Fire at Glasgow Central (08/03/26)

[deerokus]

What confuses me is those 'hanging chimneys' - they appear to belong to Caledonian Chambers as they are affixed to the adjacent building and are/were not part of the Union Corner building (as the rear part of the CC building uses exactly the same red brick).

Most Glaswegians of a certain age remember the animated IrnBru neon signage that stood bolted to the gable for many years, before latterly being replaced (I believe around 2010, firstly with a large format LED moving advertising display, before this too gave way to a full moving-video capable display in portait orientation from 2015.

It was hard to discern the mounting of it from ground level, but looking at the outline on the street-frontage chimney, this appeared to be a CC asset (before the flames from the Union Building totally overwhelmed it). Indeed, if you look carefully at the first video showing the smoke belching out of the Vape Shop, you can see the display glowing through the smoke and you can witness it extinguishing itself as it gives up the ghost. Its mountings have gone and there appears to be no evidence of it in the latest images.

I was wondering the exact same thing today, you can see chimneys of the same type of construction on the south end of Caledonian Chambers as well You assume they know what they're doing, wonder what those chimneys actually connect to.

Edit: I think there's a different building behind the Caledonian Chambers that it actually belongs to. It's definitely unstable either way

 

[takno]

What confuses me is those 'hanging chimneys' - they appear to belong to Caledonian Chambers as they are affixed to the adjacent building and are/were not part of the Union Corner building (as the rear part of the CC building uses exactly the same red brick).

Most Glaswegians of a certain age remember the animated IrnBru neon signage that stood bolted to the gable for many years, before latterly being replaced (I believe around 2010, firstly with a large format LED moving advertising display, before this too gave way to a full moving-video capable display in portait orientation from 2015.

It was hard to discern the mounting of it from ground level, but looking at the outline on the street-frontage chimney, this appeared to be a CC asset (before the flames from the Union Building totally overwhelmed it). Indeed, if you look carefully at the first video showing the smoke belching out of the Vape Shop, you can see the display glowing through the smoke and you can witness it extinguishing itself as it gives up the ghost. Its mountings have gone and there appears to be no evidence of it in the latest images.

Caledonian Chambers was built later and is taller, so the chimneys of the Union Square building were probably extended upwards to the same height as the chimneys on the new building. It's logical if you're doing that to anchor the extended stacks onto the Caledonian Chambers chimneys next to it. It looks to me like this is what happened and the extension is the only bit which is hanging on

 

[Buzby]

Caledonian Chambers was built later and is taller,

So the BBC would have us believe, however I saw some pictures of the work building up the undercroft (two levels at the point where the Union Street steps would be located), with the workers building large wooden forms (arches) to support the brickwork that would eventually be the concourse (over the Grahamston cobbled street) and there was no nearby building I could see that was taller than it - although you could see the buildings on the opposite side (lower end of Renfield Street). The book with the picture plates was in the Railways section of the Mitchell Library at Charing Cross (Third Floor). I'll try and get back there to confirm.

 

[swt_passenger]

A modern version of the Roman testudo (tortoise) would do it - but seems unnecessarily complicated. One assumes though, that if the “slightest vibration” was going to bring the house down it would have happened by now (although the fate of Dresden’s Frauenkirche is a salutary lesson of the delayed effects of fire).

I was wondering if there’s a significant risk that a strong wind (eg channelled by the local street pattern), could bring the remaining wall down?

 

[deerokus]

I was wondering if there’s a significant risk that a strong wind (eg channelled by the local street pattern), could bring the remaining wall down?

Quite possibly and it has been windy in Glasgow the last few days.

 

[DelW]

Most Glaswegians of a certain age remember the animated IrnBru neon signage that stood bolted to the gable for many years, before latterly being replaced (I believe around 2010, firstly with a large format LED moving advertising display, before this too gave way to a full moving-video capable display in portait orientation from 2015.

