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City Union Line
The City of Glasgow Union Railway – City Union Line, also known as the Tron Line, was a railway company founded in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1864 to build a line connecting the railway systems north and south of the River Clyde, and to build a central passenger terminus and a general goods depot for the city. The through line, running from south-west to north-east across the city, opened in 1870–71, and the passenger terminal was St Enoch railway station, opened in 1876. The railway bridge across the Clyde was the first in the city.
The northern section of the line passed to the North British Railway company (NBR) and became part of its suburban network. St Enoch became the passenger terminus for the Glasgow and South Western Railway, but other companies made little use of it. However, the general goods terminal at College became important, and goods and mineral traffic were the dominant traffic of the through route. The south-western section of the line was quadrupled, and the platform accommodation was doubled, in the last years of the nineteenth century.
In the 1960s, rationalisation of railway facilities was the theme, and all the south-facing passenger services were concentrated at Glasgow Central station. St Enoch closed on 27 June 1966 and most of the site is now occupied by the St Enoch Centre shopping mall. College goods also succumbed and was closed.
The through route remained open for occasional freight services and for empty passenger stock movements across the city. The Bellgrove section that passed to the NBR remains in intensive passenger use, but the elevated section across the city is the iconic part of the line, with large span lattice bridges over Saltmarket, London Road and Gallowgate, which is currently only used for non-passenger movements of trains.
A railway development scheme being considered may lead to renewed use of the line as a cross-city passenger link.
The Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway (GPK&AR) and its rival, the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway, received their authorising acts of Parliament on 15 July 1837. Although they hoped for separate lines, they were obliged to build their line as far as Paisley jointly; their lines diverged west of that point. Their Glasgow terminus was Bridge Street, on the south bank of the River Clyde. At first this was adequate but as traffic developed the arrangement became unsatisfactory. The GPK&AR absorbed another railway and was renamed the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR), and was running trains to a range of destinations in its area of influence.
Suggestions had been made for some years to connect the lines south and north of the Clyde: in 1846 a parliamentary select committee produced a report of 1,470 pages on the subject, but in the face of opposition from vested interests including those who received the tolls on the existing road bridges, nothing was done.
Other unsuccessful proposals followed, but in 1863 a prospectus for a City of Glasgow Union Railway was published: it would "unite the whole of the Railways now terminating North and South of the River Clyde", and provide a "general Central Station" (at St Enoch Square) for passengers and a separate "General Goods Station" on lands to be vacated by the University of Glasgow: "College Goods station". The promoters were contractors, hoping to generate construction work for themselves, and they wished to involve all the railways in the scheme, taking a substantial block of shares themselves. The G&SWR and the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) were favourable towards such a scheme as the trade in goods between their areas of influence was considerable, and the available through route was circuitous. The other major player was the Caledonian Railway (CR) which had terminals north and south of the Clyde; it was developing its Buchanan Street station and it had adequate goods facilities, but it was not opposed to the idea of a link and a common passenger terminal.
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City Union Line
The City of Glasgow Union Railway – City Union Line, also known as the Tron Line, was a railway company founded in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1864 to build a line connecting the railway systems north and south of the River Clyde, and to build a central passenger terminus and a general goods depot for the city. The through line, running from south-west to north-east across the city, opened in 1870–71, and the passenger terminal was St Enoch railway station, opened in 1876. The railway bridge across the Clyde was the first in the city.
The northern section of the line passed to the North British Railway company (NBR) and became part of its suburban network. St Enoch became the passenger terminus for the Glasgow and South Western Railway, but other companies made little use of it. However, the general goods terminal at College became important, and goods and mineral traffic were the dominant traffic of the through route. The south-western section of the line was quadrupled, and the platform accommodation was doubled, in the last years of the nineteenth century.
In the 1960s, rationalisation of railway facilities was the theme, and all the south-facing passenger services were concentrated at Glasgow Central station. St Enoch closed on 27 June 1966 and most of the site is now occupied by the St Enoch Centre shopping mall. College goods also succumbed and was closed.
The through route remained open for occasional freight services and for empty passenger stock movements across the city. The Bellgrove section that passed to the NBR remains in intensive passenger use, but the elevated section across the city is the iconic part of the line, with large span lattice bridges over Saltmarket, London Road and Gallowgate, which is currently only used for non-passenger movements of trains.
A railway development scheme being considered may lead to renewed use of the line as a cross-city passenger link.
The Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway (GPK&AR) and its rival, the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway, received their authorising acts of Parliament on 15 July 1837. Although they hoped for separate lines, they were obliged to build their line as far as Paisley jointly; their lines diverged west of that point. Their Glasgow terminus was Bridge Street, on the south bank of the River Clyde. At first this was adequate but as traffic developed the arrangement became unsatisfactory. The GPK&AR absorbed another railway and was renamed the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR), and was running trains to a range of destinations in its area of influence.
Suggestions had been made for some years to connect the lines south and north of the Clyde: in 1846 a parliamentary select committee produced a report of 1,470 pages on the subject, but in the face of opposition from vested interests including those who received the tolls on the existing road bridges, nothing was done.
Other unsuccessful proposals followed, but in 1863 a prospectus for a City of Glasgow Union Railway was published: it would "unite the whole of the Railways now terminating North and South of the River Clyde", and provide a "general Central Station" (at St Enoch Square) for passengers and a separate "General Goods Station" on lands to be vacated by the University of Glasgow: "College Goods station". The promoters were contractors, hoping to generate construction work for themselves, and they wished to involve all the railways in the scheme, taking a substantial block of shares themselves. The G&SWR and the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) were favourable towards such a scheme as the trade in goods between their areas of influence was considerable, and the available through route was circuitous. The other major player was the Caledonian Railway (CR) which had terminals north and south of the Clyde; it was developing its Buchanan Street station and it had adequate goods facilities, but it was not opposed to the idea of a link and a common passenger terminal.