TRAIN services to a busy city station are to be axed for five months.

Dalmarnock Railway Station, near Celtic Park, is to be closed to allow workmen to build a new multi-million-pound hub in time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The new station will cost up to £11million in an area of Glasgow's East End which has been starved of investment for decades.

But it means thousands of football fans and ordinary commuters will be forced to use neighbouring stations at Bridgeton and Belgrove.

Train services to Dalmarnock will be halted in the summer and won't resume until shortly before Christmas. Extensive preparatory work began last August and included site clearance and restorations which included painting 15 concrete encased overhead steel beams.

And today Network Rail announced the existing station will close on Sunday, June 3, with rail services not resuming until Sunday, November 25.

The rail maintenance firm's route managing director for Scotland, David Simpson, said: "The project is on schedule and on budget and once complete will provide visitors with a first-class welcome to the local area during the Games and beyond."

The new station, which will replace the existing facility in Swanston Street, is being built on Dalmarnock Road. The entrance will be directly opposite the new Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome which is costing more than £100m to build.

The rail hub will include:

l Lift access to the station's two platforms

l A new pedestrian footbridge

l New platform surfaces and wall cladding

l New customer information and communication systems.

It's being funded by the Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company, Glasgow City Council and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) with extra money secured from the European Regional Development Fund.

Scotland's Transport Minister, Keith Brown, welcomed the announcement and said: "I'm delighted we have reached another milestone in the Dalmarnock station works.

"This cutting-edge transport hub will not only play a central role during the 2014 Games but help attract new businesses, commercial, housing and office developments as well as play a central role in the regeneration of Glasgow's East End."

The nearest station to Dalmarnock is Bridgeton, which is less than a mile away. Bellgrove is also nearby.

gordon.thomson@ eveningtimes.co.uk

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