Glasgow's Union Street fully reopens four months after major fire

Roads around Glasgow's Union Street have reopened four months after a devastating fire.

Parts of the street, which is a major bus route in the city centre, had been blocked off since the blaze wrecked a B-listed Victorian building on 8 March.

The street, which includes the Union Street and Gordon Street entrances to Glasgow Central Station, were reopened at 12:00.

It comes exactly a week before the Commonwealth Games begin on 23 July.

During a visit to the site on Thursday, the Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth said: "The devastating fire which took place earlier this year really impacted on a number of local businesses, and of course the operations of Glasgow Central station behind me.

"It's been a great opportunity this morning to have a walk around the site, which is dramatically different from what it looked like earlier this year, but also to see the reopening that's happening around about the station, looking really fantastic, gearing up for the Commonwealth Games, which of course kick off next week."

Joanne Maguire, managing director of ScotRail, said it was a "great day for staff and passengers".

She said: "There's been a phenomenal amount of work done by Glasgow City Council, by Network Rail Scotland colleagues, and by ScotRail to ensure that we have the station fully reopened before the Commonwealth Games and the summer of sport.

"We're hugely thankful to our passengers for their patience since the Union Street fire in March."

The cordon covered much of Gordon Street - including the main entrance to Central Station - along with parts of Union Street and Renfield Street.

The lifting of the cordon means that roads and pavements in the area are finally open again as normal.

• Rail passengers can use the main entrance to Central Station again.
• Several important bus routes can run down Union Street again - passengers had faced significant diversions.
• More shops can reopen.
• Pedestrians can walk around the area as normal.

The initial work on the site concentrated on demolishing the ruins of the building and making sure neighbouring buildings were safe.

Over the past few days, the focus has been on preparations for lifting the cordon. Pavements have been repaired and cleaned and new lines have been painted along the roads.

The site has now been handed back to owners.

Glasgow Chamber of Commerce recently expressed concern about a drop in the number of people in the city centre since the fire.

Businesses will be hopeful that the ending of restrictions will help attract more people back into the city.

Initially the cordon was much larger but it was gradually scaled back.

Glasgow City Council recently appointed architects to look at temporary uses of the site to prevent it from lying derelict for long.

But it may be five years before there is a new permanent building on the site.

The building on Union Corner - erected in 1851 - was gutted by the fire, with the surviving shell subsequently demolished.

The council said work to stabilise the western gable wall was complete and the scaffold has been removed.