by no means closed the matter. In particular they stated that if they had considered two routes in Scotland practicable, they would have recommended the east coast route and the decidedly superior mechanical properties of the Nithsdale route might well have offset the greater length. In any case the railways in England did not yet extend north of Lancaster. The Commissioners' report had the effect of suspending the enthusiasm for cross-border railways for a period, and killing off a few fanciful schemes, but after three years when interest in such lines was resumed, the report was completely irrelevant. Definite proposals at last So interest did resume, and on 9 March 1844 the provisional committee of the Glasgow & Carlisle Railway Company (GD&CR) met. There was considerable overlap in membership with the GPK&AR, and the latter helped out with the committee's expenses at first. A critical need was to generate promises of subscriptions, and to distinguish this proposal from the Annandale route (now being identified as the Caledonian Railway), which was also being heavily promoted once again: the name was soon changed to the Glasgow Dumfries and Carlisle Railway, reflecting also the interests of Dumfries and other more southerly subscribers. The capital would be £1.3 million. This proposal went to Parliament as a Bill in the 1845 session, but so did the Caledonian scheme. Locomotive power had improved in the recent few years, so that the gradients over Annandale were less significant; and the Annandale route could fork as it reached northwards and serve Edinburgh as well as Glasgow. Parliament was still unwilling to sanction two major lines, and on 31 July 1845 the Caledonian Railway won the battle: its Annandale route received the Royal Assent. However, in the same session the GPK&AR got approval to extend southwards from Kilmarnock to Horsecleugh, south of the mining