As coal extraction developed, pits were opened further north and east than the M&KR reached, and the Ballochney Railway was constructed to serve some of them, running from Kipps, near Coatbridge, to pits around Arbuckle and Clarkston, and a quarry.
There was a large area of undeveloped moorland between Airdrie and the banks of the Forth, and a railway was promoted to develop the region.