Glasgow Central Station Partially Reopens After Fire

Glasgow Central Station, Scotland's busiest railway hub, partially reopened its high-level platforms on Wednesday, March 18, exactly 10 days after a massive fire ravaged a neighboring Victorian building on Union Street, forcing the main section of the station to close.

The blaze erupted on Sunday, March 8, in a vape shop on Union Street and quickly spread through the Union Corner structure at the junction with Gordon Street, reducing most of the building to rubble and leaving only its facade intact. Hundreds of firefighters battled the flames for hours, but the fire's intensity caused significant structural damage. A several-foot gap between the building's rear and the station acted as a natural firebreak, preventing the flames from reaching the railway infrastructure. The incident disrupted thousands of passengers and local businesses, with the station's high-level operations halted entirely while low-level services resumed on March 11 following initial safety assessments.

Services restarted at 5:45 a.m. with a ScotRail train to Ayr, followed minutes later by an Avanti West Coast service to London Euston at 5:48 a.m. Platforms 7 through 15 on the station's west side returned to...