Glasgow Central to stay closed until at least Wednesday as demolition work starts

Latest updates

Demolition of building ravaged by a fire near Glasgow Central station begins on Friday
The remaining facade of Union Corner must come down before Scotland’s busiest train station can fully reopen
The works will take weeks and surviving chimney stacks must be removed before any work on the facade
Glasgow Central high level to remain closed until Monday, and likely beyond then
A cross-Government Ministerial Board has been established to coordinate the Scottish Government’s response to the fire
A safety exclusion zone has been erected in the city centre

The main part of Glasgow Central Station will remain closed until at least Wednesday, authorities have said, as work began to demolish an adjacent building ravaged by a fire.

Glasgow City Council said it is in the interests of public safety to demolish what remains of the Victorian building, which has continued to collapse since the blaze started on Sunday afternoon.

The burnt-out Union Corner site was handed over to the city council on Thursday after emergency services finished their work.

On Friday, demolition vehicles arrived at the site and began the slow process of demolishing the building.

The aftermath of the fire on Union Street STV News

Workers could be seen in a cage suspended from a crane dismantling the remains of a chimney stack on a neighbouring building.

The blaze on Sunday forced neighbouring Glasgow Central, Scotland’s busiest railway station, to close.

Network Rail Scotland said that with demolition work under way its engineers cannot yet gain access to the station to assess the situation, and the main part of the station containing the high-level platforms will therefore remain shut until at least Wednesday March 18.

Watch
Watch moment LED screen collapses into burning building

Services in the lower level of the station began running again on Wednesday.

Ross Moran, route director at Network Rail Scotland, said: “We understand how disruptive this extended closure is for passengers and the wider city centre, and we’re extremely grateful for the continued patience and understanding people have shown.

“The damage to the building beside the station is clearly significant and any phased reopening will depend on demolition work progressing to a stage that allows our engineers to safely return.

“We’ll continue working closely with Glasgow City Council to support the response however we can.”

Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken said on Friday that the structure currently poses a risk to the public and has been cordoned off to keep people safe.

She said: “The structure where the fire was is now very unstable. It has no structural integrity.

“There’s a kind of a floating chimney stack that’s attached to the top of the wall. So, this is an unstable, dangerous site.

“It is obviously going to cause disruption to people for quite a while, and in particular the shops and the businesses who are within this cordon, and we’re providing as much support for them as we’re able to do.”

Only the facade of the building has been left standing on Gordon Street. Network Rail Scotland

She added: “It’s going to take us a wee while to recover, but what I want to assure all Glaswegians, and indeed everybody that uses Central station, is that we will work as fast as we possibly can to get back to normality and then to rebuild and regenerate Union Street and Gordon Street.

“But, in the meantime, it is safety first for everyone and it is the protection of the public that is our number one priority.”

The work is being carried out by personnel in cranes above the danger, dismantling the remains of the building stone by stone in a cage suspended from a crane.

Network Rail said all available options for safely reopening the station were being explored, including whether a partial or phased reopening of some platforms might be possible.

Credit: Garry F McHarg Garry F McHarg | Focal Scotland

It said engineers have so far not identified any significant structural issues with the station and that damage, mainly due to water ingress, appears to have been contained to a small office on the Union Street side of the station and a small part of the glazed area directly above it.

ScotRail said it will provide customers with further information on Monday afternoon outlining when services will be able to resume.

David Ross, ScotRail chief operating officer, said: “We know it is frustrating for our customers that there will be no ScotRail services running to or from Glasgow Central high level until at least next Wednesday.

“But Glasgow City Council and Network Rail must be given time to make sure the station is safe for the return of passenger services. We will only restore services when it is safe to do so.

“We know this closure is causing significant disruption for our customers and we’re sorry for the impact it is having on journeys.

“Our teams are working hard to keep people moving where possible and we’d encourage customers to check their journey before travelling using the ScotRail app or website.”