The Glasgow Central Railway was a railway line built in Glasgow, Scotland by the Caledonian Railway, running in tunnel east to west through the city centre. It was opened in stages from 1894 and opened up new journey opportunities for passengers and enabled the Caledonian Railway to access docks and industrial locations on the north bank of the River Clyde. An intensive and popular train service was operated, but the long tunnel sections with frequent steam trains were smoky and heartily disliked.
The network paralleled the North British Railway routes in the area, and after nationalisation of the railways the line declined and was closed in stages from 1959 to 1964.
In 1979 the central part of the route was reopened as an electrically operated passenger railway, the Argyle Line; this was greatly popular and enhanced connecting routes to west and east made this a valuable link through the city once more. The Argyle Line section is in heavy use today, but the other parts remain closed.
History First main lines in Glasgow
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" 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 DunbartonshireAt the time the common spelling was Dumbartonshire and some railways used that spelling in their titles. 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.John Thomas revised J. S. Paterson, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 6, Scotland, the Lowlands and the Borders, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1984,
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.
North Clyde developments 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.John Riddell, The Clyde, The Fairlie Press, Fairlie, 1988,
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.
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 Glasgow Central Railway
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 the (51 & 52 Vict. c. cxciv) providing authorisation on 10 August 1888.E. F. Carter, An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles, Cassell, London, 1959David Ross, The Caledonian: Scotland's Imperial Railway: A History, Stenlake Publishing Limited, Catrine, 2014,
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 of Parliament was sought and obtained as the Caledonian Railway Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. xii) the following year, altering the plan to a sub-surface line like the NBR line. Getting the act of Parliament 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.
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 the Caledonian Railway (Additional Powers) Act 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c. cxxxi) on 25 July 1890.
The first sod was cut on 11 June 1890 by Master J. B. Montgomerie Fleming, son of J. B. Fleming of Kelvinside. 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 Railway issued £950,000 of special stock to fund the construction.
Opening In the final stages of construction the section from Maryhill to Stobcross opened to mineral traffic (to Queens Dock) on 26 November 1894. (The Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire opened from Maryhill to Balornock Junction on the same day.) Passenger trains started to run from Rutherglen to Glasgow Cross on 1 November 1895, and the entire line opened to all traffic on 10 August 1896. 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.
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.
Early electrification proposals 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. 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, although not without problems at first.
The Caledonian Railway decided to electrify the line, and electrification of the Glasgow Central Railway, the Tollcross line, and other railways was authorised by the Caledonian Railway Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. clxxxviii) 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.Jim Summers, Signalling the Caledonian, Lightmoor Press, Lydney, 2014,
Connections at the west end
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 thereAlexander Thomson, Random Notes and Rambling Recollections of Drydock, the Dock, Or Kelvindock, All Now Known by the More Modern Name of Maryhill, 1750-1894, Kerr & Richardson, Maryhill, 1895 and a large corporation gasworks had been established there in 1871 and much extended later. 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.
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".)