The upper level of Glasgow Central station will remain closed for the rest of the week, after a fire devastated a neighboring building on Sunday.
Network Rail said it would not be possible to reopen the station’s upper concourse, from where trains depart to destinations across the UK, due to the instability of the mid-Victoria block on the corner of Union Street and Gordon Street, much of which collapsed during the fierce fire.
The lower part of Glasgow Central, used by more local services, will reopen on Wednesday.
There were no casualties during the fire, but only the façade of the Gordon Street portion of the building remains after the inferno destroyed the interior, which housed shops on the ground floor as well as offices and retail spaces above.
More than £160,000 has been raised on GoFundMe to help affected business owners, many of whom lost all their stock and tools in the fire.
Network Rail said the instability of the façade, together with the need for ongoing assessments, meant high-level trains would not be able to run this week.
Ross Moran, network route director, said: “Our priority is to ensure we can reopen Glasgow Central as soon as it is safe to do so and we will continue to work with the emergency services, the council and our train operators to restore services.
“We want to reassure passengers that we are doing everything we can to open the high-level station, but we must allow the emergency services and Glasgow City Council to complete their critical work to secure the Union Corner site and make it safe.”
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that as of 4.30pm on Tuesday, four fire engines and one high-range vehicle remained at the scene.
The vape shop on Union Street, where the fire is believed to have started on Sunday afternoon, had not paid business rates, according to an investigation by news site Ferret, and does not appear to be registered to sell tobacco or vaping products.
Colin Borland, director of the Federation of Scottish Small Businesses, said the Scottish Government should learn from its response to the 2018 Glasgow art school fire, which affected many nearby businesses for months.
“The Scottish Government created a £5m fire recovery fund and that supported around 250 businesses in the immediate area, giving them some breathing room and no business rates for three months,” he said.
Borland said the economic impact on the city center of closing Scotland’s busiest station for days would likely be even more significant and urged the Scottish Government to “urgently” replicate a similar support package.
