Glasgow Central station

Glasgow Central
Inside Glasgow Central, looking north east across the main concourse
Location
Place Glasgow
Local authority Glasgow City Council
Operations
Station code GLC
Managed by Network Rail
Number of platforms 17 (including 2 on lower level)
Live arrivals/departures and station information
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2002/03 * 22.958 million
2004/05 * 27.006 million
2005/06 * 29.380 million
2006/07 * 21.002 million
2007/08 * 21.553 million
2008/09 * 28.126 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE SPT
History
1 August 1879 High Level Station opened[1]
10 August 1896 Low Level Station opened[1]
1901–1905 High Level Station rebuilt
1960 Re-signalling
5 October 1964 Closure of Low Level Station[1]
May 1974 Start of "Electric Scot" services to London Euston
5 November 1979 Reopening of Low Level Station as part of Argyle Line[1]
1984–1986 Refurbished
1998–2003 Refurbished
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Glasgow Central from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal
Glasgow Central & St Enoch approaches
Legend
City of Glasgow Union Railway
Glasgow Central
Glasgow Central Railway
St Enoch
River Clyde
-- parts of former station reused as carriage sidings
Glasgow Bridge Street
Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway
Cumberland Street || Main Street
Gorbals
Eglinton Street || Southside
Polloc and Govan Railway
General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway
Pollokshields East
Cathcart District Railway
Pollokshields West
Strathbungo
Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway
Cathcart District Railway

Glasgow Central (Scottish Gaelic: Glaschu Mheadhain) is the larger of the two present main-line railway terminals in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. The station was opened by the Caledonian Railway on 31 July 1879 and is currently managed by Network Rail. It is the northern terminus of the West Coast Main Line.[2]

The station serves all of the Greater Glasgow conurbation's southern suburbs and towns, and the Ayrshire and Clyde coasts, and is the terminus for all inter-city services between Glasgow and destinations in England. There is also a limited service to Edinburgh, however the city's second main line terminus - Glasgow Queen Street - remains the principal station for services to the capital.

Glasgow Central is the busiest railway station in Scotland and the second busiest in Britain outside London, after Birmingham New Street.[3][4] According to Network Rail, over 38 million people use it annually, 80% of whom are passengers.[4] The station is protected as a category A listed building.[5]

Contents

Original station

The original station, opened on 1 August 1879 on the north bank of the River Clyde, had eight platforms and was linked to Bridge Street station by a railway bridge over Argyle Street and a four-track railway bridge, built by Sir William Arrol, which crossed the Clyde to the south.[2]

The station was soon congested. In 1890, a temporary solution of widening the bridge over Argyle Street and inserting a ninth platform on Argyle Street bridge was completed.[2][6] It was also initially intended to increase Bridge Street station to eight through lines and to increase Central station to 13 platforms.[2]

Low-level station

The low-level platforms were originally a separate station, and were added to serve the underground Glasgow Central Railway, authorised on 10 August 1888 and opened on 10 August 1896.[2][7] The Glasgow Central Railway was taken over by the Caledonian Railway in 1890.[2][7] Services ran from Maryhill Central and from the Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway in the west through to Rutherglen and via Tollcross through to Carmyle, Newton, and other Caledonian Railway destinations to the east of Glasgow.

The 1901–1905 station rebuild

By 1900 the station was again found to be too small, passenger numbers per annum on the high-level station having increased by 5.156 million since the first extension was completed in 1890.[6] Passenger usage per annum in 1899 was 16.841 million on the high-level station and 6.416 million on the low-level station, a total of 23.257 million.[6] The station is on two levels: the High-Level station at the same level as Gordon Street, which bridges over Argyle Street, and the underground Low-Level station.

