In the first decades of the twentieth century, the shale oil industry was at its height, and numerous mineral lines were connected to the Bathgate line serving shale pits and oil works, where the oil was extracted from the mineral. However the availability of cheaper liquid oil supplies from the Middle East and elsewhere reduced the demand for shale oil, and the industry declined sharply by 1918. In 1923 the North British Railway became a constituent of the new London and North Eastern Railway following the Railways Act 1921, and the government again reorganised the railways in 1948, when the Scottish Region of the nationally owned British Railways took charge. Bathgate remained a manufacturing base, as the former Albion Motors plant was now operated by Leyland Motors, but passenger use of the line had declined heavily and on 8 January 1956 the passenger service was withdrawn. A sporadic goods service continued, but the line was sustained by the motor vehicle manufacturing activity. Some passenger use of the line for seasonal trains continued until 1960. Mid-century developments The road traffic congestion in Edinburgh became increasingly difficult in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition, Livingston New Town had now developed considerably from a slow start, and a scheme was prepared to reopen the E&BR line as a branch from the Edinburgh and Glasgow main line to Bathgate, following the original E&BR main line. Reopening Having only carried freight traffic to and from Bathgate (mainly automotive traffic) since passenger services ceased over the line in 1956, the line was reopened to passenger services on 24 March 1986 by British Rail. Lothian Regional Council provided substantial funding toward the project, which was intended to help ease commuting difficulties to and from Edinburgh as road congestion worsened in the mid 1980s, and to alleviate some of the hardship caused by West Lothian's industrial decline. (Since passenger services had ceased in 1956, the remaining shale oil industry became extinct, coal mining was virtually ended in 1984–1986 by the Thatcher government, and the Bathgate plant of British Leyland was slated for closure.) Economies were made in the project delivery - specifically three miles of railway were removed and between Cawburn Jn and Carmondean Jn, a single line was provided, serving Uphall railway station and Livingston North railway station. The passenger line continued to the terminus at Bathgate while a freight only line (the former Down line) ran