 During the promotion of railways in 1845 that resulted in the major expansion of the Scottish railway network, the Scottish Central Railway was authorised to build from Castlecary, on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, to Perth through Stirling.On the eastern side, the Edinburgh and Northern Railway was authorised to build from Burntisland to Perth and Tayport, for Dundee.The Edinburgh and Northern also obtained permission to build a branch line from Thornton to Dunfermline.