Between 1901 and 1905 the original station was rebuilt.[2] The station was extended over the top of Argyle Street, and thirteen platforms were built.[2] An additional eight-track bridge was built over the Clyde,[2] and the original bridge was raised by 30 inches (0.75 m).[8] Bridge Street station was then closed.[2]

Also during the 1901-1905 rebuild a series of sidings was created at the end of Platforms 11 and 12 on the bridge over the River Clyde. These were named West Bank Siding, Mid Bank Siding and East Bank Siding. A dock siding - No. 14 Dock was created at the south end of Platform 13.[9]

Central Station has a spacious concourse containing shops, catering outlets, ticket offices and a travel centre. It is fronted by the Central Hotel on Gordon Street, designed by Robert Rowand Anderson. The station building also houses a long line of shops and bars down the Union Street side. The undercroft of the station is not open to the general public: it houses private car-parking and utility functions for both the station itself and the adjoining Central Hotel.

The station's famous architectural features are the large glass-walled bridge that takes the station building over Argyle Street, nicknamed as the "Hielanman's Umbrella" (Highlandman's Umbrella) by locals[2] because it was used as a gathering place for visiting Highlanders;[10] and the former ticket offices / platform and train-destination information building. This was a large oval building, with the booking office on the ground floor and the train information display for passengers on large printed cloth destination boards placed behind large windows on the first floor by a team of two men. Underneath the "Umbrella" is a bustling array of shops and bars, as well as the "Arches" nightclub, theatre, gallery and restaurant complex.

View of Central station from 5th floor of Radisson SAS hotel, with the distinctive facade of Hielanman's Umbrella and Argyle Street passing under it in the centre, May 2009

The Central Hotel

Central Station is fronted by the Central Hotel on Gordon Street. Adjoining onto the station concourse, it was one of Glasgow's most prestigious hotels in its heyday. Famous guests included Frank Sinatra and Winston Churchill.

It was originally designed by Robert Rowand Anderson, in 'Queen Anne style'; he also furnished the public rooms.[11] The hotel was completed in 1883, but was extended along with the station in 1901–1906.[11] The hotel extension was designed by James Miller and it opened on 15 April 1907.[11]

The world's first long-distance television pictures were transmitted to the Central Hotel in the station, on 24 May 1927 by John Logie Baird.[12] The hotel was sold by British Rail in the 1980s, and passed through the hands of various private operators until its most recent owner, the Real Hotel Group, went into administration in February 2009, and the hotel subsequently closed amid concerns of asbestos contamination and structural deterioration.

In June 2009, it was revealed that a new company had acquired the hotel building, and plans to refurbish and rebrand it as the Glasgow Grand Central Hotel were revealed.[13] The refurbished hotel re-opened in September 2010.

Signalling

The original 1889 signal box was replaced with an electro-pneumatic power-operated box based on the Westinghouse system.[14] Work started in October 1907 and it opened on 5 April 1908.[14] It was built directly over the River Clyde, sitting between the two river bridges, above the level of the tracks.[14] Inside was a frame of 374 miniature levers, making it the longest power frame ever built in Great Britain.[9][15]

Glasgow Central Signalling Centre, located in the "vee" of Bridge Street Junction, opened on 2 January 1961. It replaced signal boxes at Central Station, Bridge Street Junction, Eglinton Street Junction and Eglinton Street Station.[15] When initially opened it was capable of handling 1,000 routes.[15]

The new signalling centre was needed for three reasons:

In addition to the removal of the east river bridge, the scissor crossovers through the station, the Cathcart Engine siding, East Bank Siding, Mid Bank Siding and No. 14 Dock were removed. The West Bank Siding was numbered as Platform 11a.

Glasgow Central Signalling Centre closed on 27 December 2008, when its area of control was transferred to the new West of Scotland Signalling Centre (WSSC) at Cowlairs. The NX panel is to be preserved. The station is currently signalled by two Westinghouse Westlock Interlockings which are controlled via a GE MCS control system.

