Craig of Campbeltown (T/A Glasgow Citybus) Alexander Dennis Enviro 200.
Linking Stations with no passengers....and former old station ghosts.
Seen in Glasgow City Centre is 11716 (YY17GSV), on the Glasgow Inter-Station Rail Link, which this company operates on behalf of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and the train companies. This bus was new to Craig of Campbeltown’s Border Buses subsidiary but has now moved to Glasgow. It’s a bit over specified for the station link - which normally runs with short wheelbase Enviro 200MMCs - but it allows for better social distancing.
Although not far apart distance wise, Glasgow’s remaining two mainline railway terminals - there used to be four - Queen Street and Central have always proved somewhat problematic to link bus wise. Initially a subterranean tunnel and travelator were proposed. Then, in the 1970’s there was a 77/88 City Circle service serving the main shopping centres, bus stations and railway stations but that service proved ultimately unsuccessful. Since then it’s been a dedicated service linking the two stations and it was extended in the 1990’s to cover Buchanan Bus Station. Initially, that service was numbered the 98 but has since been renumbered as the 398. The service has had many operators, from Strathclyde’s Buses, Wilson of Carnwarth, Morrows of Clydebank, Kelvin Central Buses, Arriva Scotland West, First Glasgow and currently Glasgow Citybus.
The service is free to passengers with a through ticket, funding coming from the rail operators, Scotrail, Arriva Cross Country, Avanti West-Coast, LNER and Trans-Pennine Express, as well as SPT.
And the other two terminals? These were Buchanan Street and St Enoch’s. Buchanan Street, the least well known of the four, was the smallest of the terminals. Opened in 1849 by the Caledonian Railway, it served the north of Scotland and through mergers and acquisitions, it ended up with the London Midland and Scottish (LMS) Railway before ownership passed to British Railways after the Second World War. Initially, the station buildings and goods yards were of a temporary wooden structure, which actually lasted into the 1930s. This was before a more permanent, but rather anonymous structure which looked more like a small warehouse rather than a grand terminal for the ‘Second City of The Empire - as Glasgow was known as.
The station was actually earmarked for closure well before it actually did, as it was mentioned in the "Bruce Report", about how to redevelop Glasgow in the post-Second World War period. The plan included replacing Buchanan Street and Queen Street stations with a Glasgow North station on land including the site of Buchanan Street, but many times larger. There was also a similar scheme to replace Central and St Enoch stations with a Glasgow South station, but neither came to fruition.
This reprieve proved to be only temporary as the station and its six platforms were closed in 1966, as part of the rationalisation of the railway system devised by infamous - but in my opinion much unfairly derided - Dr Richard Beeching, with most of its services running instead to Queen Street. The buildings were demolished in 1967. Unlike St Enoch’s, no one seemed too bothered about Buchanan Street’s closure and it closed with little fanfare or regrets. The 390 metre Buchanan Street tunnel, that ran from just outwith the station to Sighthill, still exists, but public access is prohibited. In 1975, British Rail constructed an office block - Buchanan House (later named 'ScotRail House' between January 1985 and April 1994) - over part of the site with Glasgow Caledonian University occupying the rest of the site of the station. The Station Bar, nearby the old entrance, still exists.
St Enoch’s was a much grander affair. Located on St Enoch Square in the city centre, it was opened by the City of Glasgow Union Railway in 1876. The station, which included a hotel, was actually the first building in Glasgow to be electrically lit. In 1883, it was taken over by the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) and it became their headquarters. Services ran to most parts of the G&SWR system, including Ayr, Dumfries, Carlisle, Kilmarnock and Stranraer. In partnership with the Midland Railway, through services also ran to England, using the Settle and Carlisle Railway from Carlisle to Leeds, Sheffield, Derby and on to London St Pancras.
In the 1923 grouping it was taken over and then operated by the London Midland and Scottish Railway. After the nationalisation of the United Kingdom rail network, the station was run by British Railways. The suburban services to East Kilbride was diverted to St Enoch in 1959, when all but three services were dieselised. The diversion was said to be necessary, to reduce the numbers of trains at the nearby Glasgow Central. So you could see the writing was on the wall even then as to the busier station.
It was a large station with 12 platforms and two impressive semi-cylindrical glass/iron roofed train sheds. The station was sadly closed on 27 June 1966, again as part of the rationalisation of the railway system undertaken by the British Railways Board chairman, Dr. Richard Beeching. It was one of the biggest closures under the report and upon its closure, its 250 trains and 23,000 passengers a day were diverted to Central. After that, it was unceremoniously used as a car park before the hotel and the station structure were demolished in 1977, despite many howls of protests for its retention and redesign. Such a demolition would never be allowed to happen now and with hindsight, and in my opinion, it was one of the biggest acts of urban vandalism ever seen in Scotland. Happily, the huge clock that was suspended from the roof of the station was saved from destruction and is now on display in Cumbernauld Town Centre.
For a while, the site lay empty and it was rumoured that the Ministry of Defence was relocating there. However, this was nothing more than a pipe dream as it’s very very rare for London to give up such major parts of the Civil Service. The site of the station is now occupied by another glass structure, the St Enoch Centre, a large shopping centre. The remains of the station and hotel were used to help in fill the Queen's Dock, today the home of the Scottish Events Campus (SEC), previously known as the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. So technically the station sits under that I suppose.
Though the mainline station is gone, parts of the arched approach embankments (now containing shops and restaurants) can be seen to the east of the shopping centre's car park on Osborne Street. Although the short remaining section which once led into the station now goes nowhere, the southern section remains as a freight line along the route of the Glasgow City Union Railway, crossing the Clydebridge Viaduct of 1899 which spans the River Clyde.
