As a native of Lanarkshire, Glasgow Central was always my entry point to the city, with Queen Street being a mysterious and exotic place. Arriving into the Low Level platforms as a kid, the first thing that hit you was always the smell. It’s distinctive, pungent, but not nauseating. It’s a smell that affects all the low level stations in Glasgow, and the Subway stations at Buchanan and St. Enoch. For long enough I assumed it to be sewage, and it was only recently I discovered what it actually was. Many moons ago, above the city centre at Pinkston was a dump for waste Chemicals out of the St. Rollox Chemical works (near the famous railway works). While the chemical dump is long gone, sufficient amounts of waste have leeched into the soil and run downhill towards the Clyde. On their way, they encounter the railway tunnels under Bath Street, Buchanan Street and Argyle Street. As these tunnels are brick lined, the nastiness simply oozes through the walls. It’s nothing especially toxic, just stinky. Like rotten eggs left in the sun. So there you have it, the unique smell of Glasgows low level railways.
I spent years travelling in and out of Central. The great thing is that whilst it's been carefully modernised it's features have been kept. The hotel had a very poor reputation in the 80s and 90s (rooms by the hour as it were) but it's been completely updated and is now very smart.
I'm an architecture student in Glasgow and we were taught about the stations that used to be here. My professor described St Enoch as one of the most beautiful stations ever designed, and is one of the biggest losses Glasgow has faced
Sadly the building was pulled down before the preservation moment could get it’s act together to save it. It’s unlikely such a demolition would be allowed today but the 1970s were an odd time for older buildings - look at London Euston. But the spoil from the station was used to infill the Queens Dock where the current SEC complex stands on the banks of the Clyde so technically the station sits under that.
Glasgow Central is one of the most outstanding railway stations in the UK.Glaswegians are rightly proud of it. It has everything- splendid giant roof, generous concourse, and excellent architecture. I went to Glasgow in the 1970s, and the destination board then still had square-shaped metal sections hung up with station names beautifully printed. I think that this station is better than most of the London termini, ruined by having boring concrete roofing.
It seems obvious to me that the reason they find that railway stations are not big enough, is because trains stop there and take up space. If they found a way to get passengers on and off the trains without stopping, like they used to do with mail bags and a handy track side hook, there would be space for a new train every few mins. All the freed up platform space would give ample room for the ambulances.
Delivery of passengers would be straightforward: sideways ejection into nets or padded capture areas. Uptake would be harder, but one could design something like the water scoops on non-stop expresses. Elon Musk could probably develop the idea--or at least, sell it.
Glasgow St Enoch was closed as part of the Beeching Cuts in 1966 and was demolished, along with its hotel in 1977 (despite protests), and is now the site of a large modern glass shopping centre. The 250 daily services into St Enoch were diverted into Glasgow Central Station. At one time express services ran to Glasgow St Enoch from London St Pancras. As the trains took a longer route via the Settle and Carlisle line, then the Glasgow and South Western route via Dumfries and Kilmarnock and took longer, the service was promoted as being more scenic and luxurious than the present day WCML route. There is still an underground St Enoch station on the circular Glasgow Subway. Glasgow Buchanan Street was closed at the same time and the goods station was converted into the very fine modern Buchanan bus station, from which coach services run to all parts of the UK.
Ah, the Thames-Clyde Express, which was anything but fast. I once came back from Glasgow on that c. 1973, and if your granny insisted on sitting with her back to the engine, she'd be up and down like a frog in a bottle come Leeds and Derby.
I’d often felt the bus station felt grander than others I’d been in! That it used to be on the railway helps explain it. Such a shame about St Enoch. I didn’t realise there was a Buchanan Street station separate from Queen St either, goes to show the parallelism of the Subway was nearer 1:1 for a long time.
Not meaning to be ‘that guy’ but Buchanan Bus Station is actually built on the Goods Yard of the former station but also part of what was Parliamentary Road. The station was actually slightly further north. The entrance to what was the railway station is under an office block called Buchanan House and which was previously known as ScotRail House. The remainder of the station sits under what is now Glasgow Caledonian University. Two parts of the station complex are still with us tho. The entrance to the Buchanan Street tunnel, through which trains ran into the station, still exists at Sighthill under the M8 motorway although access to the tunnel is blocked off and it appears to be flooded. I’d imagined it’s infilled too. Also one of the platform walls is still visible to the side of Buchanan House. For all Beeching’s faults, St Enoch’s closure was pretty inevitable. It had been less and less busy in the 1950 and it’s closure was only foreshortened by the transfer of some commuter services from Glasgow Central which had capacity issues. What was borderline criminal was what happened to St Enoch’s. It was used as a car park but it was hoped that the site would be saved. At one stage it was hoped the entire Ministry of Defence would relocate from London to the site. But it never happened as it was rare for London to give up that large a part of the Civil Service although there are some MOD offices further along Argyle Street. Sadly, before the movement to save such buildings could get organised in the 1970s it was pulled down. Fortunately the Station Clock was saved and is now visible in the Cumbernauld Shopping Centre. It had a very prominent role in the iconic film ‘Gregory’s Girl’.
St Enoch was one of the destinations carved at St Pancras station. Presumably it still is, I haven't been back since it went international. Nothing went further than Leeds by the 1970s, and most trains stopped well before, at Sheffield, or somewhere in the East Midlands. Outside the rush hours, St. Pancras was remarkably quiet for a London mainline terminus, and named trains to Glasgow were beyond imagining.
The Class 303 Blue Trains were indeed excellent, but they had a very painful birth. They suffered transformer explosions which required the temporary reintroduction of steam, until the issues (of which there were several but in particular there were problems with the mercury arc rectifiers) were resolved. From then on they were perfectly solid EMUs.
The large open concourse is a really great place to do people watching while waiting for one's train, or meeting relatives before venturing into the city to have a meal and see a show.
I've only ever been to Glasgow Central twice and memories of it mainly consist of how great the showers were. Admittedly I was coming back from T iin The Park, so anything would do, but I remember them being clean and ornate and how really well run they were. Also, I remember a bakery nearby that had so much sugar in just one cake my gums receeded before the thing hit my teeth. Oh, and the staff were really nice when I thought I had lost something. I feel like I want to go back up and look around the place again now. Thank you Jago!
Very interesting 😊👍 As a Londoner born and raised who now lives in Scotland, I find learning about my new adopted homeland a fascinating experience whatever the aspect. I'm an ex GWR man myself and my son is currently dispatching for GWR at Paddington, so I love any railway history titbits. I have a real fondness for Glasgow, and especially Glasgow Central Station. Our family all pass through it when they come to visit, passing from the West Coast Mainline service on to the ScotRail service to Gourock and the Dunoon Ferry. It's a good looking and well functioning station, as you would expect within a major city centre terminus, and has that comforting feel that you only get from a Victorian British railway station. Well ordered hustle and bustle.
That puzzled me too, so I looked it up. Apparently the bridge needed repairing so the Caledonian bought it and were going to build a new deck on top. But then they realised they'd have to demolish lots of expensive property so they built a new one instead, 50 yards downstream. Presumably by then they were already committed to a high-level station or decided it was the best layout anyway.
The "Heighlander's Bunnet" (Highlander's Umbrella) got its nickname from the impoverished whiskey sodden (according to Transport Fever 2 😡) evicted tenants who moved to Glasgow in search of work or emigration and couldn't afford the station waiting rooms, so sheltered under the bridge. Nowadays the station offers shelter to every Glasgow tribe, especially at 4pm on a Saturday. I confess I was hoping for a Jago "you are the drunk middle aged hen party to my teenage goth". Queen Street maybe? St Enochs is worth padding out, and there's the Underground.
I’d love a full video on the low level trains as well! They seem fairly normal when you’re used to them, but as hinted in this video, they had the potential to be an entirely separate metro system before they were bought up by larger railways.
I believe the 'Highland man's Umbrella' expression came from the fact that when people came to Glasgow in it's industrial heyday, the Irish tended to settle in the east end and the Gaelic speaking people from the Highlands settled in the west end towards Partick etc. They would meet underneath there on Sundays and then go for walks, picnics etc in the various parks after church on Sunday celebrating the sabbath in a collective Presbyterian way together.
