Buchanan Street station was the least known of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

's four main terminus

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

stations, the other three being , and . It was to the north-west of Queen Street station and served the north of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

History

Constructed in 1849 by the

Caledonian Railway Company The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh and ...

as its main terminus for the city, the original station buildings consisted of supposedly temporary wooden structures, which lasted until the 1930s. A goods station at the site opened in 1850. Services ran primarily northbound, to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

and other destinations. The station was earmarked for closure and replacement in the "

Bruce Report The Bruce Report (or the Bruce Plan) is the name commonly given to the ''First Planning Report to the Highways and Planning Committee of the Corporation of the City of Glasgow''Robert Bruce (1945), ''First Planning report to the Highways and Pla ...

" about how to redevelop Glasgow in the post-

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

period. The plan included replacing Buchanan Street and Queen Street stations with a Glasgow North station on land including the site of Buchanan Street, but many times larger. There was also a similar scheme to replace Central and St Enoch stations with a Glasgow South station, but neither came to fruition. This reprieve proved to be only temporary as the station was closed in 1966 as part of the rationalisation of the railway system devised by

Richard Beeching Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 – 23 March 1985), commonly known as Dr Beeching, was a physicist and engineer who for a short but very notable time was chairman of British Railways. He became a household name in Britain in the e ...

, with most of its services running to Queen Street. The buildings were demolished in 1967. The Buchanan Street tunnel that ran from just outwith the station to

Sighthill Sighthill may refer to: * Sighthill, Edinburgh, a district of the city of Edinburgh ** Sighthill Stadium, a proposed stadium in Sighthill, Edinburgh * Sighthill, Glasgow Sighthill is a neighbourhood in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situ ...

still exists, but public access is prohibited.

Site

In 1975, British Rail constructed Buchanan House (later named 'ScotRail House' between January 1985 and April 1994) and

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University ( gd, Oilthigh Chailleannach Ghlaschu, ), informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley, is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and G ...

occupy the site of the station. The Station Bar, nearby, still exists.

References

Notes

Sources

* {{Glasgow railway stations Disused railway stations in Glasgow Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1849 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966 Former Caledonian Railway stations Glasgow Buchanan Street 1849 establishments in Scotland 1966 disestablishments in Scotland