Monday 25 Jun 2018
Demolition creates room for improvement at Queen Street
- Region & Route:
- Scotland’s Railway: Scotland
The exterior of Glasgow Queen Street is looking dramatically different as demolition work gathers pace to make room for a bigger and brighter station.
Visible from the city's George Square, the Millennium Hotel's 1970's extension - that previously hid the station - has now been removed and the eight-story Consort House tower and connecting annex have been significantly deconstructed.
Removal of these buildings will provide the space needed to extend platforms for trains of up to eight carriage lengths - meaning more seats for passengers - and create room for a new concourse almost double the size of the existing area.
With 75 percent of all demolition work now complete, the project team will soon start work to strengthen the foundations to support the new and improved station structure.
On Friday (22 June), Sandra White MSP visited Glasgow Queen Street's project site to meet some of the team responsible for the station's £120m transformation and take a closer look at the demolition activity that is set to complete in the coming months.
Sandra White MSP, said: "It was really fascinating to see the project first hand and to view progress on the ongoing demolition work that will clear space for the redesigned station.
"In particular, I was pleased by the number of women who are working as part of Network Rail's project team to deliver this significant investment in Glasgow.
“Historically the railway has been a male dominated industry but it’s important that we continue to break this stereotype and promote the range of opportunities that are available to everyone in the science, technology and engineering sectors – regardless of gender or background."
Julie Ferrie, Network rail scheme project manager, said: "Around 75 percent of our demolition work is now complete and as the site clears, we can begin to see the area available to allow us to build a bigger and brighter Queen Street station for Glasgow.
"When complete, the transformed station will offer customers an expanded concourse with more circulation space in a contemporary and distinctive building."
Work to redevelop Glasgow Queen Street will complete in Spring 2020 and the station will remain open throughout the build.
When installed, the extended platforms will consume the majority of the existing concourse area and a new glass station frontage with views looking onto George Square will be constructed with accessible entrances from George Square, Dundas Street and North Hanover Street.
Glasgow Queen Street station's redevelopment is part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) – a Scottish Government investment in the railway infrastructure across central Scotland being delivered by Network Rail.
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