My dad tells me St. Enoch was the most beautiful of the three Glasgow main stations. I'll have to take his word for it though I'm too young to have seen it, all that's left of St. Enoch now is the clock now living in Cumbernauld and the rubble they used as landfill when they were filling in the dock to build the SECC in the 80's
I don't know what's worse; having your remains used to fill in a dock or spend the rest of eternity in Cumbernauld. I'm lying, I do know, burial please.
Happy memories of train spotting in all Glasgow stations in 1950's. Fellow spotters will remember hanging out at platform 11 - one of the outermost and allowed you to scrutinize comings & goings - with special attention to London trains, always named and interesting. Wonderful days.
There are guided tours of the disused parts of the station, there are parts of the low-level station and abandoned platforms to be seen. Well worth a trip. It amuses me a little that the Clockwork Orange doesn't connect with either Central or Queen Street. Evidence of the competing factions when the building boom was in full swing.
@@johnmccallum8512 John, the track's always been fine. It was called The Shoogle because of the design of the carriages - which were somewhat top-heavy - and shoogled from side to side.
The Glasgow Subway was designed so that it linked up three of the city's main line stations. Unfortunately they picked the wrong ones: Bridge Street, St Enoch and Buchanan Street. Bridge Street went quite early on, and St Enoch and Buchanan Street fell victim to Dr Beeching, leaving Central and Queen Street which were the termini the Subway hadn't bothered with.
@@peterrivet648 It's just a pity that the Goverment didn't have the Billions to spend on underground rail services,OH wait they did and london got it all.🤣
@@peterrivet648 Given the recent makeover at Queen Street, you would have thought they could have put an interchange in, or just a medium sized tunnel with a travelator. I guess the cost is not worth it. Central is a little too far for a practical connection.
'Elegant, but functional' is how I'd describe Glasgow Central in less than 5 words. One of Glasgow's architectural highlights to be sure, up there with the City Chambers, Glasgow Cathedral, Kelvingrove Art Galleries, Glasgow University Gilbert Scott building, to name a few examples. It's a fair point to make that, compared to St. Enoch & Buchanan Street, Central got off fairly lightly during the 1950s & 60s, even with the temporary closure of the low level line, the section of the former Glasgow Central Railway that was reopened in 1979 (from Partick/Finnieston in the city's west end to Rutherglen in the southeast) now forms the core section of the extremely busy Argyle Line commuter line which connects Clydebank in neighbouring West Dunbartonshire with Glasgow and Hamilton/Motherwell/Larkhall/Lanark in North/South Lanarkshire. The line as a whole gets it's name from this section, as it runs more-or-less directly underneath Argyle Street from Anderston to Argyle St station. Indeed, it's closure in 1964, under very different circumstances granted, seems like utter madness now. 3:58 That's a flashback and a half: a Class 334 Juniper (ordered/built in the late 90s/early 2000s to replace the remaining Class 303s then in service; the South West Class 458s and the erstwhile Gatwick Express Class 460 'Darth Vaders' are/were part of the same family of units) in the old Strathclyde Passenger Transport 'Carmine & Cream' livery. The 303s wouldn't bow out of service altogether until December 2002, in large part due to a laundry list of techincal issues with the 334s as built, in common with the aforementioned 458s/460s. But yes, the 303s are rightly held up as one of the icons of Glasgow's transport history, alongside the Subway, the erstwhile trams and the Leyland Atlantean or LAs as they are known here (Glasgow's answer to the Routemaster in many respects), even though they had a painful gestation as @lordmuntague points out (locally built too, in the Pressed Steel factory in Linwood, near Paisley). But I digress: even though I knew most of the facts this time around as a Glaswegian/Bankie, it was refreshing to have them relayed to me, Jago-style. :)
I spent a month in 1976 wandering around Scotland. I was 16 at the time and my Dad was a visiting professor in Aberdeen. I have no idea how many times I walked between Glasgow Central and Glasgow Queen Street. At least it was only a couple of blocks.
Magnificent station, one of my favourites of all UK stations. Been there several times, most recently in September 2022, arriving from Euston and my partner and I spending two nights in Glasgow before going on by train on the equally magnificent West Highland Line for three nights in Fort William, and one day during our stay there went on The Jacobite to Mallaig and back, which was our main reason for going to FW. As well as the famous Subway, which curiously doesn't serve Glasgow Central, Glasgow also has a great suburban rail network, unlike Edinburgh. Kind regards, David, Crouch End, N8
I've only been to Glasgow once to a conference. I traveled by train and entered and departed the city via Glasgow Central. I was impressed by the station as it “flowed“ - it had an air of Art Nouveau about it with its layout.
The Blue Trains were still being used - albeit in the old (and much-missed and far snazzier) Strathclyde Passenger Transport livery - all the way up until the late 1990s and early 2000s. I have fond memories of taking them from Central and down the Paisley Canal line (a true survivor, that line) - there was even one with the old guard's van that me and my classmates used to stand in and try to remain standing for the duration of the trip. Not easy to do, given that the suspension on those beasts could have given a Pacer a run for it's money (but far more beloved)! They also smelled of burning diesel and cat hair. Very peculiar. Edit to add: something not mentioned in the video is that the Low Level at Central *isn't* the original Low Level station. Today there's two platforms (arranged around one of the jakiest island platforms to have ever crawled out of the Clyde) but at one point, there were *four* platforms down in the bowels of Central. The other two platforms are still there: they're just hidden away behind the massive (and spectacularly cruddy) plastic-and-metal panelling. So, whilst Central *today* has seventeen platforms, it should really have nineteen (and if the idiots at SPT get their rear ends in gear, that could be jumped up to 21 with a light rail connection to the airport and yes, we have *more* than enough space in the existing station to whack on two more surface-level platforms).
I traveled to Glasgow for the first time by train last week (from Manchester Piccadilly as, shock-horror, a TPE Anglo-Scot train was actually running!!!) and really didn't know what to expect. I got off the train at Glasgow Central station with an open mind about the station (and the city, it had been 22 years since I was even in Scotland) and was instantly in awe of the station architecture. The station definitely set a huge impression on the city it serves.
I grew up in Glasgow and used the station extensively to get in to the city centre from the Southern suburbs where I lived. One very memorable time was when the station had their 100th anniversary - they bought in an APT for all to see, which was still being developed at the time. I visited the station for the first time in over 20 years recently; it still has much the same layout, although nicely modernised now. Fares to where I used to live are unbelievably cheap compared to London, where I live now.
The Caley and GSWR also shared a terminus at Gorbals Cross called South Side. This was removed when the City of Glasgow Union railway was built to cross the Clyde near Glasgow Bridge with access to the new St Enoch Station. This left the Caley as the main user of Bridge Street. They continued to use it for commuter trains after the construction of the original Central -- in fact it was extended in the 1890s. The reason for this was that the adjacent Jamaica St road bridge was a toll bridge, so hansom cab drivers wouldn't cross it -- 'Don't go sarf of the river, mate' was not just a London thing. The thinking was that long-distance travellers would mostly be middle-class West-Enders who would arrive in cabs for the prestigious trains from Central, while the commuters would be willing to walk across the river to Bridge Street.
Had your camera on the train been facing the other direction on its route into Glasgow Central you would have seen the remains of the east wall and entrance doorways to the old demolished Bridge Street station.
Not sure the incline is there for the reason you think. It's simply that the bridge over the Clyde is so much higher than the road level, so you're going to have a slope whatever you do.
The fact Glasgow Central still does what it was meant to do without a major overhaul is something to be applauded. I was surprised at 5:46 to see a Tim Horton's at the station. A bit of Canada in the heart of Scotland.
Many memories of Glasgow Central. I was a post graduate at Strathclyde University in the early 1980s. Used to enjoy the journey from the South on the WCML. At the time, the departures were indicated on boards which were put up manually in a wooden building which I think is now used as a restaurant. The inevitable change to an automatic departure board came soon after.
