Glasgow Central station update after blaze forces travel hub to shut | UK | News

The main part of Glasgow Central station will remain closed until at least Wednesday as work begins to demolish an adjacent building destroyed by fire, officials said.

Glasgow City Council said it was in the interests of public safety to demolish what remains of the “very unstable” Victorian building, which has continued to collapse since the fire started on Sunday afternoon. The fire started at a vape shop on Union Street and spread through the building and around the corner; Only the façade of the building at the junction with Gordon Street remains standing. On Friday, demolition trucks arrived on site and began the slow process of demolishing the building. Sunday’s fire forced neighboring Glasgow Central, Scotland’s busiest railway station, to close. Network Rail Scotland said its engineers had not yet been able to gain access to the station to assess the situation while demolition work was ongoing and therefore the main part of the station, which includes the high-level platforms, would remain closed until at least Wednesday, March 18.

Services on the lower level of the station resumed operations on Wednesday.

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

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

“We will continue to work closely with Glasgow City Council to support the response wherever possible.”

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) officially handed over control of the site to Glasgow City Council on Thursday.

In a statement that day, the council said: “We now have control of the site on Union Street and after a full and final assessment of the remaining structure, our Building Standards team have determined that demolition must be carried out in the interests of public safety.”

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

“The structure where the fire occurred is not very strong right now. It has no structural integrity.

“There’s some sort of floating chimney attached to the top of the wall, so it’s an unstable and dangerous area.

“Obviously this will be disruptive to people for a long time, especially the shops and businesses within this cordon, and we are providing them with as much support as we can.”

He added: “It will take some time for us to recover, but I want to reassure all Glaswegians, and indeed everyone who uses Central station, that we will work as quickly as we can to get back to normal and then rebuild and renew Union Street and Gordon Street.

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

On Friday, workers were seen in a cage suspended from a crane removing the remains of a chimney stack from a neighboring building.

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

He said engineers have not identified any significant structural problems at the station so far, and that damage, caused primarily by water intrusion, appears to be limited to a small office on the Union Street side of the station and a small section of the glazed area directly above it.

At the height of the incident, 18 fire trucks and expert teams were at the scene.

SFRS deputy director of prevention Jon Henderson said: “This was an incredibly challenging and complex incident requiring the resources and expertise of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

“We are extremely proud of our staff and incredibly grateful to our partners who helped bring this incident to a safe conclusion.

“Despite the size and intensity of this fire, no firefighters or members of the public were harmed and some of Glasgow’s most iconic buildings escaped further damage.”