David Henderson
BBC Scotland correspondent

Every day, around 70,000 passengers start and end their journey at Central Station.

The large Victorian terminal is one of the UK’s most important transport hubs and is Scotland’s busiest station by passenger numbers.

It is the railway gateway to England, via the West Coast Main Line.

But for most of its passengers, it is a suburban and regional commuter hub.

So with Central Station closed, key transport arteries across the west of Scotland are blocked.

The biggest trip from Glasgow Central in 2024/25 was to Paisley Gilmour Street with 757,000 trips.

London Euston accounted for around 370,000 journeys.

And there are dozens of other suburban routes that feed into Central.

The vast majority of its services are operated by ScotRail: suburban services to Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Inverclyde, Argyle Line and Renfrewshire.

The low-level station below is vital for inter-city travel, linking north and south Glasgow via the Argyle line.

Glasgow relies on those thousands of commuters to boost its economy, making it imperative to open the station as quickly as possible.

An alternative for affected passengers is a longer bus journey to Glasgow, a slower option for many.