Glasgow Central Station still shut but seems to have avoided major damage from fire

Following a major fire that burnt a neighbouring building, Scotland's busiest railway station remains closed, but the station seems to have avoided any significant damage in the fire.

Since a fire ripped from a vaping store on Union Street through a B-listed Victorian building, Glasgow Central Station has been closed.

Network Rail's workforce and fire service teams were still on site, and disruption to services is expected to persist for the next days.

However, BBC Scotland News has learned that Network Rail employees insist there hasn't been any significant damage inside the station, which they have now been able to visit following the fire.

Engineers at the rail operator also believe the station concourse is in good shape, and they have also visited the nearby Caledonian Chambers building, which has reportedly not sustained significant damage.

A fire break between the Union Corner building, which was destroyed in the fire, and the station's exterior wall is believed to have prevented the inferno from spreading further on Sunday.

Glasgow Central is one of the UK's busiest stations, with 25 million passenger visits per year. It is the main station for all services on the West Coast Main Line to England, as well as services throughout central Scotland.

Before the station can reopen, a step-by-step process will have to be followed.

To prevent fire from blazing again, hot spots in the rubble must be dragged down. After the fire service is confident that the fire has been put out, Glasgow City Council will take over the site.

The local authority will then determine what happens to Union Corner's remains. The building's façade is still standing, and if it falls, it could cause harm to the station.

The demolishing of the facade is thought to have made reopening the front door of the station on Gordon Street much more convenient.

After that, Network Rail will begin performing safety checks to determine when services will be restored.

The glass roof of the station does not appear to have sustained significant damage at this point.

It is likely that it was hot when it was ignited, but as the fire was put out, it would have been cooled and doused with water, so it would need to be tested for damage.

Another significant factor will be controlling train movement, but the station does not appear to be central to this process, even though all of its computer systems are not back online.

That's because the points system, which monitors the movement of trains into and out of the station, is managed from another secure location in Glasgow.

When the fire took hold, electrical overhead lines were switched off, as is normal practice. They can also be accessed from somewhere else on the internet.

From within Central Station, the tannoy system and announcements are managed, but Network Rail can choose to live without this.

When the fire service response went into the recovery stage, Network Rail Scotland's route manager Ross Moran previously announced that engineers would inspect affected areas of the station to see what damage had been done.

Moran said the company was extremely grateful for the firefighters' hard work.

Around 250 of them battled around the clock to put out the fire in the Orr and Sons building on the Union Street junction with Gordon Street.

Union Corner, the building, which dates back to 1851, predates the station, which opened in 1879.

On Tuesday, ScotRail had no services operating or out of Central Station, but low-level trains would pass through the station to stop at nearby Argyle Street and Anderston stations, according to a Scot.

Tickets on any Avanti West Coast train operating between 8 and 13 March can be used at no extra cost, according to Avanti, with trains running from Motherwell or Edinburgh instead.

The fire and subsequent road closures had disrupted multiple bus services in Greater Glasgow, according to the company's chief.

Many city center passengers use Union Street, where the fire took place.

Several roads around Union Street and Central Station will remain blocked, according to Police Scotland.

Drone operators who want to access the airspace around the fire station have also been warned.

Drone pilots and operators are cautioned that flying over an active emergency response is an offence,

a Police Scotland spokesperson said, and pilots are advised to check NOTAM information and drone safety map before flying.

The SFRS said the incident was brought back on Tuesday with four fire engines and two high-reach vehicles on site.

The SFRS confirmed that the fire broke out in a vaping store and that a preliminary multi-agency probe into the cause had started.

We need to do a complete investigation with our multi-agency partners to determine the cause of the fire and know why the fire spread the way it did,

Assistant Chief Officer David Farries said on Monday.

The building was in a state of ongoing and uncontrolled decay, according to Susan Aitken, the city council's chief.

The top priority is public safety, but we want Central Station open as soon as possible,

She told BBC's Radio Scotland Breakfast.

Aitken said she wanted to speak with the Scottish government and Scottish National Investment Bank to see how they could help with "not just recovery but also regeneration.

According to her, the majority owner of the building had been in touch with the council.

She said the council was already taking action on buildings in Union Street and that compulsory purchase orders for the A-listed Egyptian Halls across the road were in process.

According to Aitken, the council could potentially expand on the existing work, and it was planning to reach out to the city's developer and investor community to discuss the site's future.

The council leader warned about speculating on the cause of the fire, but a wider debate than just vaping shops is required regarding battery storage and location, including those for mobile phones and e-bikes.

First Minister John Swinney said that there would be a significant price in the aftermath of the fire and that the Scottish government would provide financial assistance to Glasgow City Council.