Network Rail has released new images of the next phase of a £120million project to re-develop Scotland's third busiest railway station.

Plans submitted to Glasgow City Council for Queen Street Station include a new roof level public plaza and two interior mezzanine levels with retail and food and drink outlets and access to low-level platforms.

The higher level will have space for a commercial development.

The Herald:

The lower mezzanine level “will be lined with retail and connect directly to North Hanover Street via a new entrance".

An extension will also be built on an area previously used as a staff car park and taxi rank.

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Documents submitted to Glasgow City Council state: “The development is split into two elements, the Podium Deck (a space for operational space, retail, food and beverages etc.) and the Above Podium Development Deck (a space for a commercial development).

"A significant part of the station experience will be a new concourse mezzanine.

"The mezzanine will be lined with retail. It is expected that people will dwell on the mezzanine and watch the activity of the concourse below while enjoying a meal or drink.

“The overarching ambition is that when complete the site will be an integrated, innovative, commercial hub bringing together a key transport hub, Grade A office and retail tenant space."

The Herald:

New entrances to the station concourse will be created at the Millennium Hotel and on North Hanover Street opposite Martha Street. It will also be accessible from the plaza level via lifts and escalators.

The submission adds: “At the roof level of the podium, a new public plaza is proposed, providing access to and from the station as well as landscaped amenity space.

"The plaza will be created as a meanwhile use, until a future development in delivered.

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“In the meanwhile condition, the plaza is proposed as an open, public plaza planted with soft landscape and incorporating rooftop retail with breakout seating and a new pavilion entrance to the station.

The plaza will be accessible by steps from North Hanover Street and Cathedral Street as well as from the station concourse below via lifts and escalators.

“This podium project is recognised as the first step in a bigger project for the site and as such the remit for the podium includes delivery of a flexible development deck which can enable the delivery 300,000 sq.ft. of commercial buildings by others in the future.”

The Herald:

Since October 2017, engineers have transformed Queen Street station without closing it to passengers with the new station concourse and main entrances now completed. 

A new lift provides step-free access from street level up to the main concourse and down to a basement area, which houses public toilets.

The Herald:

Work has also been carried out to paint 10 cast-iron pillars that support the A-listed 142-year-old barrel shaped, glass roof.

The pandemic delayed work on the project, but work restarted over the summer, including the opening of the new George Square entrance and adjacent lift.

The Herald:

The redevelopment is being delivered by Network Rail and main contractor Balfour Beatty, is part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP), a Scottish Government investment in the railway infrastructure across central Scotland.