Fire at Glasgow Central (08/03/26)

[BorderCollie]

You can go all routes from all platforms at Glasgow Central.

390s will fit in 9, 10 and 11.

Never knew that and a glance at Traksy show how! Thanks.

 

[zwk500]

Amazing to think that it stayed open throughout the whole of world war 2, yet a fire at a vape shop closes it now

Was the station directly attacked in WW2?

 

[Falcon1200]

Was the station directly attacked in WW2?

I don't recall anything about Glasgow City Centre suffering particularly from bombing; Clydebank however was a different matter.....

 

[QueensCurve]

You can go all routes from all platforms at Glasgow Central.

390s will fit in 9, 10 and 11.

Thank you.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I don't recall anything about Glasgow City Centre suffering particularly from bombing; Clydebank however was a different matter.....

Indeed. 13th / 14th March 1941 was particularly bad over in the Clydebank area. Various sources claim that the Glasgow Central station roof canopy was re-painted all black during WW2 in order to try to make it less visible from the air at night time.

 

[mmh]

Quite so, although Glasgow's geographical position made it less vulnerable to the attentions of the Luftwaffe than almost any other large city in the UK

Don't be silly. Think what the Clyde is famous for. Of course it was bombed.

 

[The exile]

Was the station directly attacked in WW2?

Looking at the surrounding buildings (until the weekend anyway!), it would appear not (much) - at least not by much high explosive.

 

[deerokus]

The heaviest WWII bombing in the area was slightly further along the Clyde mostly, the most famous event being Clydebank.

There's a really dramatic aerial picture that shows how close we came to the hotel and/or station igniting. I took this from the skyscrapercity forum, I don't know where they got it from.

There does look to be some damage to the station roof, for example one of the access ladders seems to have melted, hopefully all fairly minor.

 

[scotraildriver]

Would there be any need to keep other platforms closed? I think you'd need the circulation space in the concours rather than just the area at p10-15 and that will let you use the lower down platforms.

For all the platforms to be available the station requires the Gordon St entrance to be open in order to meet evacuation time standards in the event of an emergency. Just having Argyle St and Hope St available wouldn't meet that requirement.

 

[The exile]

There's a really dramatic aerial picture that shows how close we came to the hotel and/or station igniting. I took this from the skyscrapercity forum, I don't know where they got it from.

There does look to be some damage to the station roof, for example one of the access ladders seems to have melted, hopefully all fairly minor.

Those various bits and pieces of debris top centre illustrating another reason it’s taking a while to open that side of the.station!

 

[b0b]

Keeping train movements (and associated vibration) further away from the affected area?

limiting the number of people since its likely the union st and gordon st entrances will be closed a while to allow for demolition

 

[takno]

Don't be silly. Think what the Clyde is famous for. Of course it was bombed.

There was some speculation (I think maybe on the BBC website) that one of the reasons why Glasgow has so many big fires is precisely because Glasgow was bombed much less than other cities, and therefore has a larger remaining stock of dangerous old buildings.

Certainly the Clyde shipyards were an attractive target, but you've got to fly over a lot more enemy territory to get there, and once you are there then you want to save your bombs for the very obvious actual target.

 

[JamieL]

There was some speculation (I think maybe on the BBC website) that one of the reasons why Glasgow has so many big fires is precisely because Glasgow was bombed much less than other cities, and therefore has a larger remaining stock of dangerous old buildings.

Certainly the Clyde shipyards were an attractive target, but you've got to fly over a lot more enemy territory to get there, and once you are there then you want to save your bombs for the very obvious actual target.

The attacks on Glasgow came from Luftwaffe bases in Norway - so the actual time over Scotland/UK mainland was less than for a strike on the Midlands.

 

[Southsider]

I don't recall anything about Glasgow City Centre suffering particularly from bombing; Clydebank however was a different matter.....

The biggest loss of life was in a building at Tradeston, not far from Central. There’s an excellent timeline of events on the web, I remember looking it up as my mother’s house in Knightswood took a direct hit from incendiary bombs And Yarrows, where I used to work, was also hit.

