St Enoch subway station
Encyclopedia
St Enoch subway station is the first station on the north of the River Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....

 on the Glasgow Subway
Glasgow Subway
The Glasgow Subway is an underground metro line in Glasgow, Scotland. Opened on 14 December 1896, it is the third-oldest underground metro system in the world after the London Underground and the Budapest Metro. Formerly a cable railway, the Subway was later electrified, but its twin circular lines...

. It is located in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 city centre, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. Although it does not have direct interchange with the main line railway, it is located approximately halfway between Glasgow Central station and Argyle Street railway station
Argyle Street railway station
Argyle Street railway station is a busy station in central Glasgow, Scotland, on the Argyle Line, which connects the North Clyde lines at Partick with Rutherglen in the south-east of the city. The station is located below the thoroughfare whose name it bears. It has a narrow and often crowded...

, within a few minutes' walk to both.

Usage of the entire subway in 2007/08 was 14.45 million passengers, increased from 13.14 million in 2005/06.

The original building

Above ground, the original station building housed both a booking office and the headquarters of the original Glasgow District Subway Railway Company. This was (and is) the Subway's most distinctive building - an ornate, Jacobean
Jacobean architecture
The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...

, late Victorian red sandstone structure; designed by James Miller
James Miller (architect)
James Miller was a Scottish architect and artist. He is noted for his many buildings in Glasgow and for his Scottish railway stations. Among these are the heavily American-influenced Union Bank building at 110-20 St Vincent Street; his 1901-1905 extensions to Glasgow Central railway station; and...

 in 1896. It still stands - it was carefully preserved during the modernisation of the Subway in 1977, even being jacked up in the air for a while, during reconstruction of the subsurface platforms.

The building was no longer used as a ticket office following the 1977-1980 modernisation; it became a travel information centre by SPT
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
The Strathclyde Partnership for Transport is a public body which is responsible for planning and co-ordinating regional transport, and especially the public transport system, in the Strathclyde area of western Scotland...

. The building became disused with the Travel Centre facilities being moved to the underground ticket hall in 2008. In December 2009, a Caffè Nero
Caffè Nero
Caffè Nero or Caffè Nero Group Ltd is an Italian-style coffee shop chain primarily based in the UK. It was founded in 1997 in London as the Caffe Nero Group by Gerry Ford...

 coffee shop was established in the building. It is now protected as a category A listed building.

The new building

The station is now entered through a pair of canopies located on either side, and other than Buchanan Street
Buchanan Street subway station
Buchanan Street subway station is a station on the Glasgow Subway in Scotland. It serves Buchanan Street, which is popular with shoppers. Close to Buchanan Bus Station and providing interchange with Glasgow Queen Street railway station via a travelator, it is the busiest station on the Subway, with...

, is the only station to feature a subterranean ticket hall. The station originally featured a single island platform
Island platform
An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange...

, though this was replaced by a dual side platform
Side platform
A Side platform is a platform positioned to the side of a pair of tracks at a railway station, a tram stop or a transitway. A pair of side platforms are often provided on a dual track line with a single side platform being sufficient for a single track line...

 layout during the modernisation programme.

The adjacent former St Enoch railway station
St Enoch railway station
-External links:* *...

 remained open until 1966, until it was closed during the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...

. Thereafter it was used as a car park until it was demolished and replaced by the St Enoch Centre
St Enoch Centre
The St. Enoch Centre is a shopping mall located in the central area of Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. The Architects were the GMW Architects. The construction, undertaken by Sir Robert McAlpine, began in 1986, and the building was opened to the public in May 1989...

 in the late 1980's.

External links

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