Tenders sought for £112m Queen Street station revamp

The Queen Street Station revamp will include a new entrance on to George Square

Network Rail has invited tenders for the £112m contract to rebuild Scotland's third busiest rail station.

Glasgow's Queen Street Station handles 20 million passengers a year but this is predicted to grow to 28 million passengers by 2030.

The work will see the main entrance at George Square replaced by a huge glass facade. Platforms will also be extended to accommodate longer trains.

The redevelopment is expected to be completed by 2019.

Although the tender is being issued by Network Rail, the project will be overseen by ScotRail Alliance - a management team created from senior Abellio ScotRail and Network Rail staff for the purposes of overseeing major projects in Scotland.

Phil Verster, managing director of ScotRail Alliance, said: "Today we are confirming that one of our busiest and most important stations will also be transformed, making it larger and with much better facilities for our growing number of customers.

"The changes we are making in the coming years will make sure that we have a modern fleet, running on improved infrastructure to and from world-class stations. That is a rail network we can all be proud of."

The glass front of the station will have views towards George Square

Network Rail confirmed that the £112m Queen Street Station development would include:

• demolition of the neighbouring Millennium Hotel's 1970s extension above the station;

• demolition of Consort House;

• removal of the canopy over the footway in Dundas Street;

• redevelopment of the station concourse, south and west façades, including reconstruction and extension of station buildings;

• improved station entrances at Dundas Street and George Square;

• a 500 square metre glass facade to the George Square entrance;

• new lighting and public address systems;

• new ticket office and staff accommodation block;

• construction of extended platforms to accommodate eight-car trains.

The project is part of the Scottish government's £742m Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP), which aims to reduce journey times and increase capacity on Scotland's main rail routes.

EGIP programme director, Rodger Querns, said the issuing of the tender was "further good progress in the delivery of EGIP".

"We have already successfully completed a number of key elements of EGIP," he said.

"We look forward to delivering this challenging, but exciting project that will realise huge improvements for passengers."