It was hard to discern the mounting of it from ground level, but looking at the outline on the street-frontage chimney, this appeared to be a CC asset (before the flames from the Union Building totally overwhelmed it). Indeed, if you look carefully at the first video showing the smoke belching out of the Vape Shop, you can see the display glowing through the smoke and you can witness it extinguishing itself as it gives up the ghost. Its mountings have gone and there appears to be no evidence of it in the latest images.

Post 447 showed a photo with a steel frame lying on top of the rubble. Later posts concluded that it was the steel frame from the electronic sign on the roof.

 

[MadCommuter]

Just wondering if the thread should at actually be titled "Fire Adjacent to Glasgow Central Station"?

 

[Pinus contorta]

Caledonian Chambers was built later and is taller, so the chimneys of the Union Square building were probably extended upwards to the same height as the chimneys on the new building. It's logical if you're doing that to anchor the extended stacks onto the Caledonian Chambers chimneys next to it. It looks to me like this is what happened and the extension is the only bit which is hanging on

I think ( i am not an expert) that chimneys are usually feathered on older buildings. I'm sure it was explained to me by a builder a long time ago. So they're inherently weaker structures to start off with. I'm not surprised they are taking a lot of interest in dismantling them with great care .

 

[snookertam]

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

Part of the issue is that running a new service from scratch using staff whose role is primarily day-to-day operations is an extremely difficult and labour intensive exercise, one which if over-complicated runs the risk of overwhelming the staff and becoming a shambles.

You’re not going to get that explanation through social media though.

ScotRail are right to keep things simple for the time being.

 

[Buzby]

Post 447 showed a photo with a steel frame lying on top of the rubble. Later posts concluded that it was the steel frame from the electronic sign on the roof.

Other posts suggested it was part of a Union Building fire escape. If this was the support for the video screen it was massively over-engineered (and unlikely) as on installation it was pretty close to the gable end (you could see a large portrait-shaped weathering mark on the chimney). The sloping structure would have been providing a considerable stand-off from the gable wall which I don’t recall.

 

[DelW]

Other posts suggested it was part of a Union Building fire escape. If this was the support for the video screen it was massively over-engineered (and unlikely) as on installation it was pretty close to the gable end (you could see a large portrait-shaped weathering mark on the chimney). The sloping structure would have been providing a considerable stand-off from the gable wall which I don’t recall.

The Google streetview image of the sign in-situ, linked from post 459, looked convincing to me. A fire escape seems unlikely as no stairs or diagonal elements are visible in the fallen frame.

 

[stuving]

The Google streetview image of the sign in-situ, linked from post 459, looked convincing to me. A fire escape seems unlikely as no stairs or diagonal elements are visible in the fallen frame.

That picture (almost the same as mine here) shows a substantial free-standing structure. It can't be stayed by the top of the wall behind it as masonry can only resist such an outward force if it has a large weight of masonry above it. So its weight must be fully supported by the building below it.

The second clip here is from the clip posted by member teaspoon in #207 (as its resolution is better than I can get just now). The top of that framework matches the fallen steelwork as seen from the Gordon Street direction. There is some kind of diagonal "plank" across the roof slopes that could support the front of the display on the walls. You can also see here that there was a large space between the back of the building and the station, with fire escapes and walkways in it. Any buildings in that space are much lower down, except at the south end.

 

[Buzby]

Tks for the clarificatio. The old IrnBru neon was held by lattice ironworks but when the first video screen went up all that disappeared - and the screen was so close to the gable I thought it was fixed there instead. as the pictures show, they really hefted up the structure to cope with the weight of the new panel.

I wonder if it was insured?

 

[Newtraveller58]

I was walking along a street in fact it was a pedestrian square outside a station in Germany about 30 years ago. And there was a 10 storey concrete building nearby which was clad in scaffolding and cladding being taken down bit by bit in a controlled fashion . A breeze block or large lump of concrete about the size of a football ( i cant recall exactly what ) landed about 1 metre in front of me and bounced up. I jumped side ways. If I had been 2 paces further along it would have struck me on the head and killed me. Thankfully risk management of these sort of things has moved on in the 21st century and since mr Dibnah . If it takes 3 months it takes 3 months at least it will.be safe afterwards.

