Glasgow Queen Street (Glasgow)

Glasgow Queen Street is the city’s station for trains to the north and west and it’s also where the fastest and most frequent trains between Glasgow and Edinburgh arrive and depart.

A redevelopment of Glasgow Queen Street has recently been completed, so the access between the city centre and the trains has now been transformed for the better.
The upper part of Queen Street station, which is used by the longer distance trains that are all operated by Scotrail, is a terminus; but it is up above street level.

The station now has two main entrances:

(1) That on the left when looking at the station, is closest to Buchanan Street and this is where the taxi rank is located.
The access up to the main concourse, which is where all of the trains can be accessed from, is by a staircase and a sloping walkway.

(2) The most obvious entrance to the station is by George Square.

Inside it the access up to the concourse is by stairs or a lift /elevator.

This staircase and lift /elevator also links to the staffed left luggage area, no lockers are available, so check the opening hours when depositing bags.
Leaving a suitcase for a day cost £3.

The re-building was necessary so that longer trains, which are now used on the fast services to and from Edinburgh, can fit within the station.
Though for a modern large station, the facilities available at Glasgow Queen Street station are comparatively sparse, there are no retail outlets at all and the only catering is provided by two stalls which serve hot/cold drinks and snacks.

The trains use two distinct parts of Queen Street station:

1. The High Level is where platforms 1 to 7 are located and it is used by the 'Express' fast trains to Edinburgh as well as trains to Aberdeen, Dundee, Fort William*, Inverness, Oban*, Perth and Stirling.
   *=The Caledonian Sleeper service to these destinations uses the lower level station
2. The Lower Level is below ground and trains heading west to Balloch (for Loch Lomond), Helensburgh and Milngavie depart from platform 8, while those heading east towards Bathgate leave from platform 9.

Despite being below ground the access to platforms 8 and 9 is from the upper level concourse.
The main entrance to them, which leads to a set of staircases, is to the left of platform 2.

However, the easiest step-free access is to go through the main upper concourse ticket gates on to platform 7, which is over to the right, because on this platform there are separate lifts / elevators, which go directly down to platforms 8 and 9.

Taking trains departing from platforms 1 to 7

There is step free access to these platforms from the main concourse, through the ticket gates located under the departure board.

Though be aware that platform 1 is located towards the far end of platform 2.

Keep a close watch on the board as the platforms are typically confirmed only 5 to 10 mins prior to departure; in particular the 'Express' trains to Edinburgh Waverley tend to arrive into Queen St only around 7 mins before they will be leaving.
Though note that these popular trains have a dedicated area in the center of the departure board.

The typical pattern of train departures from Glasgow is:

To destinations in Scotland from Glasgow Queen St:
All services operated by ScotRail

• to Aberdeen via Dundee, Arbroath and Stonehaven = 1 x train per hour on Monday to Saturday; = 11 x trains per day on Sunday
• to Balloch = 2 x trains per hour
• to Dundee via Perth = 1 or 2 x trains per hour
• to Edinburgh via Falkirk (around 48mins) = 2 to 4 x trains per hour
• to Inverness via Pitlochry and Aviemore = 5 x trains per day on Monday to Saturday; = 3 x trains per day on Sunday
• to Mallaig via Arrochar & Tarbet, Crianlarich, Rannoch, Fort William and Glenfinnan = 4 x trains per day on Monday to Saturday; = 2 x trains per day on Sunday
• to Oban via Arrochar & Tarbet, Crianlarich and Connel Ferry = 6 x trains per day on Monday to Saturday; = 3 x trains per day on Sunday
• to Stirling = 2 to 4 x trains per hour

The train services call at additional stations to those listed above.

Live departures can be looked up here

To destinations in Scotland from Glasgow Central
All services operated by ScotRail

• to Ardrossan Harbour (for Arran) = 1 x train per hour
• to Largs via Ardrossan = 1 x train per hour
• to Ayr via Troon and Prestwick Airport = 2 x trains per hour
• to Edinburgh via Carstairs (around 1hr 10 mins) = 1 x train in every other hour on Monday to Friday
• to Edinburgh via West Calder (around 1hr 5mins to 1hr 30min ) = 1 or 2 x trains per hour
• to Dumfries, Gretna Green and on to Carlisle = up 8 x trains per day on Monday to Saturday; 2 x trains per day on Sunday
• to Lanark = 1 or 2 x trains per hour
• to Wemyss Bay (for Bute) = 1 or 2 x trains per hour

The train services call at additional stations to those listed above.

The Express services from Edinburgh as well as trains from Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Fort William, Inverness, Oban, Perth and Stirling typically arrive at the high level platforms 1 to 7.

The first stage of exiting these platforms is to walk ahead on to the main concourse.

The local and commuter trains, as well as the Caledonian Sleeper services will arrive at platforms 8 and 9 in the low level station, the main exit from these platforms is by stairs that lead up to an exit on to the main concourse, but elevators are also available, some of which go up to a platform in the main station, from where the ticket gates can also be accessed.

If you'll be heading to George Square, which you'll be able to see ahead of you...

...use the exits on the left-hand side of the concourse, which can be accessed by stairs and a lift / elevator.

If you'll be heading towards Buchanan Street, the location of the city's main shopping area, use the stairs at bottom right, though the step-free access to this exit is by a sloping walkway, which you'll find over to the left.

To the Subway:
The closest stop on the Glasgow Subway is Buchanan Street station, but there is a short-cut to it at Glasgow Queen Street.
(1) Take the exit from Queen Street on to Dundas Street, which is on the right-hand side of the concourse, the ticket office is to the left of it.

(2) When you step out of the Dundas Street exit, the entrance to the Subway is directly ahead.

(3) A travellator will convey you down to the Subway ticket hall

Though there is no step-free access to the trains at any of the Subway stations.

Glasgow Queen Street is superbly located for access to the heart of the city, George Square in front of the town hall, is right by the station.

Though an unusual feature of Glasgow is that many of its most popular attractions are outside the city centre.
However, accessing them from Queen Street is comparatively simple, because the station has easier access to the Glasgow Subway than the city’s other main station, Glasgow Central.

The Subway station is named Buchanan Street, but it is connected to Queen Street by an underground travellator.

The Subway connects Queen Street to Kelvinhall, the closest station to the Kelvingrove gallery and museum, and Hillhead, the nearest station to the Rennie Mackintosh Museum.
An Adult Ticket for a single ride on the subway is £1.55, but if you want to hop between multiple locations, an All-Day ticket is a bargain priced £3!

The easiest access to the splendid Riverside Museum of Transport from Queen Street station is to take bus route / line 100 from a stop on the other side of George Square.
The express buses to Glasgow Airport depart from the same bus stop.

There is a free shuttle bus which connects Queen Street with Glasgow Central station every 15 mins, or you can head off on foot to the city’s other main station, which is where the trains to south-west Scotland and destinations in England depart from.

The walking route, which will take around 12-20 mins, is on mainly traffic-free roads, and involves

1. Going straight ahead from the exit on West George Street and heading for the main street level entrance to Buchanan Street Subway station,

2. Turning left on to Buchanan Street and walking along it until you see Gordon Street over to the right; look for the TGI Fridays restaurant on the street corner.

3. Walking for 5 – 8 minutes along Gordon Street and Glasgow Central will be on the left.