Demolition works are underway at Glasgow Queen Street to create space for the new railway station.

Engineers have started levelling Consort House as the building and the adjoining Millennium Hotel extension need to be removed to make way for the new station frontage, concourse and entrances and new longer platforms.

Light-weight excavators have now been craned over 30 metres onto the roof to starting breaking up the building’s reinforced concrete and steel frame floor-by-floor.

Inside Queen Street, work is underway to extend platform one by 50 metres. The former ticket office/staff accommodation block on platform two has also been demolished.

Over the coming months, Network Rail said undertrack drainage will be created and foundations for overhead power masts will be installed, before 100 tonnes of ballast and 50 metres of new sleepers/rails are laid to create the space needed for four-car trains to use the platform.

The redeveloped Glasgow Queen Street station is scheduled to be complete in 2020. The project is being delivered as part of the Scottish Government-funded Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme.

Alex Hynes, ScotRail Alliance managing director, said: “We are transforming Glasgow Queen Street and using a unique method to demolish these redundant buildings to create the space we need to construct a new landmark for Glasgow.

“Extending platform one and increasing its capacity from three to four carriage trains is also an important step in our plan to introduce more electric trains to Queen Street.

“The station redevelopment, and the recently completed electrification of the main Edinburgh-Glasgow line, are all part of our plan to build the best railway Scotland has ever had – delivering longer, faster trains with more seats.”