It's not often I find a more positive, informative and well-thought-out video on YT, than those posted here by Jago Hazzard. On a trite note, I especially enjoy the length of these posts, as the majority are 10 minutes or less. My family on my father's side were all railroad people, having come to America in the 1830's and settled in the greater Boston, Massachusetts area and its numerous neighborhoods. This subject matter is near and dear to my heart and heritage and I do truly appreciate the expertise and dedication of this channel creator. Cheers.
Good old Glasgow Central! It doesnt matter if you are commuting or just heading into town for a night out, you always naturally look up and admire the roof - it was strange when all the scaffolding came down and you saw it complete after years of being covered in scaffolding. I can remember when you could drive up the tunnel from Hope Street and park in the area around the current platform 13... the entrance was just next to the old Red Star parcel office, and if you look on the wall above, you can still see the old Caledonian Railway ghost sign, bleached into the sandstone. As far as Grahamston goes, one of the few original buildings from there is the Grant Arms, which is wedged to the side of the Hielanman's Umbrella (there is also the Mackintosh hotel building, but you do not want to go there as its a hostel these days). You can take a tour of the hidden station levels which were sealed up for decades and have lots of interesting features. Glasgow may have lost the iconic St Enochs, (I work in St Enochs Square and wish I didnt have to look at that stupid glass box that replaced the station) but Queen Street and Central are both looking good these days. As a side note, the last trains out of Central on a Friday or Saturday night are almost always great fun - "Carriage Karaoke" needs to catch on elsewhere! lol!
Central is one of the very best city centre termini in the UK. It was beautiful when it was built and, surprisingly, it still is. If some Caledonian passengers were launched through time and arrived here in the present day, they would easily recognise the old place. It's such an iconic Glasgow landmark that civil unrest would break out if a concrete "upgrade" were ever announced.
I changed trains at Glasgow Central in 2019 when I visited a friend in Scotland and I saw how busy that station is, I had to look at departure boards to get around it and even made one wrong turn. Brilliant video by the way. :)
St.Enoch always seemed a more exciting station. Its hotel overlooked St.Enoch square. The winners of the Scottish cup final always appeared on the hotel's balcony to display the trophy and the Square could accommodate a huge number of supporters. In British Rail days, the arrival of trains from London and other English cities was sometimes switched between St. Enoch and Central, causing those trying to meet people off the train to scurry from one to the other. The switch always seemed to be announced at very short notice. There is still a Bridge Street station on the Glasgow subway system. I don't know if it's on the site of the early mainline station, but it's in exactly the most suitable place.
Thank you for doing a video on Glasgow. Having recently moved here from London it is oddly comforting to have your channel also seemingly migrating northwards. The low level platforms at Central have a fascinating history all of their own, and indeed I believe one has recently been opened as a tourist attraction as part of a Transport History museum, along with a fair length of previously un-used subterranean track. This is of course in addition to the Glasgow Subway, which as I have discovered, is only one of the many railway services that criss-cross the city, some of which also run partially underground. So there is a lot here to cover, and I look forward to your future videos. I know Geoff Marshal has previously done a piece on the subway - or was that you? - Sorry I sometimes get confused... You are both so interesting to watch.
Glad to have you here Jenny! Yes, lots of people think the Subway is the only one. I travel on the low level lines far more often than the Subway. I love the viaducts. And that it feels very Metropolitan or Circle line, versus the dinky wee Subway which was of course tunnel-bored. I’d love to see a Jago video about the low level network! The closures, station moving, and recent reopenings seem very Jago.
Speaking of underground Glasgow routes, Jago should do a video on the Glasgow Central Railway. By the time of its construction in 1890, city authorities were aware of the aesthetic appeal of the Glasgow's architecture, forcing the railway to go underground for much of its route through the centre. This made it notorious for its smoky atmosphere from the beginning, combining bunker first running, oil lamp signals and some unconventional running practices with an intensive schedule.
@@borderlands6606 I wouldn't be surprised if that's on the cards! Apart from anything else it makes a fascinating contrast with the Underground, particularly the Met and District cut-and-cover lines. Incredibly, like the parallel line through Queen Street LL, it stayed steam-worked until the 1960s when it was closed, but fortunately a better vision came in the 1970s where it was electrified and reopened. Still feels a bit gloomy and dank though.
As far as I know (and I am sure to be corrected!) Glasgow Central and Glasgow Queen Street are the only stations with a bus shuttle service that you can use a train ticket on. They really need to be connected underground but that would be quite a challenge.
Back in the late 70s I lived in Leeds, worked in Glasgow and commuted home every weekend. The return journey was via Carlisle where they would tap all the wheels and hook up an electric loco. A few times I fell asleep only to wake up in the station where I had to climb over the entrance gate to get out. #goodolddays
Since 1974, electric traction operated continuously from London Euston to Glasgow Central. If there was a change of loco in Carlisle, it must have been due to a diversion, perhaps for weekend engineering works. Sorry, I see now, you were coming from Leeds, presumably over the settle and Carlisle line. This would have meant a change from diesel to electric, unless it continued via Dumfries, on the Glasgow & South Western route.
I worked in Central hotel for many years,the stories of"the other Glasgow beneath" must come from the miles of tunnels and sub basements(3 levels),on the first one there is maintenance,housekeeping and stores,on the one below is a disused swimming pool and fitness centre,and below the pool is the tunnels that once stretched to Queen st. station,which are now bricked up,and it`s VERY creepy,ideal to film a horror movie.
If there is a tunnel between the two stations, surely it would make sense to exploit that somehow. That said, the walk between the two means you get to see some fine architecture - and buskers!
Great video, you really captures essentials of Glasgow Central. It has so many interesting aspects you you probably do a whole series of videos on this station.
If I win the lottery I will be commissioning Jago for an episode on Glasgow's lost railway lines & stations. Would love to hear a deeper dive on the routes to the west of the City, one line that left Central/Anderston and went towards Maryhill via the Botanics & Kirklee, plus the route that went via Crow Road & Kelvinside to Maryhill.
I was just there yesterday as a tourist and had to google the "meet me at the shell". Makes me way too excited now to see your video coming up right after actually visiting it.
Love the video, just one major change worthy of a mention - the old departure boards were manual, right into the 1980s. The line of windows seen in the upper floor of the wooden-facaded building on the concourse were numbered to represent each platform. Canvas blinds with wooden frames would be placed in the window detailing the destination and calling points. The time would be placed first in the smaller upper panes, then the main blind in the big pane. As you saw the man approach the window with a frame you'd rush off to your platform ahead of the crowd! Lots of archive photos available.
Growing up we never said “meet me at the shell”, it was meet me under the big clock. St Enoch should never have been closed, it was a stunning station and it’s hotel was the first to go to electric lighting
You know, thinking about it I don't think I've ever known anyone to say to meet them at the shell We all say under the clock (such might as well be the same thing, let's be honest)
Brilliant as always Jago. As a native Glaswegian I was excited to see this show up in my notifs. If you haven’t seen already there’s a BBC Scotland program ‘Inside Central Station’ that goes over the day to day running of the station, highly recommended. If you get the chance I’d love to see you cover the other big station in Glasgow, Queen Street. It’s certainly got a more turbulent history.
Another belter Jago. So much knowledge and info all condensed into a short video that’s presented so carefully as to enthral us not overwhelm us. Hats off again you genius, you deserve a job on tv!
Was intrigued about the bridge needing to be high when there was a lower road bridge behind, so I looked it up. Apparently the road bridge needed repairing so the Caledonian bought it and were going to build a new deck on top. But then they realised they'd have to demolish lots of expensive property so they built a new one instead, 50 yards downstream. Presumably by then they were already committed to a high-level station or decided it was the best layout anyway. As for the Glasgow Low Level line, amazing to think that it was cut-and-cover underground like the Met/District/Circle but stayed steam-worked till it closed in the 1960s, as did the NBR Queen Street LL line till it was electrified! Given the parallels, I'm sure that some videos on these lines might be in the offing?
Great video as ever. We flew to Glasgow from London in 2019 and took the coach from Airport to city centre which dropped us near to Queen Street. Central station is where you get the train to the lovely Weymss Bay station.
