Glasgow Central Station remains closed in aftermath of fire

Scotland's busiest station remains closed following a huge fire that destroyed a neighbouring building.

Glasgow Central Station has been shut since Sunday, when a blaze spread from a vape shop on Union Street through a B-listed Victorian building.

The remaining facade of the building is now in a state of "ongoing and uncontrolled collapse", according to the city council.

Network Rail said its staff and fire service teams were continuing to work on the site and disruption to rail services was expected to "continue in the coming days".

Glasgow Central is one of the busiest stations in the UK, with 25 million passenger visits each year.

It is the main station for all services on the west coast mainline to England and also operates services throughout central Scotland.

Nearby Queen Street station operates the most regular services to Edinburgh, as well as services for the north and east of Scotland.

ScotRail said no services would operate in or out of Central Station on Tuesday but low level trains would pass through the station to stop at nearby Argyle Street and Anderston stations.

Scores of ScotRail services use both the low level and the high level platforms at the station.

Its chief operating officer David Ross told BBC Scotland News there would not be any services on Tuesday, and disruption would continue for several days.

He said: "Our advice to passengers is to look at the ScotRail website, external and the app, and see exactly what is running.

"We are also asking people to be very patient with our staff - we are doing the best we can in very difficult circumstances."

Network Rail Scotland's route director Ross Moran said when the fire service response moved into the "recovery stage", engineers would inspect affected areas of the station to assess what damage had been done.

The station is thought to have escaped any major damage.

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

About 250 of them worked around the clock to contain the fire in the Orr and Sons building on the Union Street junction with Gordon Street.

The building, known as Union Corner, dates back to 1851 - pre-dating the station which opened in 1879.

Avanti West Coast said tickets dated 8 and 13 March can be used at no extra cost on any Avanti West Coast train on the same route until Friday.

"The majority of our trains between Scotland and London are able to run normally to/from Motherwell and Edinburgh," a statement from the train company said.

"Our other routes, such as to Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, and North Wales are unaffected by this disruption."

Union Street, where the fire took place, is a main drop-off point for many city centre passengers.

Police Scotland said several roads around Union Street and Central Station would remain closed. They are:

A warning has been issued for drone operators wanting to access the airspace around the fire site.

A statement from Police Scotland said: "Drone pilots and operators are reminded it is an offence to fly over an ongoing emergency response and are encouraged to check NOTAM information and rone safety map before flying."

The SFRS said its response to the incident was scaled back on Tuesday with four fire engines and two high-reach vehicles still on site.

Crews were working to cool off hotspots in the stonework and assist structural engineers in assessing the stability of the remaining building.

The SFRS confirmed the fire broke out in a vape shop and said a preliminary multi-agency investigation into the cause had begun.

Assistant Chief Officer David Farries said on Monday: "We need to do a full investigation with our multi-agency partners to understand the nature of the fire and understand why the fire spread the way that it did."

Six crews were initially sent to the four-floor building on Union Street at about 15:45 on Sunday.

Smoke was seen billowing out of a ground-floor vape shop next to a side entrance to the station.

Police cordoned off the street between Gordon Street and St Vincent Street when the fire started. Diversions were put in place.

But the fire worsened as the evening went on. The flames reached the dome on the corner of the historic building and the front wall collapsed to the ground.

Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council, said on Tuesday the building was in a state of "ongoing and uncontrolled collapse".

When the site is made safe the emergency services will hand over responsibility to the council.

"The top priority is public safety, but after that we want to get Central Station open as soon as possible," she told BBC's Radio Scotland Breakfast.

Aitken said she wanted to speak to the Scottish government and partners such as the Scottish National Investment Bank about how they can help "not just recovery but regeneration, as quickly as we can".

She said the majority owner of the building had made contact with the council.

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

The council leader warned about speculating on the cause of the fire, but said there needed to be a "wider discussion than just vape shops" about the storage and location of batteries - including those for mobile phones and e-bikes.

First Minister John Swinney acknowledged that there would be a "significant cost" in the aftermath of the blaze.

He said it was a "very serious fire" and was relieved there were no injuries.

He said the Scottish government would offer financial support to Glasgow City Council to "make sure we can get the city centre up-and-running as quickly as we can".

Rail union the TSSA said the fire showed the importance of safety at railway stations and and "all associated infrastructure".

Its general secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust, said: "Investigations into what caused the blaze must be thorough, so this never happens again.

"It's terribly sad to see such an iconic part of Glasgow city centre destroyed by fire."