Glasgow Central Railway.html



Glasgow Central Railway Locale Scotland Dates of operation 10 August 1888 – 31 May 1889 Successor line Caledonian Railway Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) Headquarters Glasgow

Legend    Clydesdale Junction Railway Newton Kirkhill Junction    Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway River Clyde Cambuslang (CJR)    Rutherglen and Coatbridge Railway Carmyle joint with R&CR River Clyde Tollcross Parkhead Rutherglen Central Junction Rutherglen joint with CJR Rutherglen North & West Junctions    Polloc and Govan Railway River Clyde    The Switchback Dalmarnock Bridgeton Glasgow Green Glasgow Cross Glasgow Central (Low Level) Anderston    Stobcross Railway Stobcross    Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway River Kelvin Kelvinbridge Botanic Gardens Kirklee    Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway Bellhaugh and Dawsholme Junctions Dawsholme River Kelvin Kelvinside North Junction Maryhill Central    Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway

Early days

The Glasgow Central Railway company received royal assent in 1888. The following year the company was absorbed into the Caledonian Railway. The line was opened in sections:

• 26 November 1894 - Stobcross to Maryhill
• 1 November 1895 - Rutherglen to Glasgow Cross
• 1 October 1896 - Line through Glasgow Central Low Level
• 1 February 1897 - Link through Carmyle to Newton open

In 1923, the Railway became part of LMS.

Connections to other lines

Stobcross Railway

Re-instated when the Argyle Line was re-opened in 1979 to provide a link to the North Clyde Line for westbound trains.

Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway

• An underground junction at Stobcross. A section of this tunnel (with some new construction) was re-opened in 1979 to provide the eastbound link from the North Clyde Line to the Argyle Line.
• A triangular junction at Maryhill Central.

London Road Link (The Switchback)

A connection to allow access to the north of Glasgow, including the sidings at Parkhead Forge and the Buchanan Street Main Line.

Rutherglen and Coatbridge Railway

Still open for Whifflet Line services. The junctions gave access in the Coatbridge direction and the link onto Newton.

Clydesdale Junction Railway

Still open with WCML and Argyle Line services. At Newton connected to allow trains to head in an easterly direction. At Rutherglen access to the WCML is in both directions via a triangle of lines.

Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway

Now part of the Kirkhill Branch of the Cathcart Circle, the Glasgow Central Railway connected to allow trains to head in a westerly direction.

Closures

There were a number of individual station closures prior to the line being closed:

• 1 January 1917 - Glasgow Green (reopened on 1 June 1919)
• 6 February 1939 - Botanic Gardens
• 1 May 1939 - Kirklee
• 4 August 1952 - Kelvinbridge
• 3 August 1959 - Stobcross; Anderston

The line was closed to passengers between Maryhill Central and Stobcross on 2 November 1959, although freight from Maryhill through to the docks at Stobcross continued until 14 August 1960 and Kelvinbridge until 6 July 1964. On 5 October 1964 the remaining passenger services were withdrawn. The only section of the line that remained open was between Tollcross and Tollcross East Junction (at Carmyle) for freight until 4 April 1966.

Gallery

Entrance to the tunnel from Kelvinbridge to Stobcross.

The remains of Kelvinbridge railway station in March 2007.

Entrance to the tunnel from Kelvinbridge to Botanic Gardens.

This picture of Kirklee looking to the North, showing the remaining platforms. The flats in the background stand on the site of the station buildings.

Reopening

The line between Rutherglen and Exhibition Centre was re-opened as part of the Argyle Line in 1979, which included the construction of a new station at Argyle Street. There have also been suggestions that the tunnels should be used to extend the existing Glasgow Subway from Kelvinbridge further out West.

Further reading

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. 

• Butt, R.V.J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present, 1st Edition, Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. 

• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day, 1st, Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137. 

• RAILSCOT on Glasgow Central Railway