TY Jago, Loving these Scottish video as I also was involved in the signaling upgrade from Glasgow Central towards Motherwell, One incident I had was when I had to work an extended Sunday night shift as I made an error that I needed to quickly fix before the trains to and from Glasgow Central were allowed to start running again for the Monday morning rush hour. Also I would like to point out there are so many amazing unsung Engineers that work on maintaining all these lines. I would love it if you would make; admittedly a very neeche video, about Relay Rooms and include something about electronic communication used on the railways.
A very good video, as always, but you didn't mention the triangular concourse area, with the ends of the platforms staggered to provide the maximum circulating space for crowds. This feature was shared with the similar, but smaller station at Edinburgh Princes Street. Apparently Donald Matheson got the idea from a trip to the USA where he had a look at American railway station design. Also a few bits of Bridge Street station still exist. You can see them on the up side of the railway just after you've crossed the Clyde.
Loved this video! My father was a civil engineer on the railways from the early 1970s, with the 1998 renovation being one of the last major projects he worked on before retirement in the 2000s. One of the benefits of being closely related to a railway employee was access to parts of the station that passengers never got to see. On a few occasions we had a bit of an exploration in the labyrinthine, dank and dingy tunnels, vault ands arches underneath Glasgow Central. I've got fond memories of riding the class 303s too, which ran up until about 2002 if I remember correctly.
Just before COVID my wife and I took a trip to Scotland which involved a bus trip from Inverness to Oban. About a half hour out from Oban she got violently car sick (something she is prone to). After consulting with our tour guide and determining the next days trip was going to worse in terms of bus travel I came up with an alternative…take Scottish Rail to Central Station in Glasgow. It worked out perfect and our hotel (The Jury Inn) was just around the corner. We had a great trip through some gorgeous countryside and then got to spend several days in Glasgow. We also linked up with the tour group at the hotel, no problems!
I was waiting to hear the Glaswegian song ringing in my ears, that is embraced around the world, "I belong to Glascow, dear old Glascow town....". I remember my grandmother singing it, and my father playing it on the pipes. As a bairn trying to get to sleep down here beneath the Southern Cross. Am I living in the past dear Jago? Well, why not!
Bro u r a legend how do you research, write a script, record and edit a video so quickly? They are so high in quality and yet you post sooo frequent. Whatever u r doing keep it up good jobb
As an adopted Weegie having lived here 30+ years I enjoyed that thanks. The airport link gave Central two additonal platforms, not one as you stated, explaining the increase from 13 to 15. These are the two slightly shorter platforms you see after going through the ticket gates, they are in the group of platforms to the right of the concourse which are sometimes referred to as the "Ayrshire Platforms". I often meet friends "under the clock" when having a night out in the City, as it's dry and convenient. There's a free piano to listen to as well. The Avanti ticket office is always busy - the other day there were about a dozen people in the queue even though the UK Government wants to abolish ticket offices as "superfluous in the mobile phone era" - rubbish!
For a long time, it was at the arches at the Gordon Street entrance, next to the war memorial, but has now been moved more towards the centre of the main concourse. That can always change though, depending on events within the station.
Since you presumably travelled by the Low Level to the Riverside Museum, alighting at Stobcross/Finnieston/Exhibition Centre, can we expect it to feature in 'All The Renamed Stations On The Argyle Line'?
@@Clivestravelandtrains yes, though Partickhill wasn't on the GCR, but the GCD. A better example might be Bridgeton Cross, which re-opened as plain Bridgeton, as the GCD station, Bridgeton Central, closed when the GCR was partially reinstated as the Argyle Line. Prior to nationalisation, it had also been Bridgeton Cross.
I still have a copy of the commemorative booklet published by British Railways in 1960 for the suburban electrification. The route map shows the following stations which now have slightly different names: Balloch Central, Dalmuir Park, Clydebank Central, Yoker High, Partickhill, Blairhill & Gartsherrie, Langside & Newlands and Neilston High. Plus of course Bridgeton Central and Balloch Pier which have since demised. A couple of those changes happened when British Rail had a purge of double-barrelled names, but as we have since then acquired new stations called Possilpark & Parkhouse and Priesthill & Darnley that policy seems to have went oot the windae. The station frontage of Bridgeton Central is still there, albeit as a shop or two now. Some of the track formation and mast supports are also visible in a number of locations, although private housing prevents a complete exploration unless you want to get done for trespassing!
Feels so neat to see you talking about a place I regularly visit each month or so. Glasgow Central is one of the stations I've probably spent the most time in.
Glasgow Central is a stunning station, when travelling up to Scotland I always use Glasgow Central as my arrival destination.... the lats trip however had to use Haymarket, great video
I did a lot of work in and around Glasgow and love this station it was the terminus for us getting from the ferry from larne to Stranraer and even though I drove from the ferry I always took a walk to the station and even this year on holiday in Scotland I took my wife to see the splendour of the station all she was interested in is where is the ladies, women eh,
My mate worked in that hotel when it was "Quality Hotel" in the 2000s. I heard some horror stories about the place, mostly the behaviour of the patrons lol
Jago old boy I hope I find you in good health @ 4:13 my heart did flutter I'm a bit of a perv for Victorian Engineer/Designers Pomp and ceremony WE RULE THE WORLD, and we had this railway-station built to prove it, but in modern days in all the clutter, it takes a swift eye to spot the Gems Romanesque Arch Central Station Wow I've arrived at the town that bred The Big Yin
As a native of Lanarkshire, Glasgow Central was always my entry point to the city, with Queen Street being a mysterious and exotic place. Arriving into the Low Level platforms as a kid, the first thing that hit you was always the smell. It’s distinctive, pungent, but not nauseating. It’s a smell that affects all the low level stations in Glasgow, and the Subway stations at Buchanan and St. Enoch. For long enough I assumed it to be sewage, and it was only recently I discovered what it actually was. Many moons ago, above the city centre at Pinkston was a dump for waste Chemicals out of the St. Rollox Chemical works (near the famous railway works). While the chemical dump is long gone, sufficient amounts of waste have leeched into the soil and run downhill towards the Clyde. On their way, they encounter the railway tunnels under Bath Street, Buchanan Street and Argyle Street. As these tunnels are brick lined, the nastiness simply oozes through the walls. It’s nothing especially toxic, just stinky. Like rotten eggs left in the sun. So there you have it, the unique smell of Glasgows low level railways.
I spent years travelling in and out of Central. The great thing is that whilst it's been carefully modernised it's features have been kept. The hotel had a very poor reputation in the 80s and 90s (rooms by the hour as it were) but it's been completely updated and is now very smart.
what does "rooms by the hour" mean? seedy, eg used for affairs?
Basically. Rooms where you could go for an illicit tryst if you wanted to.
@@54scottie you mean afternoon delight isn't a pudding? 😂
@@hairyairey depends on your taste and budget.
Rooms by the hour? But what do you do for the other 50 minutes?!
I'm an architecture student in Glasgow and we were taught about the stations that used to be here. My professor described St Enoch as one of the most beautiful stations ever designed, and is one of the biggest losses Glasgow has faced
There’s a famous quote about St Enoch; “a steel and glass structure of merit was replaced by a steel and glass structure”
Architectural loss; definitely. Railway loss: less so.
This is true. It was used as infill on the docks were the SECC, Armadillo and Hydro are now
Sadly the building was pulled down before the preservation moment could get it’s act together to save it. It’s unlikely such a demolition would be allowed today but the 1970s were an odd time for older buildings - look at London Euston. But the spoil from the station was used to infill the Queens Dock where the current SEC complex stands on the banks of the Clyde so technically the station sits under that.
@@rgmusicom Ah yes, that'd be the St. Enoch Shopping Centre. 'Home to the ultimate shopping, dining and cinema experience', it says on their website.
Everytime I hear Glasgow Central, the Billy Connolly song gets in my head🤣
Glasgow Central is one of the most outstanding railway stations in the UK.Glaswegians are rightly proud of it. It has everything- splendid giant roof, generous concourse, and excellent architecture. I went to Glasgow in the 1970s, and the destination board then still had square-shaped metal sections hung up with station names beautifully printed. I think that this station is better than most of the London termini, ruined by having boring concrete roofing.
