The transformation of one of Scotland’s most important railway stations, Glasgow Queen Street, has moved a step closer after a £112m tender was issued for its rebuild.
Scotland’s third busiest station, with 20m passengers a year, Glasgow Queen Street needs to expand to meet predicted growth to 28m passengers by 2030.
The station’s platforms and concourse also need to be extended to accommodate the faster, longer, greener electric trains being introduced to Scotland’s railway as part of the £742m Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP).
Due for completion in 2019, the redevelopment will create a landmark, modern station which reflects Queen Street’s role as a gateway to the city and as an important departure point for visitors heading north and east.
The scope of the project will include:
Demolition of the Millennium Hotel’s 1970s extension above the station
Demolition of Consort House
Removal of the canopy over the footway in Dundas Street
Redevelopment of the station concourse, south and west façades, including reconstruction and extension of station buildings
Improved station entrances at Dundas Street and George Square
New lighting and public address systems
New ticket office and staff accommodation block
Construction of extended platforms to accommodate eight-car trains.
Phil Verster, managing director of the ScotRail Alliance, said: “This is another tremendously exciting step forward in our plans to transform Scotland’s railway. We recently announced our largest ever Train Improvement Plan, which will deliver new trains, thousands of extra seats and great facilities such as at-seat power points and enhanced Wi-Fi across our fleet.
“Today we are confirming that one of our busiest and most important stations will also be transformed, making it larger and with much better facilities for our growing number of customers.
“Scotland’s railway is about more than running metal boxes up and down the tracks. We are all about using trains to connect people with jobs, businesses with customers and communities with more opportunities to grow and prosper. The changes we are making in the coming years will make sure that we have a modern fleet, running on improved infrastructure to and from world-class stations. That is a rail network we can all be proud of.”
Rodger Querns, programme director for the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme, added: “This is further good progress in the delivery of EGIP. We have already successfully completed a number of key elements of EGIP including the electrification of the Cumbernauld line and Haymarket station and are on the ground across the Edinburgh-Glasgow railway preparing the line for electrification and building Edinburgh Gateway Interchange at Gogar, where we are also making good progress.
“We look forward to delivering this challenging, but exciting project that will realise huge improvements for passengers.”