Eglinton Street railway station

This article is about the Caledonian Railway station. For the Glasgow & South Western Railway station originally called Eglinton Street, see Cumberland Street railway station.

Eglinton Street
The site of the station in 2019
General information
Location	Port Eglinton, Glasgow Scotland
Coordinates	55°50′47″N4°15′39″W / 55.8465°N 4.2609°W / 55.8465; -4.2609
Platforms	6
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Caledonian Railway
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway
Post-grouping	LMS
Key dates
1 July 1879	Opened (as per Glasgow Herald notice) [1]
1 February 1965	Closed [2]
Location

v t e Glasgow Central & St Enoch approaches
Legend
City of Glasgow Union Railway Glasgow Central Glasgow Central Railway St Enoch River Clyde parts of former station reused as carriage sidings Glasgow Bridge Street Main Street (CGUR) Gorbals Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway Cumberland Street   City of Glasgow Union Railway Southside Eglinton Street Polloc and Govan Railway General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway Pollokshields East Cathcart District Railway Pollokshields West Strathbungo Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway Cathcart District Railway

Eglinton Street railway station was a railway station approximately one mile (1.5 kilometres) south of Glasgow Central, in the Port Eglinton district of Glasgow.

History

The Station opened on the 1st of July 1879 according to a contemporary Glasgow Herald notice. ^[1] In the late 20th century Raymond Butt claimed that this station opened on Sunday 28 February 1909. ^[2] However, contemporary sources, such as railway notices, timetables, maps, Post Office Directories and the Glasgow Herald notice, show that the station existed nearly 30 years before that date. Furthermore, the station opening on a Sunday would have been highly unlikely given Scotland's sabbatarian culture at the time.

When the station opened on 1 July 1879, it allowed Caledonian Railway trains from Edinburgh and Lanarkshire, which had previously terminated at Southside 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. ^[1] These continued to terminate at Bridge Street even after Central Station had opened on 1 August 1879. ^[3]

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. ^[4] 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. ^[5]

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:

• Two platforms - Cathcart Circle, the Barrhead, East Kilbride and Kilmarnock lines
• Four platforms - West Coast Main Line

The station was closed in 1965. ^[2]

The site today

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

Route

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Glasgow Central Line and station open		Caledonian Railway Polloc and Govan Railway		Rutherglen Line and station open
		Caledonian Railway Cathcart District Railway		Pollokshields East Line and station open
		Caledonian Railway Cathcart District Railway		Pollokshields West Line and station open
		CR & G&SWR Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway		Strathbungo Line open; station closed

References

Notes

1. Caledonian Railway.| Opening Of New Stations at Bridge Street and Eglinton Street, Glasgow., The Glasgow Herald, 1 July 1879
2. Butt (1990), page 90
3. Caledonian Railway.| Opening Of Central Station, Glasgow., The Glasgow Herald, 1 August 1879
4. The People's History of Glasgow, 1899, page 38
5. A disastrous railway collision, The Glasgow Herald, 20 March 1883

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC   60251199. OL   11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC   22311137.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN   978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC   228266687.
• Eglinton Street Station on navigable O.S. map

External links

• Photographs and historical maps of Eglinton Street Railway Station from its origins in 1879