It seems obvious to me that the reason they find that railway stations are not big enough, is because trains stop there and take up space. If they found a way to get passengers on and off the trains without stopping, like they used to do with mail bags and a handy track side hook, there would be space for a new train every few mins. All the freed up platform space would give ample room for the ambulances.
Deliver passengers by trebuchet - don't even have to go all the way into the station... 😂
Delivery of passengers would be straightforward: sideways ejection into nets or padded capture areas. Uptake would be harder, but one could design something like the water scoops on non-stop expresses. Elon Musk could probably develop the idea--or at least, sell it.
@@derektaylor2941 I think it would be a 'tab'
We should have gone double decker like the contintent
Glasgow St Enoch was closed as part of the Beeching Cuts in 1966 and was demolished, along with its hotel in 1977 (despite protests), and is now the site of a large modern glass shopping centre. The 250 daily services into St Enoch were diverted into Glasgow Central Station. At one time express services ran to Glasgow St Enoch from London St Pancras. As the trains took a longer route via the Settle and Carlisle line, then the Glasgow and South Western route via Dumfries and Kilmarnock and took longer, the service was promoted as being more scenic and luxurious than the present day WCML route. There is still an underground St Enoch station on the circular Glasgow Subway.
Glasgow Buchanan Street was closed at the same time and the goods station was converted into the very fine modern Buchanan bus station, from which coach services run to all parts of the UK.
Good comments by you. What a pity that St Enoch was wrecked by Beeching.
Ah, the Thames-Clyde Express, which was anything but fast. I once came back from Glasgow on that c.
1973, and if your granny insisted on sitting with her back to the engine, she'd be up and down like a frog in a bottle come Leeds and Derby.
I’d often felt the bus station felt grander than others I’d been in! That it used to be on the railway helps explain it.
Such a shame about St Enoch.
I didn’t realise there was a Buchanan Street station separate from Queen St either, goes to show the parallelism of the Subway was nearer 1:1 for a long time.
Not meaning to be ‘that guy’ but Buchanan Bus Station is actually built on the Goods Yard of the former station but also part of what was Parliamentary Road. The station was actually slightly further north. The entrance to what was the railway station is under an office block called Buchanan House and which was previously known as ScotRail House. The remainder of the station sits under what is now Glasgow Caledonian University.
Two parts of the station complex are still with us tho. The entrance to the Buchanan Street tunnel, through which trains ran into the station, still exists at Sighthill under the M8 motorway although access to the tunnel is blocked off and it appears to be flooded. I’d imagined it’s infilled too. Also one of the platform walls is still visible to the side of Buchanan House.
For all Beeching’s faults, St Enoch’s closure was pretty inevitable. It had been less and less busy in the 1950 and it’s closure was only foreshortened by the transfer of some commuter services from Glasgow Central which had capacity issues.
What was borderline criminal was what happened to St Enoch’s. It was used as a car park but it was hoped that the site would be saved. At one stage it was hoped the entire Ministry of Defence would relocate from London to the site. But it never happened as it was rare for London to give up that large a part of the Civil Service although there are some MOD offices further along Argyle Street. Sadly, before the movement to save such buildings could get organised in the 1970s it was pulled down. Fortunately the Station Clock was saved and is now visible in the Cumbernauld Shopping Centre. It had a very prominent role in the iconic film ‘Gregory’s Girl’.
St Enoch was one of the destinations carved at St Pancras station. Presumably it still is, I haven't been back since it went international. Nothing went further than Leeds by the 1970s, and most trains stopped well before, at Sheffield, or somewhere in the East Midlands. Outside the rush hours, St. Pancras was remarkably quiet for a London mainline terminus, and named trains to Glasgow were beyond imagining.
The Class 303 Blue Trains were indeed excellent, but they had a very painful birth. They suffered transformer explosions which required the temporary reintroduction of steam, until the issues (of which there were several but in particular there were problems with the mercury arc rectifiers) were resolved. From then on they were perfectly solid EMUs.
Until they were ruined by a 1980s rebuild, you could sit at the front and look through a glass partition into - and out of - the driver's cab.
The large open concourse is a really great place to do people watching while waiting for one's train, or meeting relatives before venturing into the city to have a meal and see a show.
I've only ever been to Glasgow Central twice and memories of it mainly consist of how great the showers were. Admittedly I was coming back from T iin The Park, so anything would do, but I remember them being clean and ornate and how really well run they were. Also, I remember a bakery nearby that had so much sugar in just one cake my gums receeded before the thing hit my teeth. Oh, and the staff were really nice when I thought I had lost something. I feel like I want to go back up and look around the place again now. Thank you Jago!
Very interesting 😊👍
As a Londoner born and raised who now lives in Scotland, I find learning about my new adopted homeland a fascinating experience whatever the aspect.
I'm an ex GWR man myself and my son is currently dispatching for GWR at Paddington, so I love any railway history titbits.
I have a real fondness for Glasgow, and especially Glasgow Central Station. Our family all pass through it when they come to visit, passing from the West Coast Mainline service on to the ScotRail service to Gourock and the Dunoon Ferry.
It's a good looking and well functioning station, as you would expect within a major city centre terminus, and has that comforting feel that you only get from a Victorian British railway station.
Well ordered hustle and bustle.
I first visited Glasgow Central on a school trip in 1985, I’ve loved it ever since, every visit since has only enhanced my view of the architecture.
The boat owners: "The new bridge must be _this_ tall or our ships wouldn't fit!"
Beside the new bridge: _an old bridge half as tall_
That puzzled me too, so I looked it up. Apparently the bridge needed repairing so the Caledonian bought it and were going to build a new deck on top. But then they realised they'd have to demolish lots of expensive property so they built a new one instead, 50 yards downstream. Presumably by then they were already committed to a high-level station or decided it was the best layout anyway.
You forget to mention the low level royal mail railway that connects from central to the former royal mail depot which still exists
The "Heighlander's Bunnet" (Highlander's Umbrella) got its nickname from the impoverished whiskey sodden (according to Transport Fever 2 😡) evicted tenants who moved to Glasgow in search of work or emigration and couldn't afford the station waiting rooms, so sheltered under the bridge.
Nowadays the station offers shelter to every Glasgow tribe, especially at 4pm on a Saturday. I confess I was hoping for a Jago "you are the drunk middle aged hen party to my teenage goth".
Queen Street maybe? St Enochs is worth padding out, and there's the Underground.
I’d love a full video on the low level trains as well! They seem fairly normal when you’re used to them, but as hinted in this video, they had the potential to be an entirely separate metro system before they were bought up by larger railways.
I believe the 'Highland man's Umbrella' expression came from the fact that when people came to Glasgow in it's industrial heyday, the Irish tended to settle in the east end and the Gaelic speaking people from the Highlands settled in the west end towards Partick etc. They would meet underneath there on Sundays and then go for walks, picnics etc in the various parks after church on Sunday celebrating the sabbath in a collective Presbyterian way together.
My dad tells me St. Enoch was the most beautiful of the three Glasgow main stations.
I'll have to take his word for it though I'm too young to have seen it, all that's left of St. Enoch now is the clock now living in Cumbernauld and the rubble they used as landfill when they were filling in the dock to build the SECC in the 80's
I don't know what's worse; having your remains used to fill in a dock or spend the rest of eternity in Cumbernauld.
I'm lying, I do know, burial please.
Happy memories of train spotting in all Glasgow stations in 1950's. Fellow spotters will remember hanging out at platform 11 - one of the outermost and allowed you to scrutinize comings & goings - with special attention to London trains, always named and interesting. Wonderful days.
I feel Glasgow Central is an underappreciated station for an underappreciated city.
Must mention the Coronation Scot, by Vivian Ellis theme to the BBC's Paul Temple.
There are guided tours of the disused parts of the station, there are parts of the low-level station and abandoned platforms to be seen. Well worth a trip.
