Glasgow Subway's 'forgotten' station which survived a bomb

Merkland Street opened in 1896 as one of 15 stations in the city and was situated about 25 metres southwest of Partick station today, which replaced it some 80 years later.

Over 1500 people queued up to use the Glasgow Subway within a few hours on its opening day on December 14, but towards the end of the day, it was thrown out of use when two trains collided between St Enoch and Bridge Street.

The opening of the Glasgow Subway in 1896 (Image: Newsquest)

The incident injured dozens of passengers, according to newspapers at the time, and the newness of the system meant that it was difficult for staff to know how to handle such an incident, so the Subway did not resume services until mid-January 1897.

Merkland Street proved very popular in its heyday, especially during the height of Glasgow’s shipbuilding era as workers would use it to go from one side of the Clyde to the other.

Despite it eventually closing in the 1970s, the station was almost completely obliterated during the Second World War.

On September 18, 1940, a German bomb was dropped and landed on a nearby bowling green which caused extensive damage to the tunnels near Merkland Street.

It is presumed that the bomb was intended to be dropped on the nearby naval facilities, but it instead landed on the green about 50 metres away from the station.

Thankfully no one was hurt, but the damage meant the closure of part of the system until January 1941 when it was repaired.

While the Subway had been electrified in the 1930s (they originally moved through cable-pulling), by the 1970s the system was in a dire state.

Its basic infrastructure was virtually unchanged from when it opened almost 100 years earlier, and footfall was declining due to the demolition of many tenements south of the river, as well as the closure of many of the dockyards.

The Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive, which took over the handling of the Subway from the Glasgow Corporation in the 1960s, feared the worst for the system’s future.

They announced a major modernisation plan, which actually began earlier than anticipated as they noticed more cracks beginning to appear – literally, on the roof of Govan Cross station.

Tunnels were repaired and all 15 stations were to be rebuilt and enlarged. The original timber platforms at Merkland Street, as well as Govan Cross and Copland Road – which is now known as Ibrox - had to be rebuilt as concrete, but Merkland Street was not part of the new grand plan.

Modernisation underway in 1970s (St Enoch station) (Image: Newsquest)

The Subway was to be linked to the national rail network's newly reopened Argyle Line at Partick via an interchange station, so Merkland Street closed and Partick opened nearby.

There is still evidence of Merkland Street station's existence due to a long straight and humped stretch on the underground with large diameter tunnels, and Subway passengers are still able to see the chamber just before or after Partick (depending on what circle you’re travelling on, of course).

The station also lived on as a means of showcasing the city’s Subway system in the Transport Museum, which took the master’s box, t-irons, destination gantry and clock.

When the museum moved to Kelvin Hall in 1983, the Subway exhibit was rebuilt into a 1930s street scene, and this is still on display in the Riverside Museum which opened in 2011.

Visitors can view the old map of the Subway which features Merkland Street as well as the old station names Copland Road, Partick Cross and Govan Cross, and sit in the old carriage.