Glasgow Central Railway

System map of the Glasgow Central Railway

In 1845 the Caledonian Railway was authorised to build its line from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Carlisle. This was a main line railway, with no thought of local travel within the cities. By acquiring interests in other lines, the Caledonian soon had three terminal stations in Glasgow: Buchanan Street, South Side, and Bridge Street. None of these was very convenient to the city centre for passengers, and goods to and from shipping on the River Clyde was carted through the streets.

The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) terminated at Queen Street, a cramped terminal convenient for the city but with no access to the quays.

The Caledonian set about getting access to the Clyde at Broomielaw by sponsoring the nominally independent General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway which constructed berthing a short distance downstream from Glasgow Bridge on the south side, and built a railway to it from Gushetfaulds (Larkfield Junction). The construction was finished by December 1848 but it connected to the Clydesdale Junction Railway which was only completed the following year. The General Terminus represented considerable progress in bulk handling of minerals, but it was still limited in capacity, as the vessels had to lie alongside the bank, and the improvements to the navigation of the Clyde had not yet been completed. Nonetheless the General Terminus had an effective monopoly of rail-borne export of minerals for many years.

At this period the rapid industrialisation of Glasgow led to an influx of workers into the city centre: Glasgow became "the second city of the British Empire"[1] and the more affluent moved to suburbs: Charing Cross, Hillhead and the Botanic Gardens area. There was still no recognisable suburban railway.

In 1858 the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway (GD&HR) opened its line from the E&GR at Cowlairs, on the north-east of Glasgow, looping round to the north and running north of the Clyde to Dumbarton and on to Helensburgh. The circuit round the north of Glasgow was a roundabout route but it succeeded in connecting Dunbartonshire[note 1] into the railway network. The company was absorbed by the E&GR in 1862 and the E&GR was itself absorbed to form the North British Railway in 1865. Accordingly, the Caledonian was losing out to a bitter competitor.[2]

In 1870 the City of Glasgow Union Railway bridged the Clyde and the so-called "bus trains", frequent services with closely spaced stops, were instituted. The City Union Line was a joint scheme between the NBR and the Glasgow and South Western Railway, another competitor.[1]

From 1872 the Clyde Trustees undertook an ambitious project to build a large dock at Stobcross, on marshland on the north bank downstream. This became the Queen's Dock, and it opened in 1874.[3]

The North British Railway built a connecting line to it, leaving the GD&HR line at Maryhill and running south and then east. It took a wide circuit to reach Stobcross because of contours and housing development. This was the Stobcross Railway. Traffic started on 20 October 1870, and it formed an important goods artery for NBR. The Caledonian Railway were granted running powers to reach the dock from Sighthill, a long and difficult transit over NBR tracks, and the NBR placed every obstacle in the way of the Caledonian.[1]

Next the NBR sponsored another nominally independent company, the Glasgow, Yoker and Clydebank Railway, which left the GD&HR line near Jordanhill and ran to industrial locations, especially shipyards, on the Clyde. It opened in 1882. Finally the Glasgow City and District Railway was promoted, also by the NBR, to build a through east to west sub-surface line connecting the Coatbridge line and the Dumbarton line. It opened in 1886 and although expensive to construct, it was an immediate success. The North British Railway now had a decent suburban network in Glasgow and on the North bank of the Clyde, and the Caledonian had almost nothing.

The Caledonian clearly had to do something, and an independent engineer, Charles Forman, proposed a solution: a Glasgow Central Railway should be built on an east-west axis, connecting Maryhill in the north west of the city with Dalmarnock, on a short branch from Rutherglen on the main line, in the south east. It would run through the city centre south of the NBR line and have station facilities at the Caledonian's Glasgow Central terminal, as well as giving direct access to Stobcross and the Queen's Dock, still an important dock area. The Caledonian thought this was a good idea, and encouraged the development of the scheme. At this time the line that became the Liverpool Overhead Railway was being designed. The solution of building an urban railway over the streets in the central area seemed attractive and relatively cheap, and on that basis the Glasgow Central Railway obtained parliamentary authorisation on 10 August 1888.[2][4][5]

Business interests and public opinion in Glasgow only now realised what was being proposed, and a considerable outcry; so vehement was it that the Caledonian reconsidered, and a further Act was sought and obtained the following year, altering the plan to a sub-surface line like the NBR line. Getting the Act was one thing, but the detailed engineering of a sub-surface railway through the centre of the city, with large buildings that could not be disturbed, was daunting. The Caledonian decided to take the work into its own hands, still employing the engineering firm that conceived the scheme, and the company was absorbed on 31 May 1890. No physical work had started at that time.[2][5]

Notwithstanding the difficulties, the idea of the line was so attractive that a branch was proposed, running from Bridgeton Cross via Tollcross to Carmyle (on the Caledonian's Rutherglen and Coatbridge line and on to Newton on the main line. This extension, often informally referred to as the Tollcross line, was authorised by Act of Parliament on 25 July 1890.[1][2]

The first sod was cut on 11 June 1890 by Master J. B. Montgomerie Fleming, son of J. B. Fleming of Kelvinside.[6] Construction was prodigiously difficult: five out of seven miles were underground; and the city authorities were now alerted to the need to demand proper respect for the aesthetics of the city streets, and they paid close attention to the plans and practices of the company. The new Botanic Gardens was of especial architectural interest as a result. The Caledonian issued £950,000 of special stock to fund the construction.[5]

Finally construction was entering the final stages. The section from Maryhill to Stobcross opened to mineral traffic (to Queens Dock) on 26 November 1894.[7] (The Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire opened from Maryhill to Balornock Junction on the same day.)[5] Passenger trains started to run from Rutherglen to Glasgow Cross on 1 November 1895,[8] and the entire line opened to all traffic on 10 August 1896.[9] 130 trains passed through the line each way. Central Station had two island platforms, and four through tracks. The Tollcross section opened throughout on 1 February 1897.[10]

Goods traffic was hugely important at the time, and was considerably simplified: instead of using running powers over the NBR from Sighthill to Stobcross, the trains could now run through the Central line, or alternatively via the Possil line of the L&DR.[2]

Except at the extremities, the line ran through continuous tunnels and was operated by steam trains. (Some locomotives were fitted with condensing equipment.) 130 passenger trains ran each way daily, and heavy mineral traffic to Stobcross used the route.[5] The ventilation and lighting of the subsurface stations were poor, and the environment attracted much criticism. At this time technical development suggested that electric traction might be feasible. The Central London Railway was being constructed on that system (it opened in 1900) and of course street tramcars had been using electricity, not without problems at first.

The Caledonian decided to electrify the line, and electrification of the Glasgow Central Railway, the Tollcross line, and other railways was authorised by Parliament on 2 August 1898. As well as the immaturity of the technology there were some practical problems, chiefly the heavy mineral traffic which would have required an engine change on approaching the line and again at Stobcross. Having secured the powers, the Caledonian did not proceed with the idea, and the powers lapsed.[11]

The eastern end of the proposed railway fed into the Caledonian network towards Hamilton, Motherwell and Coatbridge. At the western end, it fed to the Queen's Dock at Stobcross, and to the important suburb at Maryhill, and also to nearby Dawsholm. Dawsholm was almost entirely industrial; for many years there had been an important textile printing works there[12] and a large corporation gasworks had been established there in 1871 and much extended later.[13] Much supplementary industry, including a chemical works, was being established there.

Dawsholm only lasted until 1908 as a passenger station, but it developed in its industrial significance, and the Caledonian built a six-road engine shed there which serviced most of the Central Railway's traction needs.[5]

Concurrently with the construction of the Glasgow Central Railway, the Caledonian was encouraging the promotion and building of the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway. (The company used the spelling Dumbartonshire, although later usage for the county adopted a spelling with the letter "n".)

This was to link Balloch and Dumbarton with the north shore of the River Clyde to the Central line. The connection was at Stobcross, and also to a new through station at Maryhill continuing on to Possil and a junction at Balornock on the Caledonian main line from Buchanan Street. The route taken by the L&DR incorporated a large area of newly established heavy industry on North Clydeside and served rapidly developing residential areas.

The Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire line opened progressively in the years 1894 to 1896, and with the Central line was operated as an integral part of the Caledonian Railway: at last the Caledonian had secured a suburban network in the north and west of Glasgow.