 

[philthetube]

If Gordon St. exit could not be opened would it be possible and would there be any point, in making the station exit only.

This would at least provide turnback facilities.

 

[MadCommuter]

Traincrews booking on as normal at their depots - albeit Central crews are temporarily accommodated within the training academy for now.

As to be expected there is an increase in crews sitting about, but they are being utilised to work the limited services that are running in Ayrshire and Inverclyde.

ScotRail on Twitter today said that no staff are 'sitting about' which I found hard to believe.

 

[Citybreak1]

https://stores.sainsburys.co.uk/6556/glasgow-gordon-street-local

Our store is closed until 30th of June 2026

Could be a sign the main entrance could be shut until June? I wonder when they can start construction of a new building on this site too I guess it will be atleast a year it could sit empty?

 

[MadCommuter]

https://stores.sainsburys.co.uk/6556/glasgow-gordon-street-local

Our store is closed until 30th of June 2026

Could be a sign the main entrance could be shut until June? I wonder when they can start construction of a new building on this site too I guess it will be atleast a year it could sit empty?

Wow that's longer than I expected. I wonder where they got the June date from as I haven't seen anyone state in public a date for reopening Gordon St.

 

[Citybreak1]

Wow that's longer than I expected. I wonder where they got the June date from as I haven't seen anyone state in public a date for reopening Gordon St.

Indeed the council have said weeks so wonder where this date came from.

 

[Buzby]

Sainsbury’s is across the street - the access for deliveries would be impossible for them so it‘s a realistic option for bringing down the Union corner.

 

[Warrior2852]

If Gordon St. exit could not be opened would it be possible and would there be any point, in making the station exit only.

This would at least provide turnback facilities.

Demand into Glasgow is as high as demand leaving Glasgow, you'd end up with a capacity for entering the city being higher than the capacity for exiting it. Would create some very overcrowded buses and low level trains of people leaving after having arrived on the high level train. By having the same reduced capacity in both directions it at least discourages some non-essential travellers and keeps capacity somewhat manageable.

 

[DarloRich]

Amazing to think that it stayed open throughout the whole of world war 2, yet a fire at a vape shop closes it now

i dont know, if there is a war on you might take a slightly more relaxed approach to health and safety.................

 

[Scotty Dog]

That's the burnt out shell of the LCD screen attached to the gable end of the building next door. It fell seconds before the union street frontage collapsed.

There's a video of it here.

It's the old Barrs Irn Bru sign, its made of girders

 

[Acathater]

Wow that's longer than I expected. I wonder where they got the June date from as I haven't seen anyone state in public a date for reopening Gordon St.

Sounds about the right length of time to give the store a total refit. If the street outside is going to be closed they may as well use the time to renew the store

 

[endecotp]

Don't be silly. Think what the Clyde is famous for. Of course it was bombed.

See post #260 onwards for some informed info about this.

 

[Haywain]

i dont know, if there is a war on you might take a slightly more relaxed approach to health and safety.................

And those approaches have changed rather a lot over the last 80 years.

 

[SCDR_WMR]

Sounds about the right length of time to give the store a total refit. If the street outside is going to be closed they may as well use the time to renew the store

If the store is closed because getting deliveries is impractical due to the road being closed, how are they doing a shop refit?

 

[DelW]

If the store is closed because getting deliveries is impractical due to the road being closed, how are they doing a shop refit?

It looks as though there's a rear goods access (Renfield Lane). Most of those Glasgow blocks have such an arrangement.

 

[Buzby]

how are they doing a shop refit?

That was clearly speculation as on the opposite side of Gordon street it wasn’t damaged directly. It may only require cleaning and restocking.

 

[norbitonflyer]

The attacks on Glasgow came from Luftwaffe bases in Norway - so the actual time over Scotland/UK mainland was less than for a strike on the Midlands.

More a question of range, I would guess. More fuel means less bombs. For similar reasons, Berlin (at a similar distance from East Anglia to that between the Noreqgian coast and Glasgow) suffered reletively little bomb damage until later in the war, when longer range bombers like the Lancaster had been developed.