This line provided a second route west from Glasgow Queen Street Low Level by extending from Clydebank to Dalmuir.
For further convenience a curve was put in at Jordanhill to allow a train from the Maryhill direction to run west, giving access to shipyards and docks in the process.
A section of the Forth and Clyde Canal was realigned to the south near Dalmuir for the construction, where the line passes below.
This junction was installed just west of Clydebank Central to allow closure of a length of the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway.