| Glasgow Queen Street | |
|---|---|
| Sràid na Banrighinn | |
 |
|
| Glasgow Queen Street high level platforms | |
| Location | |
| Place | Glasgow |
| Local authority | Glasgow |
| Coordinates | 55°51′44″N 4°15′04″W / 55.8622°N 4.2512°WCoordinates: 55°51′44″N 4°15′04″W / 55.8622°N 4.2512°W |
| Operations | |
| Station code | GLQ |
| Managed by | First ScotRail |
| Platforms in use | 9 (2 on low level) |
| Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail |
|
| Annual rail passenger usage | |
| 2002/03 * | 2.029 million |
| 2004/05 * | 3.731 million |
| 2005/06 * | 3.735 million |
| 2006/07 * | 4.053 million |
| 2007/08 * | 4.765 million |
| Passenger Transport Executive | |
| PTE | SPT |
| History | |
| Original company | Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (High Level) Glasgow City and District Railway (Low Level) |
| Pre-grouping | North British Railway |
| Post-grouping | LNER |
| 21 February 1842 | High Level Station opened[1] |
| 15 March 1886 | Low Level Station opened[1] |
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | |
| * Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Glasgow Queen Street from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. | |
Glasgow Queen Street (Glaschu Sràid na Banrighinn in Gaelic) is a railway station in Glasgow, Scotland, the smaller of the city's two main line railway termini and the third-busiest station in Scotland.[2] It is between George Street to the south and Cathedral Street Bridge to the north, at the northern end of Queen Street adjacent to George Square.[3] Queen Street station serves the Greater Glasgow conurbation's northern towns and suburbs, the Edinburgh shuttle, and is the terminus for all inter-city services to destinations in the North of Scotland.
Contents |
History
The station was built by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, opened on 18 February 1842.[1] In 1865 the E&GR was absorbed into the North British Railway, which became part of the LNER group in 1923.
The climb through the tunnel to Cowlairs is at 1 in 42 and until 1909 trains were hauled up on a rope operated by a stationary engine, although experiments were carried out using banking engines in 1844-48. In 1945 there was a minor railway accident when a train leaving the station slipped to a standstill and rolled back into another train. Modern diesel trains have no difficulty with the climb.
The adjacent Buchanan Street station of the rival Caledonian Railway closed on 7 November 1966 as a result of the Beeching axe and its services to Stirling, Perth, Inverness, Dundee and Aberdeen transferred to Queen Street. This caused difficulties with longer trains, as Queen Street is in a confined position between George Square and the tunnel.
In the 1980s HST were used on Cross Country and East Coast services, having to use Platform 7 with the end of the train being close to the tunnel mouth.
Currently (2008/09) trains are usually of two to six coaches, running more frequently.
Services
Queen Street station's platforms are on two levels.
High Level
The high level station is the larger of the two levels, and is the terminus for routes to Edinburgh and north of the Central Belt run by First ScotRail diesel multiple units. The high level railway approaches the station building through the Queen Street Tunnel, which runs beneath the Buchanan Galleries shopping centre to the Sighthill area northeast of the city centre.
Low Level
The low level is the most central stop on the North Clyde Line of the Glasgow suburban electric network. Trains run frequently between Helensburgh, Balloch, and Milngavie on the Firth of Clyde, and Airdrie, on the edge of the Greater Glasgow conurbation, Drumgelloch and Springburn. On completion of the Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link, trains will be extended beyond Drumgelloch to Edinburgh Waverley via Bathgate.
The low-level line between High Street, Queen Street and Charing Cross was built before the Glasgow Subway, making it the oldest underground railway in the city.
Routes - past and present
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glasgow High Street | First ScotRail |
Charing Cross | ||
| Terminus | First ScotRail West Highland Line |
Dalmuir | ||
| Terminus | First ScotRail |
Bishopbriggs | ||
| Terminus | First ScotRail |
Springburn | ||
| Terminus | First ScotRail |
Ashfield | ||
| Terminus | First ScotRail Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line |
Croy | ||
| Terminus | First ScotRail Glasgow to Aberdeen Line |
Stirling | ||
| Terminus | First ScotRail Highland Main Line |
Stirling | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Glasgow High Street Line and Station open |
North British Railway |
Charing Cross Line and Station open |
||
| Terminus | North British Railway |
Cowlairs Line open; Station closed |
||
 A Class 320 train leaves the low level station |
 The exterior of the station, on George Square |
 Bilingual sign: English: "Welcome to Queen Street"; Gaelic: "Fàilte gu Sràid na Banrighinn". |
 George St entrance to the station, showing one of the food outlets |
Signalling
Queen Street signal box, opened in 1881, was on a gantry spanning the tracks close to the tunnel mouth. It closed on 26 February 1967 when control of the high level station was transferred to a panel in Cowlairs signal box. That box was superseded by the new Cowlairs signalling centre on 28 December 1998.
The low level station had two signal boxes, 'Queen Street West' and 'Queen Street East'. Both boxes were over the tracks and closed on 8 February 1960. The low level lines came under the control of Yoker Signalling Centre (IECC) on 19 November 1989.
In early 2007 Network Rail began construction of Glasgow Signalling Centre on the Cowlairs site, which will replace signal boxes in the Glasgow area.
Proposals
Various schemes to link Queen Street to Central Station have been considered, as passengers travelling from the north of Scotland to the south and vice-versa via Glasgow have to cross the city centre. The Glasgow subway serves neither station, although Buchanan Street subway station is adjacent to Queen Street.
The preferred solution to the problem is Crossrail, using a disused freight line that links High Street to the Gorbals area. This initiative [1] was recently awarded a grant from the Scottish Government to investigate the costs, due to be completed in 2009.
In August 2006 Network Rail revealed that it intends to redevelop Queen Street substantially, making use of the Hanover Street car park area to provide more retail space, and to upgrade the station's entrances.
The CRT screens that displayed train timetables and passenger information were replaced with new LED information boards similar to those in Glasgow Central Station but smaller, in January 2008.
In 2009, the Scottish Executive announced that the Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line will be electrified by 2016, meaning that overhead line electrification will be installed on the high level platforms of Queen Street.
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Glasgow Queen Street station |
Notes
- ^ a b c Butt (1995), page 103
- ^ Office of Rail Regulation, Station Usage
- ^ Google Maps listing.
Sources
- Butt, R.V.J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
- Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137.
- Yonge, John (May 1987). Gerald Jacobs. ed. British Rail Track Diagams - Book 1: ScotRail (1st edition ed.). Exeter: Quail Map Company. ISBN 0-9006-0948-6.
- Yonge, John (February 1993). Gerald Jacobs. ed. Railway Track Diagams - Book 1: Scotland and the Isle of Man (2nd edition ed.). Exeter: Quail Map Company. ISBN 0-9006-0995-8.
- Yonge, John (April 1996). Gerald Jacobs. ed. Railway Track Diagams - Book 1: Scotland and the Isle of Man (3rd edition ed.). Exeter: Quail Map Company. ISBN 1-8983-1919-7.
- Yonge, John (2007). Gerald Jacobs. ed. Railway Track Diagams - Book 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (Quail Track Plans) (fifth edition ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps (formerly Quail Map Co). ISBN 978-0-9549866-3-6. OCLC 79435248. http://www.trackmaps.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
- Glasgow and District Transport Plans - 1951 with details of Queen Street and proposed new station
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