Scotland's busiest railway station will fully reopen on Wednesday - more than two weeks on from a devastating fire that tore through a neighbouring building. The main part of Glasgow Central was closed to passengers after a huge blaze broke out at a nearby vape shop on Union Street on 8 March, destroying the B-listed Victorian building. The blaze on Sunday forced neighbouring Glasgow Central, Scotland’s busiest railway station, to close.
The travel hub partially opened last week with a limited timetable and will now return to full capacity on 25 March. Network Rail said the reopening follows 'detailed inspections, cleaning, repairs, and operational checks'. ' The fire began in a vape shop on Union Street and spread through the building and around the corner.
Only the facade of the building at the junction with Gordon Street is left standing. An estimated 953,000 passenger journeys were affected over the last week after a fire believed to have started in a vape shop on Union Street ravaged the Grade B-listed building adjoining the station. Glasgow Central typically handles about 116,000 journeys a day, with approximately 103,000 through the high-level station to destinations across the UK and 13,000 local services through the low-level station.
We understand how disruptive this extended closure is for passengers and the wider city centre, and we’re extremely grateful for the continued patience and understanding people have shown.
Services in the lower level of the station began running again on Wednesday. With demolition work ongoing to bring down the remaining structure of the building, much of the station will remain closed off and travellers will only be able to gain access via entrances to low-level platforms and the Hope Street carriage driveway, which is normally used for vehicle access. A reduced exclusion zone within the high-level concourse will remain in place while Glasgow City Council continues its nearby demolition work.
The Gordon Street and Union Street entrances remain closed, with passengers urged to use the upper Hope Street entrance, the Hope Street driveway, and the low-level entrances to enter and leave the station. There will be a reduced timetable, including a scaled-down service to London Euston, and passengers are asked to check journeys before travelling. Glasgow City Council said it is in the interests of public safety to demolish what remains of the 'very unstable' Victorian building.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) formally handed over control of the site to Glasgow City Council on Thursday. Demolition vehicles arrived at the site on Friday and began the slow process of demolishing the building. ' Network Rail Scotland said that with demolition work under way, its engineers cannot yet gain access to the station to assess the situation.
The damage to the building beside the station is clearly significant and any phased reopening will depend on demolition work progressing to a stage that allows our engineers to safely return.
' First Minister John Swinney previously announced £11m in funding in response to the blaze. A £10m support package will aim to help the council, businesses and agencies rebuild, while up to £1m will go towards the cost of demolition. The disruption to rail services has been extensive.
Arriva West Coast said 220 weekday trains were diverted or cancelled last week, with trains stopping at Motherwell or being rerouted to Edinburgh. More than 140 trains run by TransPennine Express were cancelled or diverted. CrossCountry said 35 of its trains were affected last week.
ScotRail, which operates nearly all domestic rail services in Scotland, said it was unable to say immediately how many of its trains were affected because the disruption to its services to both high-level and low-level platforms had been so extensive. ' Ross also said, 'We realise the closure is causing significant disruption for our customers and we’re very sorry for the impact it is still having on journeys. ' Ross Moran concluded, 'I'd like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding.