Stunning new look Glasgow Queen Street officially reopened after four year rebuild
The project has taken 4 years and cost £120m
Nicola Sturgeon has reopened Glasgow Queen Street train station after a £120 million refurbishment praising it as a "shining example" of how Scotland's older stations can be modernised.
The station, one of the busiest in Scotland, has undergone improvements over the course of the past four years, with platform lengths increased and new frontage added to the station which first opened in 1842.
The project has taken four years, starting with the demolition of the previous concrete office block.
The First Minister said: "Visually, it's stunning - some of the old features have been uncovered, it's transforming the George Square, city centre view.
"But this is also about improving the services for the travelling public and it's also part of that bigger, long-term journey towards a decarbonised railway system in Scotland.''
READ MORE: How Queen Street stayed open during rebuild
Union protest as Sunday strikes continue
But outside, about two dozen trade unionists gathered to call on the First Minister to intervene in potential service cuts and "save'' Scotrail, making so much noise during speeches to staff, including Ms Sturgeon, that a piper was deployed to drown them out.
Following the release of an internal Scotrail report, by Professor Iain Docherty, which suggested a permanent 10% cut to services - which unions say could cost up to 1,000 jobs - workers have threatened further industrial action, including ensuring no trains run during the watershed climate conference due to in Glasgow in a few weeks.
Speaking outside the station, Michael Hogg, the Scotland regional organiser for RMT, said: "We have an opportunity as a result of Cop26 - we're taking lawful industrial action, we will make sure that no trains will run during Cop26.
"(What an) embarrassment that will be for the Scottish and UK Government, where the eyes of the world will be on Glasgow - this is a great opportunity for the Scottish Government to intervene and save Scotland's railway and bring closure to the current dispute and give equality to the majority of workers within Scotland's railway.''
Addressing the already running dispute between unions and Scotrail, the First Minister said: "I hope we can get that dispute resolved and I hope we can get that resolved ahead of Cop, not just for the reasons of Cop, but for the reason that we don't want disruption on our railways on Sunday or any other day of the week. "
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