It amuses me a little that the Clockwork Orange doesn't connect with either Central or Queen Street. Evidence of the competing factions when the building boom was in full swing.
The Clockwork Orange ,is that what it is called now when I was a wee lad it was The Shoogle from the poor state of the track.
@@johnmccallum8512 John, the track's always been fine. It was called The Shoogle because of the design of the carriages - which were somewhat top-heavy - and shoogled from side to side.
The Glasgow Subway was designed so that it linked up three of the city's main line stations. Unfortunately they picked the wrong ones: Bridge Street, St Enoch and Buchanan Street. Bridge Street went quite early on, and St Enoch and Buchanan Street fell victim to Dr Beeching, leaving Central and Queen Street which were the termini the Subway hadn't bothered with.
@@peterrivet648 It's just a pity that the Goverment didn't have the Billions to spend on underground rail services,OH wait they did and london got it all.🤣
@@peterrivet648 Given the recent makeover at Queen Street, you would have thought they could have put an interchange in, or just a medium sized tunnel with a travelator. I guess the cost is not worth it.
Central is a little too far for a practical connection.
'Elegant, but functional' is how I'd describe Glasgow Central in less than 5 words. One of Glasgow's architectural highlights to be sure, up there with the City Chambers, Glasgow Cathedral, Kelvingrove Art Galleries, Glasgow University Gilbert Scott building, to name a few examples.
It's a fair point to make that, compared to St. Enoch & Buchanan Street, Central got off fairly lightly during the 1950s & 60s, even with the temporary closure of the low level line, the section of the former Glasgow Central Railway that was reopened in 1979 (from Partick/Finnieston in the city's west end to Rutherglen in the southeast) now forms the core section of the extremely busy Argyle Line commuter line which connects Clydebank in neighbouring West Dunbartonshire with Glasgow and Hamilton/Motherwell/Larkhall/Lanark in North/South Lanarkshire. The line as a whole gets it's name from this section, as it runs more-or-less directly underneath Argyle Street from Anderston to Argyle St station. Indeed, it's closure in 1964, under very different circumstances granted, seems like utter madness now.
3:58 That's a flashback and a half: a Class 334 Juniper (ordered/built in the late 90s/early 2000s to replace the remaining Class 303s then in service; the South West Class 458s and the erstwhile Gatwick Express Class 460 'Darth Vaders' are/were part of the same family of units) in the old Strathclyde Passenger Transport 'Carmine & Cream' livery. The 303s wouldn't bow out of service altogether until December 2002, in large part due to a laundry list of techincal issues with the 334s as built, in common with the aforementioned 458s/460s. But yes, the 303s are rightly held up as one of the icons of Glasgow's transport history, alongside the Subway, the erstwhile trams and the Leyland Atlantean or LAs as they are known here (Glasgow's answer to the Routemaster in many respects), even though they had a painful gestation as @lordmuntague points out (locally built too, in the Pressed Steel factory in Linwood, near Paisley).
But I digress: even though I knew most of the facts this time around as a Glaswegian/Bankie, it was refreshing to have them relayed to me, Jago-style. :)
I spent a month in 1976 wandering around Scotland. I was 16 at the time and my Dad was a visiting professor in Aberdeen. I have no idea how many times I walked between Glasgow Central and Glasgow Queen Street. At least it was only a couple of blocks.
I have a tendency to get lost between the two though!
Magnificent station, one of my favourites of all UK stations. Been there several times, most recently in September 2022, arriving from Euston and my partner and I spending two nights in Glasgow before going on by train on the equally magnificent West Highland Line for three nights in Fort William, and one day during our stay there went on The Jacobite to Mallaig and back, which was our main reason for going to FW. As well as the famous Subway, which curiously doesn't serve Glasgow Central, Glasgow also has a great suburban rail network, unlike Edinburgh. Kind regards, David, Crouch End, N8
I've only been to Glasgow once to a conference. I traveled by train and entered and departed the city via Glasgow Central. I was impressed by the station as it “flowed“ - it had an air of Art Nouveau about it with its layout.
The Blue Trains were still being used - albeit in the old (and much-missed and far snazzier) Strathclyde Passenger Transport livery - all the way up until the late 1990s and early 2000s. I have fond memories of taking them from Central and down the Paisley Canal line (a true survivor, that line) - there was even one with the old guard's van that me and my classmates used to stand in and try to remain standing for the duration of the trip. Not easy to do, given that the suspension on those beasts could have given a Pacer a run for it's money (but far more beloved)! They also smelled of burning diesel and cat hair. Very peculiar.
Edit to add: something not mentioned in the video is that the Low Level at Central *isn't* the original Low Level station. Today there's two platforms (arranged around one of the jakiest island platforms to have ever crawled out of the Clyde) but at one point, there were *four* platforms down in the bowels of Central. The other two platforms are still there: they're just hidden away behind the massive (and spectacularly cruddy) plastic-and-metal panelling. So, whilst Central *today* has seventeen platforms, it should really have nineteen (and if the idiots at SPT get their rear ends in gear, that could be jumped up to 21 with a light rail connection to the airport and yes, we have *more* than enough space in the existing station to whack on two more surface-level platforms).
I traveled to Glasgow for the first time by train last week (from Manchester Piccadilly as, shock-horror, a TPE Anglo-Scot train was actually running!!!) and really didn't know what to expect. I got off the train at Glasgow Central station with an open mind about the station (and the city, it had been 22 years since I was even in Scotland) and was instantly in awe of the station architecture. The station definitely set a huge impression on the city it serves.
I grew up in Glasgow and used the station extensively to get in to the city centre from the Southern suburbs where I lived. One very memorable time was when the station had their 100th anniversary - they bought in an APT for all to see, which was still being developed at the time. I visited the station for the first time in over 20 years recently; it still has much the same layout, although nicely modernised now. Fares to where I used to live are unbelievably cheap compared to London, where I live now.
A day when a Jago video appears is what we call a good day.
Stations were so grand. Now we're lucky to get a public toilet with some tracks out front. Hey here's my train! Love your work sir.
The Caley and GSWR also shared a terminus at Gorbals Cross called South Side. This was removed when the City of Glasgow Union railway was built to cross the Clyde near Glasgow Bridge with access to the new St Enoch Station. This left the Caley as the main user of Bridge Street. They continued to use it for commuter trains after the construction of the original Central -- in fact it was extended in the 1890s. The reason for this was that the adjacent Jamaica St road bridge was a toll bridge, so hansom cab drivers wouldn't cross it -- 'Don't go sarf of the river, mate' was not just a London thing. The thinking was that long-distance travellers would mostly be middle-class West-Enders who would arrive in cabs for the prestigious trains from Central, while the commuters would be willing to walk across the river to Bridge Street.
My station
Did he not say on the Waverley video it was cheaper to go home and come back? Or did I just make that up?
Had your camera on the train been facing the other direction on its route into Glasgow Central you would have seen the remains of the east wall and entrance doorways to the old demolished Bridge Street station.
@@colinnich Yes, he tells us this in the the video: 'low budget scottish adventures'
Not sure the incline is there for the reason you think. It's simply that the bridge over the Clyde is so much higher than the road level, so you're going to have a slope whatever you do.
@@hairyairey Thanks, I was wondering how on earth that made sense. It's not as if people will roll back down the hill if they try to stand there...
The fact Glasgow Central still does what it was meant to do without a major overhaul is something to be applauded. I was surprised at 5:46 to see a Tim Horton's at the station. A bit of Canada in the heart of Scotland.
Tim Hortons sucks.
Tim Horton's came to the UK in 2017, they're all over now!
I've seen a Tim Horton's on the northern side of Manchester.
Many memories of Glasgow Central. I was a post graduate at Strathclyde University in the early 1980s. Used to enjoy the journey from the South on the WCML. At the time, the departures were indicated on boards which were put up manually in a wooden building which I think is now used as a restaurant. The inevitable change to an automatic departure board came soon after.
They should have kept St Enoch's. Accessible from North and South. I used to drive Sprinters across the Clyde past there from Cowlairs to Corkerhill.