From the outset, the Central Railway was found to be unattractive for passengers; the smoky atmosphere, and the dirty condition of the station and the trains were constantly commented upon. Street tramcars by contrast were frequent, clean, and had stops close to city destinations that the railway could not always match. The railways were nationalised in 1948, and the duplication of lines for passengers and goods was a disadvantage, now that competition was irrelevant. Some individual stations had already been closed. The line was closed to passengers between Maryhill and Stobcross on 2 November 1959, although goods and mineral traffic continued from the Possil line via Maryhill to the Queen's Dock until 14 August 1960; after that date a service to Kelvinbridge continued until 6 July 1964.

The NBR route to Helensburgh was selected for modernisation, and the route was electrified in 1960, causing a revolution in passenger convenience. This only exaggerated the negative perception of the Central Railway, and on 5 October 1964 the Central Railway network was closed to passenger traffic. The Possil line lost its goods traffic as well, as it simply paralleled the NBR route. A short section serving Tollcross from Carmyle was the only remnant, for goods trains, lasting until 4 April 1966.

For some years, therefore, the line lay unused. Then in the 1970s the Glasgow political mood shifted in favour of rail transport. The Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Authority decided to fund reopening of part of the Central Railway, as a passenger link line from a junction near Partick on the NBR electric line to Rutherglen. Financial authority was given in 1974, and on 1 November 1979 the new Argyle Line, as it was named, was officially opened. Public services started on 5 November 1979. The diverging junction at Partick leading to the Argyle Line was made a grade-separated junction: eastbound trains dived under the NBR line and converged with the westbound line at Stobcross, renamed Finnieston (and later renamed Exhibition Centre.)

A new station was provided at Argyle Street; the platforms are below the centre of the street, and at the time it had not been pedestrianised. Accordingly, the access from the island platform descends to cross under the track, before rising to a street level building at the side of the street.

The Argyle line was a considerable success, and trains ran through from the Hamilton Circle and from Lanark, although the Lanark train was re-diverted to its previous route from Rutherglen to Glasgow Central high level station in 2013. There is a frequency of typically eight trains an hour through the line each way, operated by ScotRail.

For much of its route the line was in a shallow cut-and-cover tunnel, and gradients were imposed by the road levels. Glasgow Central station was in a dip to enable the footbridge between platforms to cross the line, below the main station above.

Location list:

• Dawsholm; opened 1 October 1896; closed 1 May 1908;
• Kirklee Junction;

• Maryhill; opened 10 August 1896; renamed Maryhill Central 1952; closed 5 October 1964;
• Kirklee Junction; see above;
• Kirklee; opened 10 August 1896; closed 1 January 1917; reopened 2 June 1919; closed 1 May 1939;
• Botanic Gardens; opened 10 August 1896; closed 1 January 1917; reopened 2 June 1919; closed 6 February 1939;
• Kelvin Bridge; opened 10 August 1896; closed 1 January 1917; reopened 2 June 1919; closed 4 August 1952;
• Stobcross; opened 1 May 1896; closed 3 August 1959;
• Anderston Cross; opened 10 August 1896; closed 3 August 1959;
• Glasgow Central; opened 10 August 1896; closed 5 October 1964;
• Glasgow Cross; opened 1 November 1895; closed 5 October 1964;
• Glasgow Green; opened 1 November 1895; closed 1 January 1917; reopened 2 June 1919; closed 2 November 1953;
• Bridgeton Cross; opened 1 November 1895; closed 5 October 1964;
• Dalmarnock; opened 1 November 1895; closed 5 October 1964.

• Bridgeton Cross; see above;
• Parkhead; opened 23 November 1870; renamed Parkhead Stadium 1952; closed 5 October 1964;
• Tollcross; opened 1 February 1897; closed 5 October 1964;
• Carmyle; station on Rutherglen and Coatbridge line; closed 5 October 1964;
• Carmyle Junction;
• Newton; station on main line.

The line continued to Rutherglen using the London Road branch.

• Partick Junction; on Queen Street line;
• Finnieston; renamed Exhibition Centre 1986;
• Anderston;
• Glasgow Central;
• Argyle Street;
• Bridgeton;
• Dalmarnock;
• Rutherglen.