Craig of Campbeltown (T/A Glasgow Citybus) Alexander Dennis Enviro 200.
Linking Stations with no passengers....and former old station ghosts.
Seen in Glasgow City Centre is 11716 (YY17GSV), on the Glasgow Inter-Station Rail Link, which this company operates on behalf of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and the train companies. This bus was new to Craig of Campbeltown’s Border Buses subsidiary but has now moved to Glasgow. It’s a bit over specified for the station link - which normally runs with short wheelbase Enviro 200MMCs - but it allows for better social distancing.
Although not far apart distance wise, Glasgow’s remaining two mainline railway terminals - there used to be four - Queen Street and Central have always proved somewhat problematic to link bus wise. Initially a subterranean tunnel and travelator were proposed. Then, in the 1970’s there was a 77/88 City Circle service serving the main shopping centres, bus stations and railway stations but that service proved ultimately unsuccessful. Since then it’s been a dedicated service linking the two stations and it was extended in the 1990’s to cover Buchanan Bus Station. Initially, that service was numbered the 98 but has since been renumbered as the 398. The service has had many operators, from Strathclyde’s Buses, Wilson of Carnwarth, Morrows of Clydebank, Kelvin Central Buses, Arriva Scotland West, First Glasgow and currently Glasgow Citybus.
The service is free to passengers with a through ticket, funding coming from the rail operators, Scotrail, Arriva Cross Country, Avanti West-Coast, LNER and Trans-Pennine Express, as well as SPT.
And the other two terminals? These were Buchanan Street and St Enoch’s. Buchanan Street, the least well known of the four, was the smallest of the terminals. Opened in 1849 by the Caledonian Railway, it served the north of Scotland and through mergers and acquisitions, it ended up with the London Midland and Scottish (LMS) Railway before ownership passed to British Railways after the Second World War. Initially, the station buildings and goods yards were of a temporary wooden structure, which actually lasted into the 1930s. This was before a more permanent, but rather anonymous structure which looked more like a small warehouse rather than a grand terminal for the ‘Second City of The Empire - as Glasgow was known as.
The station was actually earmarked for closure well before it actually did, as it was mentioned in the "Bruce Report", about how to redevelop Glasgow in the post-Second World War period. The plan included replacing Buchanan Street and Queen Street stations with a Glasgow North station on land including the site of Buchanan Street, but many times larger. There was also a similar scheme to replace Central and St Enoch stations with a Glasgow South station, but neither came to fruition.
This reprieve proved to be only temporary as the station and its six platforms were closed in 1966, as part of the rationalisation of the railway system devised by infamous - but in my opinion much unfairly derided - Dr Richard Beeching, with most of its services running instead to Queen Street. The buildings were demolished in 1967. Unlike St Enoch’s, no one seemed too bothered about Buchanan Street’s closure and it closed with little fanfare or regrets. The 390 metre Buchanan Street tunnel, that ran from just outwith the station to Sighthill, still exists, but public access is prohibited. In 1975, British Rail constructed an office block - Buchanan House (later named 'ScotRail House' between January 1985 and April 1994) - over part of the site with Glasgow Caledonian University occupying the rest of the site of the station. The Station Bar, nearby the old entrance, still exists.
St Enoch’s was a much grander affair. Located on St Enoch Square in the city centre, it was opened by the City of Glasgow Union Railway in 1876. The station, which included a hotel, was actually the first building in Glasgow to be electrically lit. In 1883, it was taken over by the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) and it became their headquarters. Services ran to most parts of the G&SWR system, including Ayr, Dumfries, Carlisle, Kilmarnock and Stranraer. In partnership with the Midland Railway, through services also ran to England, using the Settle and Carlisle Railway from Carlisle to Leeds, Sheffield, Derby and on to London St Pancras.
In the 1923 grouping it was taken over and then operated by the London Midland and Scottish Railway. After the nationalisation of the United Kingdom rail network, the station was run by British Railways. The suburban services to East Kilbride was diverted to St Enoch in 1959, when all but three services were dieselised. The diversion was said to be necessary, to reduce the numbers of trains at the nearby Glasgow Central. So you could see the writing was on the wall even then as to the busier station.
It was a large station with 12 platforms and two impressive semi-cylindrical glass/iron roofed train sheds. The station was sadly closed on 27 June 1966, again as part of the rationalisation of the railway system undertaken by the British Railways Board chairman, Dr. Richard Beeching. It was one of the biggest closures under the report and upon its closure, its 250 trains and 23,000 passengers a day were diverted to Central. After that, it was unceremoniously used as a car park before the hotel and the station structure were demolished in 1977, despite many howls of protests for its retention and redesign. Such a demolition would never be allowed to happen now and with hindsight, and in my opinion, it was one of the biggest acts of urban vandalism ever seen in Scotland. Happily, the huge clock that was suspended from the roof of the station was saved from destruction and is now on display in Cumbernauld Town Centre.
For a while, the site lay empty and it was rumoured that the Ministry of Defence was relocating there. However, this was nothing more than a pipe dream as it’s very very rare for London to give up such major parts of the Civil Service. The site of the station is now occupied by another glass structure, the St Enoch Centre, a large shopping centre. The remains of the station and hotel were used to help in fill the Queen's Dock, today the home of the Scottish Events Campus (SEC), previously known as the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. So technically the station sits under that I suppose.
Though the mainline station is gone, parts of the arched approach embankments (now containing shops and restaurants) can be seen to the east of the shopping centre's car park on Osborne Street. Although the short remaining section which once led into the station now goes nowhere, the southern section remains as a freight line along the route of the Glasgow City Union Railway, crossing the Clydebridge Viaduct of 1899 which spans the River Clyde.