Thx Jago. I've not been up to Glasgow for a wee while now, so nice to see some love going out to our Scottish railway homies 😘
It's not often I find a more positive, informative and well-thought-out video on YT, than those posted here by Jago Hazzard. On a trite note, I especially enjoy the length of these posts, as the majority are 10 minutes or less. My family on my father's side were all railroad people, having come to America in the 1830's and settled in the greater Boston, Massachusetts area and its numerous neighborhoods. This subject matter is near and dear to my heart and heritage and I do truly appreciate the expertise and dedication of this channel creator. Cheers.
Good old Glasgow Central! It doesnt matter if you are commuting or just heading into town for a night out, you always naturally look up and admire the roof - it was strange when all the scaffolding came down and you saw it complete after years of being covered in scaffolding. I can remember when you could drive up the tunnel from Hope Street and park in the area around the current platform 13... the entrance was just next to the old Red Star parcel office, and if you look on the wall above, you can still see the old Caledonian Railway ghost sign, bleached into the sandstone.
As far as Grahamston goes, one of the few original buildings from there is the Grant Arms, which is wedged to the side of the Hielanman's Umbrella (there is also the Mackintosh hotel building, but you do not want to go there as its a hostel these days). You can take a tour of the hidden station levels which were sealed up for decades and have lots of interesting features. Glasgow may have lost the iconic St Enochs, (I work in St Enochs Square and wish I didnt have to look at that stupid glass box that replaced the station) but Queen Street and Central are both looking good these days.
As a side note, the last trains out of Central on a Friday or Saturday night are almost always great fun - "Carriage Karaoke" needs to catch on elsewhere! lol!
Central is one of the very best city centre termini in the UK. It was beautiful when it was built and, surprisingly, it still is. If some Caledonian passengers were launched through time and arrived here in the present day, they would easily recognise the old place.
It's such an iconic Glasgow landmark that civil unrest would break out if a concrete "upgrade" were ever announced.
Thank you Jago,
You are the stylish update to my childhood memories..
Cordialement,
I changed trains at Glasgow Central in 2019 when I visited a friend in Scotland and I saw how busy that station is, I had to look at departure boards to get around it and even made one wrong turn. Brilliant video by the way. :)
St.Enoch always seemed a more exciting station. Its hotel overlooked St.Enoch square. The winners of the Scottish cup final always appeared on the hotel's balcony to display the trophy and the Square could accommodate a huge number of supporters. In British Rail days, the arrival of trains from London and other English cities was sometimes switched between St. Enoch and Central, causing those trying to meet people off the train to scurry from one to the other. The switch always seemed to be announced at very short notice.
There is still a Bridge Street station on the Glasgow subway system. I don't know if it's on the site of the early mainline station, but it's in exactly the most suitable place.
Thank you for doing a video on Glasgow. Having recently moved here from London it is oddly comforting to have your channel also seemingly migrating northwards. The low level platforms at Central have a fascinating history all of their own, and indeed I believe one has recently been opened as a tourist attraction as part of a Transport History museum, along with a fair length of previously un-used subterranean track. This is of course in addition to the Glasgow Subway, which as I have discovered, is only one of the many railway services that criss-cross the city, some of which also run partially underground. So there is a lot here to cover, and I look forward to your future videos.
I know Geoff Marshal has previously done a piece on the subway - or was that you? - Sorry I sometimes get confused... You are both so interesting to watch.
Glad to have you here Jenny! Yes, lots of people think the Subway is the only one. I travel on the low level lines far more often than the Subway. I love the viaducts. And that it feels very Metropolitan or Circle line, versus the dinky wee Subway which was of course tunnel-bored.
I’d love to see a Jago video about the low level network! The closures, station moving, and recent reopenings seem very Jago.
Speaking of underground Glasgow routes, Jago should do a video on the Glasgow Central Railway. By the time of its construction in 1890, city authorities were aware of the aesthetic appeal of the Glasgow's architecture, forcing the railway to go underground for much of its route through the centre. This made it notorious for its smoky atmosphere from the beginning, combining bunker first running, oil lamp signals and some unconventional running practices with an intensive schedule.
@@borderlands6606 I wouldn't be surprised if that's on the cards! Apart from anything else it makes a fascinating contrast with the Underground, particularly the Met and District cut-and-cover lines. Incredibly, like the parallel line through Queen Street LL, it stayed steam-worked until the 1960s when it was closed, but fortunately a better vision came in the 1970s where it was electrified and reopened. Still feels a bit gloomy and dank though.
Beautiful Station to vist and pass through on travels
As far as I know (and I am sure to be corrected!) Glasgow Central and Glasgow Queen Street are the only stations with a bus shuttle service that you can use a train ticket on. They really need to be connected underground but that would be quite a challenge.
Back in the late 70s I lived in Leeds, worked in Glasgow and commuted home every weekend. The return journey was via Carlisle where they would tap all the wheels and hook up an electric loco. A few times I fell asleep only to wake up in the station where I had to climb over the entrance gate to get out. #goodolddays
Since 1974, electric traction operated continuously from London Euston to Glasgow Central.
If there was a change of loco in Carlisle, it must have been due to a diversion, perhaps for weekend engineering works.
Sorry, I see now, you were coming from Leeds, presumably over the settle and Carlisle line. This would have meant a change from diesel to electric, unless it continued via Dumfries, on the Glasgow & South Western route.
Really well put together Video. Great overview of Glasgow railway history.
My flat was originally part of Bridge St Station and my floor was the ticketing office and then platform.
Fantastic to see a picture of Bridge St
Sounds like you were trying to live above your station.
I havent used Glasgow Central since 1981...nice to see it again...Thanks Jago!
I worked in Central hotel for many years,the stories of"the other Glasgow beneath" must come from the miles of tunnels and sub basements(3 levels),on the first one there is maintenance,housekeeping and stores,on the one below is a disused swimming pool and fitness centre,and below the pool is the tunnels that once stretched to Queen st. station,which are now bricked up,and it`s VERY creepy,ideal to film a horror movie.
If there is a tunnel between the two stations, surely it would make sense to exploit that somehow. That said, the walk between the two means you get to see some fine architecture - and buskers!
Great video, you really captures essentials of Glasgow Central. It has so many interesting aspects you you probably do a whole series of videos on this station.
I'll second that
If I win the lottery I will be commissioning Jago for an episode on Glasgow's lost railway lines & stations. Would love to hear a deeper dive on the routes to the west of the City, one line that left Central/Anderston and went towards Maryhill via the Botanics & Kirklee, plus the route that went via Crow Road & Kelvinside to Maryhill.
Central is my favourite station. Thank you for doing it justice in your latest video.
I was just there yesterday as a tourist and had to google the "meet me at the shell". Makes me way too excited now to see your video coming up right after actually visiting it.
Lovely story. And well told. 👍
Love the video, just one major change worthy of a mention - the old departure boards were manual, right into the 1980s. The line of windows seen in the upper floor of the wooden-facaded building on the concourse were numbered to represent each platform. Canvas blinds with wooden frames would be placed in the window detailing the destination and calling points. The time would be placed first in the smaller upper panes, then the main blind in the big pane. As you saw the man approach the window with a frame you'd rush off to your platform ahead of the crowd! Lots of archive photos available.
Growing up we never said “meet me at the shell”, it was meet me under the big clock. St Enoch should never have been closed, it was a stunning station and it’s hotel was the first to go to electric lighting
Thanks for sharing.Greetings from Australia.
You know, thinking about it
I don't think I've ever known anyone to say to meet them at the shell
We all say under the clock (such might as well be the same thing, let's be honest)
Been there many times, it’s my favourite station ☺️
Brilliant as always Jago. As a native Glaswegian I was excited to see this show up in my notifs. If you haven’t seen already there’s a BBC Scotland program ‘Inside Central Station’ that goes over the day to day running of the station, highly recommended. If you get the chance I’d love to see you cover the other big station in Glasgow, Queen Street. It’s certainly got a more turbulent history.
It's worth a trip just to go look at the architecture🤩
Another belter Jago.
So much knowledge and info all condensed into a short video that’s presented so carefully as to enthral us not overwhelm us.
