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Monday 13 Aug 2018

European Championships sees rise in passenger numbers at Scotland’s busiest station

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

• Numbers through Glasgow Central were up 9 % during the period of the European Championships
• Increased footfall spiked on days city streets were closed for cycling events
• Almost 121,000 extra visitors during games period  

Footfall at Scotland’s busiest station rose by 9% during the period Glasgow hosted the European Championships (August 2-12).

Numbers were up at Glasgow Central on every day of the games period as visitors came into the city to enjoy the sporting and culture events and soak up the games’ atmosphere.

Footfall on the first Friday of the Championships reached 133,245 with the closing Sunday seeing 69,813 visitors passing through Glasgow Central – a rise of almost 29% on the equivalent Sunday in 2017. 

With some of the biggest rises in passenger numbers coinciding with the days the city experienced disruption to road networks as a consequence of cycling events, it was clear that people opted to use the railway as an alternative way of getting into the city for work or to enjoy the racing.

Susan Holden, Network Rail station manager for Glasgow Central, said: “The European Championships were a fantastic event for the city and no doubt one of our highlights of the year with tens of thousands of additional passengers using Central during this period.  

“The station team, and our colleagues across the train operating companies, worked hard throughout to make sure we kept people on the move and helped them enjoy this ground-breaking new event on the sporting calendar.”