Rail! Rail! The Celts Are Here

Glasgow Central Station is the city’s most popular tourist attraction, and that’s down to the knowledge and passion of Paul Lyons.

- Paul Cuddihy

CENTRAL Station is one of Glasgow’s most famous landmarks, not only occupying a key geographical position in the city but also an emotional one amongst its citizens.

Given that there is an average daily footfall through the station of 109,000, it’s a place that most, if not all, Glaswegians have used at some point in their daily lives, and it remains an active station, with almost 1,700 train movements every day.

But below the surface there is another story to be told, of the history of Central Station and of Glasgow itself, and that’s where the Glasgow Central Tours come in. For the past three years, it has been possible to see behind the scenes of this busy train station, going into areas previously out of bounds to the general public, and it is an experience of living history which has proved immensely popular.

The Glasgow Central Tour is the brainchild of Paul Lyons, who is now the official historian for Network Rail, who own Central Station.

He had originally approached his bosses with the idea for a tour of the station about 10 years ago, and although there was initial reluctance, they agreed to take part in the annual Glasgow Doors Open Day, when many of the city’s buildings are opened up to the public for one day only.

There were only 100 places available on the tour of the station throughout that day, over 83,000 people applied for a coveted place, the demand so great that it crashed the Glasgow City Council website. It was at that point both Paul Lyons and Network Rail knew that they were on to something.