Glasgow Central Station Extension.’’ by DONALDALEXANDER MATHESON, M

30 MATHESON ON GLASGOW CENTRAL STATION. [Minutes of 10 November, 1908. JAMESCHARLES INGLIS, President, in the Chair. (Paper No. 3737.) “ Glasgow Central Station Extension.’’ By DONALDALEXANDER MATHESON, M. Inst. C.E. THE CentralStation in Glasgow is the principal stationon the Caledonian Railway. It is a terminal station and has recently been much altered and extended. The new workshave just beencom- pleted, andas the reconstruction and enlargement of existing terminal stations, as well as the building of new terminal shtions, appears to be a matter of consequence at the present time, not only in this country but also in France and America, it is proposed to describe the leading features of the extension scheme. The subject will be treatedmainly from the point of view of the politics of railway engineering, but the equipment and general accommodation will also be referred to and the principle in design briefly analysed. In recent years, the increase of passenger-traflic in the terminal railway-stations of great cities has been extraordinary, with the result that many railway-companies are face to face with difficult economic andengineering problems, the solution of whichcannot be in- definitely delayed. If traffic in terminal stations is to be handled economically theremust besufficiency of accommodation ; and, havingregard to the sites and circumstances of cityterminal stations,proper and indeed economic accommodationcan be pro- vided onlyby spending large sums of money in the purchase of valuable land and property and in the constructionof costly works. The subject is therefore of particular interest at present to the railway-engineer who is responsiblefor construction as well as maintenance, for he recognizes that, for a time at least, his con- structive work will be less in the direction of building new railways in new districts, than in the direction of domestic betterment, by which is meant the widening of existing railways, the reconstruction Downloaded by [ Purdue Univ Lib TSS] on [16/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. Proceedings.] MATHESON ON GLASGOW CENTRAL STATION. S1 and extension of existing stations, and the providing of improved accommodation to meet the requirements of ever-growing traffic. Duringthe last few years, therehas beenreconstruction and extension of terminal stations in London, Edinburgh, and Paris, as well as in New York and many of the other great cities of America. The old stations in theseplaces had served their day and generation, but it is remarkable that there should have been such a universal wave of reconstructionduring the last decade. Themodernized terminalstations of Franceand America have been splendidly equipped intheir reconstruction.From the traffic-workingpoint of view their leading characteristics appear to beconvenience of arrangement in plan, spaciousness andvariety of accommodation, sufficiency of appliances and abundance of facilities for the separation of traffic and for dealingwith maximum volume in minimum time ; while, in the engineering work there is solidity in construction, with, in many cases, elegance in architectural features, and everywhere there is indication of regard for true economics. How long these modernizedterminal stationswill continue fully to meet traffic-requirements cannot be said. It is suggestive, however, that the terminal stationof the New York Central Railroad in New York is now being reconstructed for the third time in 30 years ; while, on the other hand, the Great Western Railway Company’s Paddington Station appears still to stand the testof time. THE LOCATION. Thepassenger-lines of the CaledonianRailway approach and enter Glasgow from the four cardinaldirections ; but they terminate in two stations, namely, Buchanan Street station and the Central station. Buchanan Streetstation is situated on thenorth side of the city ; but the Centrad station, as its name implies, is in the heart of the city, just north of the River Clyde. Thepositions of the railway termini in Glasgow are shown in Fig. l. The line from the north terminates in Buchanan Street, and the lines from the south, east, and west terminate in the Central station. There are also through lines from the east and west into the Central station, but these are at a lower level than the lines which terminate.The through lines from the eastand west pass underneath the line from the south, the crossing being almost at right angles. The Central station is thus on two levels. Theprincipal east to westthoroughfare in Glasgow is Argyle Street, situated about285 yards to the northof, and practically parallel to, the River Clyde. The east-to-west lines pass longitudinally in Downloaded by [ Purdue Univ Lib TSS] on [16/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. 