Railway electrification

Overhead power lines began to appear on the high-level platforms early 1960s. Firstly came 6.25 kV AC Overhead power lines from the Cathcart Circle Line electrification scheme, which started on 29 May 1962.[16][17] During this period, the old 1879 bridge over the River Clyde was removed and the railway lines were rearranged.[15]

This was followed by the 25 kV AC overhead-power-lines electrification of the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway and the Inverclyde Line to Gourock and Wemyss Bay, completed in 1967;[16] and the WCML northern electrification scheme in 1974. Part of the Cathcart Circle was upgraded to 25 kV AC supply in 1974, to provide a diversionary route;[17] the whole of the Cathcart Circle route was later upgraded to that supply.[17]

Plans exist to electrify other routes, such as the Whifflet Line, as part of a scheme to improve rail services in Scotland.

Late-20th-century developments

Low-level station

Closure

Services through the Low-Level station, initially generous, had been greatly reduced due to competition with the extensive and efficient tram system well before their withdrawal on 3 October 1964[7] under the "Beeching Axe". The trams themselves had been replaced by buses by 1962.

Re-opening

In 1979, part of the low-level line was electrified and the Low-Level station was re-opened as the Argyle Line of the Glasgow suburban railway network. It consisted of a single island platform, numbered as Platforms 14 and 15 (later renumbered to 16 and 17 respectively when the project to re-signal and add two additional platforms to the higher level took place in 2008).

Initially services were provided by Class 303 and Class 314 units. The latter were built specifically for this service. Following the withdrawal of the Class 303 units, the service is, as of 2007, provided by Class 318 and Class 334 "Juniper" units.

Class 320 units were intended to be used on the route, but due to the position of the original driver's monitors for checking doors, this proved impossible. Therefore, these units were restricted to the North Clyde Line. This changed in 2011 with a programme of works carried out to enable the Class 320 units to work through the staion in passenger service. Class 320 units are not a regular occurrence on Argyle Line services.

Further details of services can be found in the Argyle Line article.

Flooding of the Low-Level line

Over the Christmas festive period of 1994, on 11 December, torrential rain caused the River Kelvin to burst its banks at the closed Kelvinbridge station, with the water making its way through the disused tunnels to Exhibition Centre and the Low-Level station,[18] which was completely submerged by the resultant flash flood. It was closed for many months while repairs were made.

In August 2002, torrential rain flooded out the low-level stations from Dalmarnock through to Exhibition Centre for a number of weeks. Most services were routed to the high-level platforms, or to Queen Street station. The 2002 Glasgow floods had a number of other effects, causing a cryptospiridium outbreak in Glasgow's water supply.

1980s redevelopment

The high-level station's facilities were substantially redeveloped in the mid-1980s. The old ticket office / train information building was replaced in 1985 by an all-new Travel Centre adjacent to the Gordon Street entrance. By 1986 a large electro-mechanical destination board at the end of the platforms, with a smaller repeater board at the western side of the concourse, had replaced the former manually operated train-information boards. The old booking office / train information building was retained and redeveloped into shops, eateries and an upstairs bar/restaurant, and the station was re-floored in marble.

During this redevelopment the manned ticket barriers at Platforms 1 to 8 were removed and the yellow ticket automatic barriers were removed from Platforms 9 to 13 (now 15).

1998–2005 refurbishment

In 1998, a five-year renovation programme was initiated by Railtrack, which saw the station completely re-roofed and internally refurbished by Bovis Lend Lease.[19] The 1980s vintage mechanical destination boards were replaced with modern electromechanical pixel style information signage; this was later replaced around 2005 with an LED-style destination board. The final improvement, the upgrading of the upstairs restaurant area, was completed in 2005.

21st century developments

2009/10 expansion

In order to accommodate the cancelled Glasgow Airport Rail Link plans, the platforms were renumbered. Platform 11a (the previous West Bank Siding, on the bridge over the Clyde) was renumbered 12, whilst 12 & 13 were renumbered 14 & 15 respectively. In September 2009 the former platform-level car park and passenger drop-off area was taken out of use and the platform over the Clyde (recently renumbered 12) was removed. Two new platforms were created between 11 and 14, being brought into use in May 2010.[20][21] There are no plans to replace indoor parking or passenger drop-off within Central station. The existing multi-storey parking facility on Oswald Street and on-street parking surrounding Central station remain, with passenger drop-off having moved to surrounding streets.[22]

Barriers

Automatic ticket barriers are being installed at Glasgow Central and three other city-centre stations in 2011 as part of a crackdown on fare-dodging to increase ticket revenue. This follows barriers being erected at Queen Street Station in 2004 ending ScotRail's "open stations" policy, under which staffed and previous yellow ticket automatic barriers had been scrapped during the 1980s to encourage more passengers; tickets were checked on trains instead. Currently, ScotRail is finalising negotiations with Network Rail over the project.[23]

Services

In 2010, Glasgow Central was served by five train-operating companies.

CrossCountry

Operate services on the CrossCountry route via the East Coast Main Line to Birmingham and onwards to the West Country and the South Coast, as extensions to the services to Edinburgh Waverley.

East Coast

Operate one train per day to London King's Cross via Edinburgh.

First ScotRail

Operate services to Scottish destinations including Ayr, Kilmarnock, East Kilbride, Gourock, Neilston, Stranraer and Largs, as well as the Caledonian Sleeper service to London Euston.

First TransPennine Express

Operate service to Manchester Airport via Manchester Piccadilly.

Virgin Trains

Operate services to Birmingham New Street and London Euston via Carlisle, Preston and Crewe, using Super Voyagers and Pendolinos on the West Coast Main Line.

A taxi rank is to the north of the station, while buses operate from the adjacent streets. St Enoch and Buchanan Street Subway stations are within a few minutes' walk of the station.

SPT operates a bus service to Glasgow Queen Street and the Buchanan bus station; this bus is numbered 398.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Motherwell   CrossCountry
Cross Country Network
  Terminus
Motherwell   Virgin Trains
West Coast Main Line
  Terminus
Motherwell   East Coast
East Coast Main Line
  Terminus
Lockerbie   TransPennine Express
(TransPennine North West)
  Terminus
Motherwell   First ScotRail
Lowland Caledonian Sleeper
  Terminus
Argyle Street   First ScotRail

 Argyle Line 

  Anderston
Paisley Gilmour Street   First ScotRail

 Ayrshire Coast Line 

  Terminus
Cardonald   First ScotRail

 Inverclyde Line 

  Terminus
Pollokshields East or
Pollokshields West
  First ScotRail

 Cathcart Circle Line 

  Terminus
Dumbreck   First ScotRail

 Paisley Canal Line 

  Terminus
Cambuslang   First ScotRail

 Shotts Line 

  Terminus
Motherwell   First ScotRail

North Berwick Line

  Terminus
Crossmyloof   First ScotRail

 Glasgow South Western Line 

  Terminus
Carmyle   First ScotRail

 Whifflet Line 

  Terminus
Historical railways
Glasgow Cross
Line open; station closed
  Caledonian Railway

 Glasgow Central Railway

  Anderston
Line open; station open
Eglinton Street
Line open; station closed
  Caledonian Railway

 Cathcart District Railway

  Terminus
Eglinton Street
Line open; station closed
  Caledonian Railway

 Polloc and Govan Railway

  Terminus
Bridge Street
Line open; station closed
  Caledonian and
Glasgow & South Western
Railways

 Glasgow and Paisley
Joint Railway

  Terminus
Eglinton Street
Line open; station closed
  Caledonian and
Glasgow & South Western
Railways

