Media centre

Thursday 21 Sep 2017

Glasgow Queen Street redevelopment enters new phase

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

The £120m redevelopment of Glasgow Queen Street has entered a new phase as work begins to prepare redundant buildings in front of the station for removal.

Consort House and the Millennium Hotel extension buildings are currently being encapsulated in a protective scaffold as part of the ongoing demolition works. The next stage of the demolition process will be the dismantling of the buildings later next month (October).

Engineers have been working to prepare the structures for removal since spring, disconnecting power supplies and other services and stripping out the interiors. 

The two buildings need to be removed to make way for the new station frontage, concourse and entrances and new longer platforms being delivered as part of the station’s redevelopment.

The project, which is due for completion in 2020, will give passengers an expanded concourse with increased capacity and circulation space, improved customer facilities and a contemporary and distinctive building both internally and externally.

Contractor Balfour Beatty is carrying out the work to demolish the existing buildings and create the new station facility on behalf of Network Rail in a contract worth £60m.

Humza Yousaf, Minister for Transport and the Islands, said: “This next phase of the redevelopment of Glasgow Queen Street station, part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP), takes us a step closer to a fully accessible, modern, transport facility that better serves the needs of passengers and the city. 

“It is a further example of our continued investment in the railway as we work with Network Rail and ScotRail to build the best railway Scotland has ever had.”

Rodger Querns, Network Rail programme director, said: “Queen Street station is the gateway to Glasgow from the north and the east for both commuters and visitors to the city.

“The redeveloped station will be a wonderful example of our vision for Scotland’s railway, which is about delivering social and economic opportunities for the communities we serve.

“We are fully committed to carrying out these enhancements as quickly as possible and with the minimum of inconvenience for the city. We thank station users for their patience and cooperation as we deliver this important investment in their station.”

The redevelopment of Glasgow Queen Street station 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.