I agree the safety of the public needs to be considered but that needs to be in the round.

The current situation with the station closed, and no or very limited services on many routes to the south of Glasgow, is causing huge disruption to the city.

This has both safety and economic implications.

The additional traffic on the road network is increasing the risk for people travelling into the city as well as causing long queues at peak times on the motorway network.

I accept that Network Rail has to focus on the risk to rail passengers but I think the city council could take a wider view. Overall, I am aware that all concerned are working hard to reopen the station as soon as possible, but if that were to take 3 months, it would be disastrous for the city economy.

 

[cats_five]

I agree the safety of the public needs to be considered but that needs to be in the round.

<snip>

I accept that Network Rail has to focus on the risk to rail passengers but I think the city council could take a wider view. Overall, I am aware that all concerned are working hard to reopen the station as soon as possible, but if that were to take 3 months, it would be disastrous for the city economy.

I would be astonished if the station is still shut in 3 months, and I can also imagine the outcry if there is an accident that injures or kills a member of the public that is caused by premature reopening.

 

[swt_passenger]

I saw on one of the many videos put up on YouTube over the weekend that they’d successfully removed that so called ‘floating chimney stack’, which would have been hidden from view behind the old neon sign.

It’s a detail I’d never really appreciated, that back when these sort of buildings went up, if they were significantly different heights the problem of the existing chimney stack heights would have to be solved. Obvious in hindsight.

6:44 into this video:

 

[Pinus contorta]

I would be astonished if the station is still shut in 3 months, and I can also imagine the outcry if there is an accident that injures or kills a member of the public that is caused by premature reopening.

I just picked a number out of the sky for the removal of all the building materials. I wasnt suggesting the station is going to be closed for such a long time

 

[BRX]

Has it been decided that the remaining facade is definitely going to have to come down? Looking at that film it's not quite as precarious as I'd imagined because the curved corner is still there but (as far as I can see) also the wall that it connects to at right angles, which in turn is connected back to the central station facade where the pavement broadens - the wall seen here:




I do realise that of course it may all have been too severely compromised by the heat of the fire to even consider trying to keep it standing.

 

[swt_passenger]

Has it been decided that the remaining facade is definitely going to have to come down? Looking at that film it's not quite as precarious as I'd imagined because the curved corner is still there but (as far as I can see) also the wall that it connects to at right angles, which in turn is connected back to the central station facade where the pavement broadens - the wall seen here:

It’s definitely coming down, the City Council have announced it and appointed a contractor. I’ll find a link:

Specialist contractor Burnfield Demolition has been tasked with removing the remains of the fire-ravaged building in Glasgow city centre, following the severe blaze that erupted last Sunday evening.

The B-listed Victorian structure, situated prominently at the junction of Union Street and Gordon Street, was extensively damaged after flames took hold in a ground-floor vape shop.

The building standards team at Glasgow City Council has assessed the remaining structure, declaring it “fatally compromised” and “highly dangerous” and concluding that demolition “must happen in the interests of public safety”.

Fire-hit Union Street building to be fully demolished

Specialist contractor Burnfield Demolition has been tasked with removing the remains of the fire-ravaged building in Glasgow city centre, following the severe blaze that erupted last Sunday evening. The B-listed Victorian structure, situated prominently at the junction of Union Street and Gord

www.scottishconstructionnow.com

 

[sheeldz]

I accept that Network Rail has to focus on the risk to rail passengers but I think the city council could take a wider view. Overall, I am aware that all concerned are working hard to reopen the station as soon as possible, but if that were to take 3 months, it would be disastrous for the city economy.

Interstingly, the Rail Safey Group do look into platform and surrounding safety of passengers, and the risks to other traffic, from rail disruption. I'ts part of their modelling for risk and the various consequences of such actions, like extra passengers on platforms during disruptions, and how that affects passenger safety.

 

[The exile]

Interstingly, the Rail Safey Group do look into platform and surrounding safety of passengers, and the risks to other traffic, from rail disruption. I'ts part of their modelling for risk and the various consequences of such actions, like extra passengers on platforms during disruptions, and how that affects passenger safety.

