Eglinton Street railway station explained

Eglinton Street
Status:Disused
Borough:Port Eglinton, Glasgow
Country:Scotland
Coordinates:55.8465°N -4.2609°W
Platforms:6
Original:Caledonian Railway
Pregroup:Caledonian Railway
Postgroup:LMS
Years:1 July 1879
Events:Opened
(as per Glasgow Herald notice)
Years1:28 February 1909
Events1:Opened
(as documented by Butt)[1]
Years2:1 February 1965
Events2:Closed[2]

Eglinton Street railway station was a railway station approximately 1miles south of, in the Port Eglinton district of Glasgow.

History

Sources published in the late 20th century claim that this station opened on Sunday 28 February 1909,[1] which would have been highly unlikely given Scotland's sabbatarian culture at the time. Contemporary sources, such as railway notices, timetables, maps, and Post Office Directories, show that the station existed nearly 30 years before that date.

When the station opened on 1 July 1879, it allowed Caledonian Railway trains from Edinburgh and Lanarkshire, which had previously terminated at to reach Bridge Street to connect with trains for Greenock and Wemyss Bay, with through carriages being provided from Edinburgh to stations on the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway and Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway.[3] These continued to terminate at Bridge Street even after Central Station had opened on 1 August 1879.[4]

On 19 March 1883, there was a collision between two trains at Eglinton Street station in which four people died and many more were injured.[5] The crash involved the 6:15pm train from Central Station to East Kilbride and the 5pm train from Edinburgh to Glasgow Central, which had stopped at Eglinton Street Station. The driver of the Edinburgh train failed to heed the signal against the train leaving the station. The East Kilbride train had left Central on time and had a clear signal to proceed. It was slowing down when it collided with the Edinburgh train which was getting up steam. The drivers and firemen of both trains survived the crash, having been violently thrown from their engines.[6]

Opened by the Caledonian Railway on the former routes of the Cathcart District Railway and Polloc and Govan Railway on the southern approached to Glasgow Central, Eglinton Street station became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station was located in the routes to the:

The station was closed in 1965.[1]

The site today

Some parts of Eglinton Street station remain intact today, including sections of the platforms and access towers from the station platforms.

References

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Butt (1990), page 90
  2. Butt (1990), page 90
  3. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=H6w-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=QUwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2379%2C153527 Caledonian Railway. Opening Of New Stations at Bridge Street and Eglinton Street, Glasgow.
  4. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a-VEAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_7YMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2403%2C2106242 Caledonian Railway. Opening Of Central Station, Glasgow.
  5. The People's History of Glasgow, 1899, page 38
  6. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tb8-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=WUwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=861%2C5848736 A disastrous railway collision