Glasgow Subway

[clc]

The Glasgow Subway Discussion thread has been closed so I've opened a new one.

Does anyone know how feasible it would be to create a subterranean pedestrian link between St Enoch subway station and the low level station at Central? I'm sure I read somewhere that the distance between them wasn't that great.

 

[Agent_c]

The Glasgow Subway Discussion thread has been closed so I've opened a new one.

Does anyone know how feasible it would be to create a subterranean pedestrian link between St Enoch subway station and the low level station at Central? I'm sure I read somewhere that the distance between them wasn't that great.

Definately too far. You've got an entire city block you're going to have to tunnel under just to get to Jamica street; Going Parallel with Argyle Street I would think would get you to the Crystal Palace rather than Low Level station, so you'd have to go diagonal, making it even longer... Might make the Bank of Scotland nervous having a tunnel go right by their branch....

If you absolutely, positively, had to have a Central to Subway link, I would have thought it would have made more sense to have a moving footpath over the river to the former Bridge Street buildings, and then go down through them to Bridge Street subway.

It might be furhther, but I think there would be less property issues, and a whole lot less digging.

 

[clc]

If you absolutely, positively, had to have a Central to Subway link, I would have thought it would have made more sense to have a moving footpath over the river to the former Bridge Street buildings, and then go down through them to Bridge Street subway.

It might be furhther, but I think there would be less property issues, and a whole lot less digging.

That sounds like something that could be explored if new platforms were built over the old bridge piers.

 

[jopsuk]

tunneling under buildings is generally no ideal, unless you go deep. But the obvious "below the street" route is Argyle street, where, er, the railway is. And the tunnel would need to connect to points outside the barriers on both systems

 

[Dr Hoo]

I am no geologist but one of the major problems is likely to be the nature of the ground and the fact that the whole area is below high tide level but very close to the Clyde.
ISTR that there is already a separate drainage heading, parallel to and just below the level of the Low Level lines. I was lucky enough to go into the tunnels on a visit many years ago.
If one wanted to promote comfortable interchange between the Subway and the Low Level lines the cheaper answer would be to put a plastic roof or 'tent' over the streets in between.

 

[Agent_c]

I am no geologist but one of the major problems is likely to be the nature of the ground and the fact that the whole area is below high tide level but very close to the Clyde.
ISTR that there is already a separate drainage heading, parallel to and just below the level of the Low Level lines. I was lucky enough to go into the tunnels on a visit many years ago.
If one wanted to promote comfortable interchange between the Subway and the Low Level lines the cheaper answer would be to put a plastic roof or 'tent' over the streets in between.

could build one all the way down Buchanan Street like Freemont Street in Vegas...

 

[b0b]

tunneling under buildings is generally no ideal, unless you go deep. But the obvious "below the street" route is Argyle street, where, er, the railway is. And the tunnel would need to connect to points outside the barriers on both systems

wasn't there back in the day more lines through the low-level, I seem to remember seeing an entrance to more lines between bridgeton and argyle street. could that be converted into a passage way between central & Argule street with an entrance at St Enoch?

 

[Agent_c]

wasn't there back in the day more lines through the low-level, I seem to remember seeing an entrance to more lines between bridgeton and argyle street. could that be converted into a passage way between central & Argule street with an entrance at St Enoch?

There is an "Abandoned Platform" that was for the routes out to the Botanic Gardens. You can tour it as a part of the Glasgow Central Tour. However, I think that tunnel is on the wrong side of the active line.

 

[gimmea50anyday]

The mouth of that tunnel route can be seen at the eastbound platform at Exhibition Centre and runs under kelvin grove park with another station at Kelvinhill next to the subway station of the same name. You can also see this route briefly as the queen street low level route cuts through just after exiting the tunnel Partick bound. The route eventually ends up at Maryhill where Tesco now stands is the former station site, but space has been made available under the store for possible future reinstatement

 

[gsnedders]

The mouth of that tunnel route can be seen at the eastbound platform at Exhibition Centre and runs under kelvin grove park with another station at Kelvinhill next to the subway station of the same name. You can also see this route briefly as the queen street low level route cuts through just after exiting the tunnel Partick bound. The route eventually ends up at Maryhill where Tesco now stands is the former station site, but space has been made available under the store for possible future reinstatement

That said, there's a bingo hall just beyond the Tesco Maryhill (which predates it), so it's all a bit unclear why the space was required to be maintained there…
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

There is an "Abandoned Platform" that was for the routes out to the Botanic Gardens. You can tour it as a part of the Glasgow Central Tour. However, I think that tunnel is on the wrong side of the active line.

