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When you think of Glasgow, you may think of banging nights out, incendiary art and an indiscriminate approach to fried food. But did you know that the super-cool city also has a bus station that’s been dubbed ‘the busiest in Scotland’?
Around 500,000 buses per year leave Buchanan Bus Station, which is about five minutes’ walk from the Buchanan Galleries shopping centre. Now, it’s undergoing a major overhaul that could change the way you look at bus stops altogether. Forget concrete slabs, a bit of grubby pavement and the odd the daub of graffiti.
According to a new plan set out by engineering firm AtkinsRéalis, which has been approved by the Glasgow City Council administration committee, the transport hub will become a destination in its own right, replete with office and housing space (including student accommodation), plus shops and a hotel.
The humble bus station will become a ‘multimodal transport interchange’, which we reckon could be developer speak for ‘cool place to be’.
It’s not currently known when the overhaul will go ahead or what the completion date might be, but this is the latest stage in a long-planned reimagining of the Glaswegian site.
Back in 2024, it was reported that AtkinsRéalis had been appointed to the task at hand, with the company’s technical director for architecture Chris Crombie telling Glasgow Times: ‘The Buchanan Bus Station has long been a central transport hub for the city of Glasgow. But it needs to be fit for purpose for the future which requires a new vision for its role both as a bus station to enable transport links, and as a destination in itself.
He added: ‘The updated Buchanan Bus Station will play an important role in helping SPT [Strathclyde Partnership for Transport] to deliver its goals of improving service levels, sustainability, and safety of the transport system.’
The new plans could see the Concert Square Car Park replaced, too.
Glasgow City Council executive director for neighbourhoods, regeneration and sustainability George Gillespie said: ‘The masterplan for Buchanan Bus Station signposts the future development of this key city-centre block, offering the chance to not only create a state of the art transport interchange, but also a mixed-use development that helps drive the future regeneration of Cowcaddens, Townhead and the wider city centre.’
If you can tear yourself away from the bus station, check out the best things to do in Glasgow.
Plus: the 12 best beer gardens in Glasgow.
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