A renowned Glasgow Boys painter's "nationally important work" has been bought for more than £200,000 for the city's new Riverside Museum of Transport.

Culture and Sport Glasgow, the arms-length body which runs Glasgow's museums and galleries, has bought Stirling Station by William Kennedy from an anonymous vendor.

The painti ng will initially be on view as part of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum's Glasgow Boys collection before forming, with its apt railway theme, a key part of the new transport museum's exhibition when it opens by the Clyde.

In addition to £150,000 in National Lottery funding, The Art Fund gave a grant of £35,000 with the remainder of the £237,000 coming from museum funds. William Kennedy, who lived from 1859 to 1918, was a core member of the Glasgow Boys and his works are typical of their style. Created in 1887, Stirling Station is unique in that it is thought to be the only painting of a railway station by one of the Glasgow Boys.

Bailie Elizabeth Cameron, chairwoman of Culture and Sport Glasgow, said: "It is destined to form an important part of the Glasgow Boys exhibition being staged at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and at the Royal Academy in London in 2010. It is sure to become an admired and loved addition."

Colin McLean, head of the Heritage Lottery Funding in Scotland, added: "This is a fine painting which rightly deserves to be displayed in Scotland. It also offers a fascinating glimpse at how the opening up of railways helped shape the social and economic history of the central belt."