Maryhill Central railway station

Maryhill Central
This is all that is visible of the southern portal of the former Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway line heading north from Maryhill Central station. Hidden behind the Gala Bingo club, the tunnel entrance has been backfilled with earth, and the arch keystone is visible behind the shrubbery. Crossing above is the Glasgow Branch of the Forth & Clyde Canal.
General information
Location	Maryhill, Glasgow Scotland
Coordinates	55°53′15″N4°17′16″W / 55.88752°N 4.28782°W / 55.88752; -4.28782
Grid reference	NS570683
Platforms	4
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Glasgow Central Railway Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway
Post-grouping	LMS
Key dates
26 November 1894	Opened as Maryhill Barracks
1 October 1895	Renamed as Maryhill [1]
15 September 1952	Renamed as Maryhill Central [1]
2 November 1959	GCR services ceased
5 October 1964	Closed to passengers [1]

Maryhill Central was a railway station to the north west of Glasgow.

Location

To the west of the station was a triangular set of junctions. Immediately to the west was Maryhill Central junction where the line to Kirklee diverged to the south and the Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway headed east to Bellshaugh Junction where the western side of the triangle (from Kirklee Junction at the southern point of the junctions) and the Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway met before the line to Dawsholm diverged to the north. There was another Maryhill station to the north.

Closure

It was closed to passengers on 2 November 1959 on the Glasgow Central Railway route and on 5 October 1964 on the Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway between Possil and Partick, with the lines in the area being closed on 5 October 1964.

Current site usage

The site of the station is now occupied by Maryhill Shopping Centre which was built in the early 1980s. This was rebuilt in around 2010 to consist of a large supermarket, with 4 retail units and car parking below. However, a space was left in the basement of the shopping centre to allow the line to be re-opened in the future; this was still considered an option in the mid-1990s, with the building of a large bingo hall on the cutting (east of the site) left a channel for the original line to be re-opened below ground.

In 1999, however, this prospect was put to rest with the sale of land for housing along many parts of the track in the Kirklee and Cleveden sections of the track along with the demolition of many of the bridges around the same area for safety reasons. Maryhill Shopping Centre was demolished in early 2010 and replaced by a new Tesco supermarket. The void beneath the supermarket for the railway station has again been retained to allow the future possibility of reopening the railway line.

Railway routes

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Kirklee Line and station closed		Caledonian Railway Glasgow Central Railway		Terminus
Dawsholm Line and station closed		Caledonian Railway Glasgow Central Railway
Kelvinside Line and station closed		Caledonian Railway Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway		Possil Line and station closed

1900s map of Maryhill

Map of railways in the locality in the early 1900s. Both Maryhill stations are shown, Maryhill Central (also confusingly called 'Maryhill') is adjacent to the barracks

References

Notes

1. Butt (1995), page 156

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.