Rail plan to close Glasgow Queen Street for a year [Scotland on Sunday]
Date: 02/09/2013
ONE of Scotland’s busiest stations could be closed for more than a year in a move that could cause travel chaos for millions as part of major upgrading of the rail network. Rail chiefs are considering a complete shutdown of Queen Street in Glasgow as an option in the station’s overhaul to accommodate electric trains and provide links to the adjacent Buchanan Galleries shopping centre. The 21 million passengers a year who use the station are still expected to suffer significant disruption even if it is closed in phases. The rebuild is due to happen between August 2015 and December 2016, with platforms being lengthened to take longer electric trains and overhead electric wires installed. Work would also encompass the station’s mile-long entry tunnel, which has only two tracks, compared to four into Waverley station in Edinburgh, which handles a similar number of passengers. Extending the platforms will also require the demolition of part of a hotel, which is built across the station frontage onto George Square. New station entrances to link with a planned extension of the Buchanan Galleries would also be created. The plans are part of the £650 million Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (Egip) to provide longer and faster trains between the cities.
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Scotland on Sunday
ONE of Scotland’s busiest stations could be closed for more than a year in a move that could cause travel chaos for millions as part of major upgrading of the rail network.
Related images
Location: Glasgow Queen Street High Level
Company: Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway
//2005 John Furnevel
Location: Glasgow Queen Street High Level
Company: Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway
13/05/2007 John Furnevel
Location: Glasgow Queen Street High Level
Company: Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway
05/02/2011 David Panton
