Chaos as fire sees Glasgow Central Station closed and evacuated and traffic grind to a halt

A massive fire has caused chaos for rail passengers and drivers after bringing Scotland’s largest city to a halt.

Glasgow Union Street has been closed following a fire at a building adjacent to Glasgow Central Station.

While it caused the station to be closed and evacuated, traffic in the city center came to a halt.

Scottish Rail has confirmed that the station will remain closed until tomorrow morning and there will be no movement in or out of the station.

Thick smoke rose in Glasgow as 12 fire trucks, police officers and ambulances responded to the fire, which was said to have broken out in an e-cigarette shop.

Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney said the Forsyth Building, which dates back to 1851, had partially collapsed.

He wrote about X: ‘Hopefully the fire can be brought under control. The corner of the Forsyth Building, the Caledonian Rooms and the Central Hotel appear to be unaffected.

‘Together with the possibility of the restoration of the Egyptian Halls, this is a major blow to Union Street.’

Smoke billowed from Glasgow as nine fire engines, as well as police officers and ambulances, attended the blaze.

Scottish Rail has confirmed that the station will remain closed until tomorrow morning and there will be no movement in or out of the station.

In a statement at 7.45pm, a Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “More than 60 firefighters are currently working to extinguish a large building fire on Union Street, Glasgow.

The fire was reported to 999 just before 4pm and many streets, including parts of Union Street and St Vincent Street, were closed while the large Voco Grand Central Hotel, located inside the railway station, was evacuated.

Among the crowds watching was Yvonne Kelly, 51, from Rutherglen, who said: ‘This is not something you expect to see. The first time I noticed there was a fire was when I was on Buchanan Street and I could see the smoke; I was wondering what was going on. As I approached I thought “this is going to cause chaos”.’

Ryan Dawes, 46, who works on Union Street, said he left the building for a while when he became aware of the fire. ‘I saw people running past in a very panicked state and lots of black smoke; ‘It looked pretty dramatic.’

A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service added: ‘We received reports of a building fire on Union Street in Glasgow at 3.46pm on Sunday 8 March.

12 fire trucks and specialist resources have been mobilized to the area where firefighters are currently working to extinguish the blaze affecting the ground floor of a four-storey building.

‘There are no reported casualties and crews remain at the scene.’

National Rail said: ‘A fire in a building close to Glasgow Central station means the decision has been taken to close the station until further notice. There will be no round-trip train services to high-level platforms.

Central Station evacuated after fire on Union Street

‘Trains passing through low-level platforms can still operate but will be revised to avoid calling at Glasgow Centre.

‘It is recommended that you use Argyle Street station to benefit from these services. We have no estimate as to when the station will reopen. We expect the outage to continue until the end of the day.’

Police warned people yesterday afternoon to avoid the area if possible and said residents should keep their windows closed.

Some ticket acceptance is available, with Avanti West Coast passengers able to use their tickets on LNER services between Edinburgh and London King’s Cross at no extra cost.