ALL eyes are on Glasgow’s Queen Street Station these days, as the £120m renovation works which started in 2017 near completion.

The ultra-modern exterior and state of the art interior have prompted much discussion but the new designs also include a nod to the building’s past.

This week Network Rail unveiled a stunning, repainted Victorian column which will have pride of place beside the ticket barriers.

Originally called Dundas Street Station, Queen Street opened in 1842 as the terminus of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. It was not the easiest place to build a station – the Cowlairs Incline, a steep slope with a gradient of 1 in 46, meant early trains had to be hauled from the station by means of a steam-driven winding cable.

The station was rebuilt and expanded by the North British Railway between 1878 and 1880 when electric lighting was introduced and modernisation of platforms, track and signalling, and of the station forecourt, took place in the late 20th century.

Queen Street Low Level station opened in 1886. It was excavated successfully without disturbing the main line above it. Open spaces provided escapes for the smoke from passing steam trains.