 Glasgow, Barrhead and
Kilmarnock Joint Railway

  Terminus

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Butt (1995), page 103
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thomas (1971); Chapter VIII — Glasgow
  3. ^ Delta Rail (February 2011). "Station Usage 2009/10". Office of Rail Regulation. p. 6. http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/stn_usage_report_0910.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-12. 
  4. ^ a b "Footfall Figures". Network Rail. p. 1. http://www.networkrail.co.uk/documents/5318_Footfall%20figures%20for%202007.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-12. 
  5. ^ "Central Station and Hotel: Listed Building Report". Historic Scotland. http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/hsstart?P_HBNUM=33029. Retrieved 22 November 2011. 
  6. ^ a b c Matheson, Donald Alexander (1908). "Glasgow Central Station Extension". In: Minutes of Institution of Civil Engineers, 10 November 1908.
  7. ^ a b c Awdry (1990); p77
  8. ^ Hume (2006), Chapter 1, "Railways and the City". In: Cameron(2006).
  9. ^ a b Tweedie & Lascelles (1925), insert facing page 184
  10. ^ Nicolaisen, W.F.H. (2001). Scottish Place Names. Edinburgh: John Donald. ISBN 0-85976-556-3. 
  11. ^ a b c Johnston and Hume (1979), pages 38–41.
  12. ^ Interview with Paul Lyons, historian and Control and Information officer at Glasgow Central Station.
  13. ^ Nicoll, Viviene (25 June 2009), "Return to Grand Central in £20m hotel revamp", The Evening Times (Glasgow), http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.2516440.0.0.php 
  14. ^ a b c Nelson (2006), Chapter 17: "Signalbox with a view". In: Cameron (2006).
  15. ^ a b c d e Nock, O.S.,(1963). British Rail in Transition. Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson and Sons.
  16. ^ a b Little, Stuart M. (December 1979). "Greater Glasgow's Railway Network". Scottish Transport No. 33: 2–12. ISSN 0048-9808. 
  17. ^ a b c Summers (2006), "Changing Trains", Chapter 26 In: Cameron (2006).
  18. ^ "Glasgow Central Low Level Railway Flood / 11 December/12th 1994". http://www.hiddenglasgow.com/rail/flood1994/index.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-13. 
  19. ^ Winney, Mike (19 October 2000). "Dome wins construction world 'Oscar'". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2000/10/19/ndom19.xml. 
  20. ^ Scottish Parliament (15 January 2007). "Glasgow Airport Rail Link Act 2007 - Schedule 1 - Scheduled Works". Office of Public Sector Information. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2007/70001--f.htm#sch1. Retrieved 2007-02-21. 
  21. ^ Scottish Parliament (15 January 2007). "Glasgow Airport Rail Link Act 2007 - Schedule 8 - Listed Buildings". Office of Public Sector Information. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2007/70001--n.htm#sch8. Retrieved 2007-02-21. 
  22. ^ Weber Shandwick (10 February 2007). "Glasgow Airport Rail Link — Q and A" (PDF). Strathclyde Passenger Transport. Archived from the original on 2007-06-05. http://web.archive.org/web/20070605031827/http://shandwick.fs-server.com/spt/uploaded/ufile683.pdf. Retrieved 2007-02-21. 
  23. ^ Dalton, Alastair (19 May 2010). "ScotRail set to create £5m 'ring of steel' to tackle fare dodging". The Scotsman (Edinburgh). http://news.scotsman.com/transport-news/ScotRail-set-to-create-.6303079.jp. Retrieved 2010-06-16. 

Sources

  • Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. 
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. 
  • Kernahan, Jack (1980). The Cathcart Circle. Falkirk, Stirlingshire: Scottish Railway Preservation Society. ISBN 0-9043-9601-0. OCLC 85045869. 
  • Cameron, Dugald (compiler); Summers, Jim (Edr.) (2006). Glasgow Central: Central to Glasgow. Boat of Garten: Strathwood Ltd. ISBN 1-9052-7605-2. OCLC 80155887. 
  • Johnston, Colin; Hulme, John H. (1979). Glasgow Stations (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7569-5. OCLC 6091133. 
  • Thomas, John (1971). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Volume VI Scotland: The Lowlands and the Borders (1st ed.). Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5408-6. OCLC 16198685. 
  • Thomas, John; Paterson, Rev A.J.S. (1984). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Volume VI Scotland: The Lowlands and the Borders (2nd ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-9465-3712-7. OCLC 12521072. 
  • Tweedie, M.G.; Lascelles, T.S. (1925). Modern Railway Signalling. Covent Garden, London: The Gresham Publishing Company Ltd. OCLC 502959836. 
  • History of Glasgow Central station