33 MATHESON ON GLASGOW CENTRAL STATION, [Minutes of tunnelunder Argyle Street; so that, in respect of the low-level part, the Central station is under Argyle Street, but the high-level pa,rt is over Argyle Street, and over other streets in the vicinity, as well aspartly over the River Clyde. Therelative positions and levels of the railways andstreets are shownby Figs. 2 and 3, Plate 1, and Figs. 5 and 6, Plate 2, and it willbe observed that the line of Argyle Street practically bisects the high-level part of the station. The rails of the high-level part are about 21 feet above the level of Argyle Street, and the rails of the low-level part about 23 feet below it, SO that the difference in level between the rails of the high-level and low-level parts of the station is about 44 feet. The high-level part of the Central station, relatively to the adjoining streets, can thus be described as an elevated station, constructed on a costly substructure. The low-level part of the Central station is in comparison quite subsidiary tothe high-level part;and, there having beenonly limited interference with the structureof the low-level part, further reference to it will merely be incidental in the description of the modification and enlargement of the high-level part. HISTORICAL. In London, Paris,and NewYork, as well as elsewhere, the terminal stations of many of the trunk lines are somewhat distant from the centre of the City; and, similarly,the southernterminus- or rather termini, for there were two-of the Caledonian Railway in Glasgow were originally a long way off on the south side of the River Clyde.One, known as the South Side station, was situated at the end of Main Street ; and the other was situated at Bridge Street with a frontage to that street(Fig. 1). The natural barrier formed by the River Clyde, coupled with the cost of reachinga more centralsite, was probably the obstacle to the construction originally of a more northerly terminus of the railway from the south. The exigencies of traffic and the public re quirements, however, subsequently demanded a comprehensive station on a central site; and, aftercareful consideration,the directors of the company determined to extend the railway northwardacross the River Clyde and to construct a station in the centreof the city between the river and Gordon Street necessarily on the site of costly property. Statutory powers for this great extension were obtained under the Caledonian Railway (Gordon Street Glasgow Station) Act 1873 andthe CaledonianRailway (Gordon StreetStation Connecting Lines)Act 1875. Theoriginal Central Station was constructed Downloaded by [ Purdue Univ Lib TSS] on [16/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. Proceedings.] MATHESON ~rjGLP~SG~W CI~NTBAL STATION. 33 underthese Acts, and was opened for traffic in 1879. The Engineers were Messrs. Blyth and Cunningham, MM. Inst. C.E., RAILWAYTERMINI IN GLASGOW. and theworks were carried out under theimmediate superintendence of Mr. B. Hall Blyth. [THE INST. C.E:VOL. CLXXV.] D Downloaded by [ Purdue Univ Lib TSS] on [16/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. 34 MATHESON ON GLASGOWCEXTRAL STATION. [Minutes of In a very few years after the opening of the station, the traffic increased so much as to quite outgrow the accommodation. It was therefore necessary to enlarge and remodel the station, and further statutory powershaving been obtained underthe Caledonian Railway Act of 1887, the necessary works were designeda.nd carried out under the direction of the company's Engineer-in-Chief, the late Mr. George Graham, M. Inst. C.E., and were completed in 1890. But even with the station thus enlarged, the accommodation was soon again found to be quite inadequate to meetthe requirements of the ever-increasing traffic, and thecongestion became so great, not only inside the station but also outside in connection with the approach- lines, that in1898 further extensionwas decided on. Powers for this extensionwere obtained under the CaledonianRailway (General Powers) Act 1899 ; and the works, which were designed and constructed under the direction of the Author, with Sir John Wolfe Barry, K.C.B., Past-President Inst. C.E., as Consulting Engineer, were commenced in 1901 and practically completed in 1906. The extended station is shown in detailed plan by Figs. 2 and 4, Plate 1, and in detailedsections by Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8, Plate 2, inclusive. The providing of a convenient terminal station in the business centre of the city was a great benefit to the citizens of Glasgow. Notwithstanding this, however, as reference to the several Acts of Parliament will show, the CaledonianRailway Company, besides beingunder the necessity of purchasing the costly site for the stationand the approach-lines, and expendinglargely on first construction and subsequent extensions, wereobliged, under statute, in the initial stagesof the schemes, to pay immense sumsof money to local authorities forso-called concessionsand in thename of wayleave. Thesepayments inthe aggregateamounted to about X175,OOO. It 'was, of course, a privilege and much to the advantage of the railway-company to beallowed to cross the river and the several streets in the extensionof the railway northward for the purpose of having the station in a central part of the city.

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