Much of Glasgow Central is set to remain closed until at least Wednesday, officials have said, five days after a massive fire shut down Scotland’s busiest railway station.
The blaze, which broke out at a vape shop in an adjacent Victorian-era building on Sunday, stopped all train journeys from the station, causing mass travel disruption for many this week.
In an update on Sunday, Network Rail Scotland said its engineers cannot yet gain access to the station to assess the situation as demolition work on the affected site is underway.
As a result, the rail operator said that the main part of the station containing the high-level platforms will remain shut until at least 18 March.
Demolition carried out on a building destroyed by a fire near Glasgow Central station. Pics: PA
Services in the lower level of Glasgow Central station began running again on Wednesday.
Ross Moran, route director at Network Rail Scotland, said it understands “how disruptive this extended closure is for passengers and the wider city centre, and we’re extremely grateful for the continued patience and understanding”.
“The damage to the building beside the station is clearly significant, and any phased reopening will depend on demolition work progressing to a stage that allows our engineers to safely return”, he added.
Glasgow City Council said earlier that the “very unstable” Victorian building, which has continued to collapse since the blaze started, must be demolished for public safety.
Susan Aitken, the council leader, said: “The structure where the fire was is now very unstable. It has no structural integrity.
“There’s a kind of a floating chimney stack that’s attached to the top of the wall. So, this is an unstable, dangerous site.”
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Ms Aitken added that “it is obviously going to cause disruption to people for quite a while”, but said that “in the meantime, it is safety first for everyone and it is the protection of the public that is our number one priority”.