Scotland’s Railway has officially reopened Glasgow Queen Street station following the completion of a $163.10m (£120m) government-funded refurbishment.
First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon visited the station to mark the completion of the redevelopment project.
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The Glasgow Queen Street station, the third busiest in Scotland, was redeveloped under the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme.
Teams from Transport Scotland, Network Rail, ScotRail and main contractor Balfour Beatty have been involved in redeveloping the station for the past four years.
The extended station now features a larger concourse, doubling the circulation space for the commuters.
It offers step-free access from Dundas and North Hanover Streets and is fully accessible, with lifts into the new building from Queen Street.
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By GlobalDataOther facilities at Glasgow Queen Street station include a new travel centre, toilets, and a changing place.
The redevelopment work commenced in 2017 with the demolition of the 1970s buildings in front of the Victorian station for creating space for the new expanded concourse.
In a span of one year, more than 14,000t of material was removed from the location.
According to Network Rail, nearly 94% of the demolition material was recycled and some of it was utilised in the foundations of the new concourse.
Network Rail said in a statement: “In December 2018 the expanded station’s steel frame began to go up, and Queen Street truly took on its distinctive new shape in September 2019 when the last of the 310 glass panels on the station frontage was installed.”
As part of the redevelopment works, platforms 1 to 5 were extended. All the platforms at the station were also electrified to accommodate ScotRail’s new, longer Class-385 electric trains.
First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon said: “Since 2007, we have invested over $12.23bn (£9bn) in rail infrastructure, including electrification to enable greener trains to run on those routes.
“We are committed to continued electrification, and the use of alternative traction technology, if we are to address the challenges facing this planet. Scotland, as a responsible global citizen, will do everything we can to play our part.”
Last month, a Thales-led consortium secured a contract from Network Rail to develop and test fibre optic acoustic sensing (FOAS) technology.