The unused platform is indeed to the north of the active line, and hence the wrong side. As for the Botanic Gardens line, I was of the understanding that the two island platforms formed slow/fast pairs, not based on route, and the diverging routes happened only at Stobcross (now Exhibition Centre)?

 

[gimmea50anyday]

Think they were east west pairs, not being Glaswegian ah dinnae know...

The tunnel mouth is still there, adapted for when the partick route was diverged from a flat junction to separate running lines to improve capacity. The botanic route is still visible and was the cause of the flooding of Central LL when the Kelvin burst its banks

 

[clc]

The mouth of that tunnel route can be seen at the eastbound platform at Exhibition Centre and runs under kelvin grove park with another station at Kelvinhill next to the subway station of the same name. You can also see this route briefly as the queen street low level route cuts through just after exiting the tunnel Partick bound. The route eventually ends up at Maryhill where Tesco now stands is the former station site, but space has been made available under the store for possible future reinstatement

Kelvinbridge is the station you're thinking of. The abandoned tunnel to it is visible from the Argyle line at Exhibition Centre station.

 

[gimmea50anyday]

Aye, that one!

 

[route:oxford]

The Glasgow Subway Discussion thread has been closed so I've opened a new one.

Does anyone know how feasible it would be to create a subterranean pedestrian link between St Enoch subway station and the low level station at Central? I'm sure I read somewhere that the distance between them wasn't that great.

Interesting question. From memory, When Arnotts was still open it had a basement level.

Perhaps there was a missed opportunity at that point to create a link?

Still, can you imagine how awful it would in an underground corridor in central Glasgow with tramps and beggars...

 

[edwin_m]

That said, there's a bingo hall just beyond the Tesco Maryhill (which predates it), so it's all a bit unclear why the space was required to be maintained there…

Presumably when the bingo hall was built nobody was even thinking about restoring the line, but by the time Tesco was built it had become a possibility (albeit rather a remote one I think). So if it ever is re-opened there will only be one building to deal with rather than two.

 

[Hapless]

Isn't there a large canopy that runs along the store front on Argyle Street, from there its about another what..... 50 yards to get under the bridge and into the station.

On another note heard the travelator at Buchanan Street will be up and running in the summer, just in time for the subway to close!?!?!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The mouth of that tunnel route can be seen at the eastbound platform at Exhibition Centre and runs under kelvin grove park

Is this the line where you can look down onto a disused station in the middle of a large park / gardens?

 

[clc]

Is this the line where you can look down onto a disused station in the middle of a large park / gardens?

Yes that's the one, Botanic Gardens being the park.

 

[exile]

There is a long foot tunnel in London (South Kensington) and one in Paris (Montparnasse). Are these longer than the tunnel proposed here?

 

[gsnedders]

Presumably when the bingo hall was built nobody was even thinking about restoring the line, but by the time Tesco was built it had become a possibility (albeit rather a remote one I think). So if it ever is re-opened there will only be one building to deal with rather than two.

The space in the basement was there in the Farmfoods (IIRC?) on the site prior to the Tesco being built (in ~2010). I believe that Farmfoods was the first development of the site after the closure of the railway.

 

[clc]

The nightshift engineers on the subway will feature in a documentary about transport in Scotland.

Tonight at 9pm on BBC2 Scotland:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07951b8

"This documentary tells the story of Scotland on the move through a diverse cast of characters including a train driver, a ferry captain, the nightshift engineers on the subway, a pioneering pilot, and one of the original architects of Glasgow's groundbreaking urban motorway system."

 

[cf111]

Interesting question. From memory, When Arnotts was still open it had a basement level.

Perhaps there was a missed opportunity at that point to create a link?

Still, can you imagine how awful it would in an underground corridor in central Glasgow with tramps and beggars...

Shades of the Clyde Tunnel's pedestrian walk/cycleway! This used to be a meeting ground for some of the city's "young teams" and even when they weren't settling disputes was quite the experience at times.

Access to this is now via a locked gate, you buzz through to the tunnel control centre and if you don't look like you're there for a gang fight on the CCTV they let you through.

 

[overthewater]

I take it there wont be fast shuttle from Govan to St Enoch? because of the Fast link bus?
The biggest added journey time will be for Govan to Patrick passengers?