Does that include risk to passengers who would otherwise be travelling by train but are forced to make other arrangements?

 

[sannox]

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.

I'm surprised there isn't some effort to run local services even if they don't get to Central as there is a lot of disrupted journeys at the moment even outside of the Central flows. I realise turnbacks can be an issue, but surely possible as an interim.

 

[MadCommuter]

Network Rail Scotland has hinted at a partial reopening:

https://x.com/i/status/2033611797568123062

A huge amount of work is underway behind the scenes to partially reopen Glasgow Central’s high‑level platforms, which will remain closed until at least Wednesday (18 March).

We aim to share a more detailed passenger update and timescales tomorrow (Tues, 17 March) morning.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Mar 2026 ==

So that might help some Ayrshire travellers but I suppose there will be disappointment at the remaining platforms remaining closed.

 

[Nicholas B]

The site earlier today…

The area is still cordoned off and most of the building has been reduced to rubble.

Image Credit: Myself.

 

[deerokus]

They've made it very hard to see what's going on.


There's a video on YouTube recorded I think it was yesterday and at one point it shows a large group of ScotRail staff gathered on Hope Street by the (former) vehicle entrance. Makes me think they will be opening that up after all.

 

[Fat Pav]

They've made it very hard to see what's going on.


There's a video on YouTube recorded I think it was yesterday and at one point it shows a large group of ScotRail staff gathered on Hope Street by the (former) vehicle entrance. Makes me think they will be opening that up after all.

The current plan is to use the entrance to carriage drive as an entrance / exit and run services from 7-15 platforms. Unsure if the main concourse area will be cordoned off to the public. Not sure how feasible this is and the frequency of services that will operate, personally think that at peak times especially, it could be tight for space and the station very busy, possibly hinging on unsafe.

 

[Iamanoob]

They've made it very hard to see what's going on.


There's a video on YouTube recorded I think it was yesterday and at one point it shows a large group of ScotRail staff gathered on Hope Street by the (former) vehicle entrance. Makes me think they will be opening that up after all.

Scotrail station staff are being shown around the station today, to go over where they can and cannot go/do. Looks more than likely to partial reopening on Wednesday.

 

[sheeldz]

Partial re-opening of the high level platforms announced.

Glasgow Central Station to partially reopen after huge blaze

The station will reopen on Wednesday following a 10-day closure and just over half of its regular routes will be operating.

www.bbc.co.uk

Glasgow Central Station will partially reopen on Wednesday, allowing a return of some ScotRail and cross-border train services.

The station has been closed since Sunday 8 March following a large fire, which caused the partial collapse of a building on Union Street.

The main entrance on Gordon Street will remain closed due to safety concerns.

There will be a reduced timetable and passengers are asked to check journeys before travelling.

 

[DarloRich]

Partial re-opening of the high level platforms announced.

that is good news. hopefully we will see a plan for the full station to reopen soon

 

[nlogax]

https://www.networkrailmediacentre....sgow-central-confirmed-for-wednesday-18-march

Glasgow Central high-level will partially reopen on Wednesday 18 March, allowing a return of some ScotRail and cross-border train services.

The station has been closed since Sunday 8 March following the significant fire on Union Street.

After a handover of the site from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service on Thursday 12 March, Glasgow City Council established an exclusion zone around the fire damaged building to protect the public and those working nearby while remediation work takes place. This cordon will continue to cover the upper part of Central Station, including the Union Street, Gordon Street and Hope Street entrances.

To enable the partial reopening of some platforms from Wednesday, passengers will access the station via the low-level entrances and the Hope Street carriage driveway, which is normally used during special events. The station will look different, with facilities and shops closed, and barriers and signage marking the exclusion zone.

Colleagues will be on hand to support passengers, provide information and ensure everyone can move safely through the temporary arrangements.

A significant amount of work is being carried out ahead of reopening, including inspections, cleaning, repairs and operational checks. Essential kit needed for the station to operate safely, including the public address system and passenger information equipment, has been moved to new locations and temporary facilities have been set up for station and train staff.