Hats off again you genius, you deserve a job on tv!
Was intrigued about the bridge needing to be high when there was a lower road bridge behind, so I looked it up. Apparently the road bridge needed repairing so the Caledonian bought it and were going to build a new deck on top. But then they realised they'd have to demolish lots of expensive property so they built a new one instead, 50 yards downstream. Presumably by then they were already committed to a high-level station or decided it was the best layout anyway. As for the Glasgow Low Level line, amazing to think that it was cut-and-cover underground like the Met/District/Circle but stayed steam-worked till it closed in the 1960s, as did the NBR Queen Street LL line till it was electrified! Given the parallels, I'm sure that some videos on these lines might be in the offing?
Great video as ever. We flew to Glasgow from London in 2019 and took the coach from Airport to city centre which dropped us near to Queen Street. Central station is where you get the train to the lovely Weymss Bay station.
The building for Bridge Street Station still remains. In your end shot departing, it was just across the bridge.
TY Jago, Loving these Scottish video as I also was involved in the signaling upgrade from Glasgow Central towards Motherwell, One incident I had was when I had to work an extended Sunday night shift as I made an error that I needed to quickly fix before the trains to and from Glasgow Central were allowed to start running again for the Monday morning rush hour.
Also I would like to point out there are so many amazing unsung Engineers that work on maintaining all these lines. I would love it if you would make; admittedly a very neeche video, about Relay Rooms and include something about electronic communication used on the railways.
I've only been to Glasgow once for work purposes. Wonderful city, I'll be going back for certain. Thanks for the video, Jago!
Central is a great station. The restoration over the last 20 years has been really well done.
A very good video, as always, but you didn't mention the triangular concourse area, with the ends of the platforms staggered to provide the maximum circulating space for crowds. This feature was shared with the similar, but smaller station at Edinburgh Princes Street. Apparently Donald Matheson got the idea from a trip to the USA where he had a look at American railway station design. Also a few bits of Bridge Street station still exist. You can see them on the up side of the railway just after you've crossed the Clyde.
Loved this video! My father was a civil engineer on the railways from the early 1970s, with the 1998 renovation being one of the last major projects he worked on before retirement in the 2000s. One of the benefits of being closely related to a railway employee was access to parts of the station that passengers never got to see. On a few occasions we had a bit of an exploration in the labyrinthine, dank and dingy tunnels, vault ands arches underneath Glasgow Central. I've got fond memories of riding the class 303s too, which ran up until about 2002 if I remember correctly.
Just before COVID my wife and I took a trip to Scotland which involved a bus trip from Inverness to Oban. About a half hour out from Oban she got violently car sick (something she is prone to). After consulting with our tour guide and determining the next days trip was going to worse in terms of bus travel I came up with an alternative…take Scottish Rail to Central Station in Glasgow. It worked out perfect and our hotel (The Jury Inn) was just around the corner. We had a great trip through some gorgeous countryside and then got to spend several days in Glasgow. We also linked up with the tour group at the hotel, no problems!
Looking at Glasgow Central stations building, it reminds me of London Charing X a bit
I was waiting to hear the Glaswegian song ringing in my ears, that is embraced around the world, "I belong to Glascow, dear old Glascow
town....". I remember my grandmother singing it, and my father playing it on the pipes. As a bairn trying to get to sleep down here beneath
the Southern Cross. Am I living in the past dear Jago? Well, why not!
Bro u r a legend how do you research, write a script, record and edit a video so quickly? They are so high in quality and yet you post sooo frequent. Whatever u r doing keep it up good jobb
Enjoyed your enthusiasm Jago. Jolly Jago.
Loving all the scottish videos!
How did I miss this video from my home city of glesga
As an adopted Weegie having lived here 30+ years I enjoyed that thanks. The airport link gave Central two additonal platforms, not one as you stated, explaining the increase from 13 to 15. These are the two slightly shorter platforms you see after going through the ticket gates, they are in the group of platforms to the right of the concourse which are sometimes referred to as the "Ayrshire Platforms". I often meet friends "under the clock" when having a night out in the City, as it's dry and convenient. There's a free piano to listen to as well.
The Avanti ticket office is always busy - the other day there were about a dozen people in the queue even though the UK Government wants to abolish ticket offices as "superfluous in the mobile phone era" - rubbish!
It's been a long time since I used Glasgow Central, the first time was on a day trip from London. Good review of the history Jago.
Very nice! The platforms look open and airy, and the hotel appears to be kept up as well. Must visit!
Open and airy platforms. The exact opposite at the other end of the line at Euston lol.
If the GARL is brought back central would need another new platform as the ones built for GARL where used to improve services on the aryshire coast
Very interesting video the times i've been through glasgow central and never noticed the shell
For a long time, it was at the arches at the Gordon Street entrance, next to the war memorial, but has now been moved more towards the centre of the main concourse. That can always change though, depending on events within the station.
Yes! I hope to see more scottish videos from you in future - there's all those unused subway and train lines around the city that need covered!
Excellent.
I thoroughly enjoyed this video about "my" station....sorry, Central Station!
Been there umpteen times! 👍🏻👌🏻👏🏻🍻
Since you presumably travelled by the Low Level to the Riverside Museum, alighting at Stobcross/Finnieston/Exhibition Centre, can we expect it to feature in 'All The Renamed Stations On The Argyle Line'?
Not to mention Partick/Partickhill admittedly slighly re-located from one side of a bridge to another.
@@Clivestravelandtrains yes, though Partickhill wasn't on the GCR, but the GCD. A better example might be Bridgeton Cross, which re-opened as plain Bridgeton, as the GCD station, Bridgeton Central, closed when the GCR was partially reinstated as the Argyle Line. Prior to nationalisation, it had also been Bridgeton Cross.
I still have a copy of the commemorative booklet published by British Railways in 1960 for the suburban electrification. The route map shows the following stations which now have slightly different names: Balloch Central, Dalmuir Park, Clydebank Central, Yoker High, Partickhill, Blairhill & Gartsherrie, Langside & Newlands and Neilston High. Plus of course Bridgeton Central and Balloch Pier which have since demised.
A couple of those changes happened when British Rail had a purge of double-barrelled names, but as we have since then acquired new stations called Possilpark & Parkhouse and Priesthill & Darnley that policy seems to have went oot the windae.
The station frontage of Bridgeton Central is still there, albeit as a shop or two now. Some of the track formation and mast supports are also visible in a number of locations, although private housing prevents a complete exploration unless you want to get done for trespassing!
303's were what I started on as a guard in 1979 at Helensburgh.
An excellent, concise history of the station. Well done, Jago!
Feels so neat to see you talking about a place I regularly visit each month or so. Glasgow Central is one of the stations I've probably spent the most time in.
Superb! i’m there in a few days on my way to Wemyss Bay! 🤓
Grand Central Terminal in NYC was build in early 1900’s also, but it had 47 platforms, and four connecting hotels.
Glasgow Central is a stunning station, when travelling up to Scotland I always use Glasgow Central as my arrival destination.... the lats trip however had to use Haymarket, great video
So the next video should be about... Glasgow Subway? That would be fitting...
I did a lot of work in and around Glasgow and love this station it was the terminus for us getting from the ferry from larne to Stranraer and even though I drove from the ferry I always took a walk to the station and even this year on holiday in Scotland I took my wife to see the splendour of the station all she was interested in is where is the ladies, women eh,
My mate worked in that hotel when it was "Quality Hotel" in the 2000s. I heard some horror stories about the place, mostly the behaviour of the patrons lol
Jago old boy I hope I find you in good health @ 4:13 my heart did flutter I'm a bit of a perv for Victorian Engineer/Designers Pomp and ceremony WE RULE THE WORLD, and we had this railway-station built to prove it, but in modern days in all the clutter, it takes a swift eye to spot the Gems Romanesque Arch Central Station Wow I've arrived at the town that bred The Big Yin
That was very interesting and informative, Jago, thanks for that
What a fantastic terminus - looks like it’s been well looked after too!
You actually made the video! Love it, keep up the good work Jago!
Great video Jago