Historic Glasgow & South Western hotel under threat

by

By Hugh Dougherty

Ayr Station Hotel, built as an integral part of the town’ station in 1885 to a French Renaissance design, is under threat of demolition.

The hotel, one of three built and owned by the Glasgow & South Western Railway, and operated after 1923 by the LMS, was an early sell-off by the British Transport Commission in 1951, and has passed through the hands of several owners since then.

Article continues below…
Advert

Enjoy more Heritage Railway reading in the four-weekly magazine.
Click here to subscribe & save.
Network Rail has installed temporary scaffolding to safeguard passengers, staff and trains below Ayr Station Hotel. HUGH DOUGHERTY

Currently owned by Malaysian businessman Eng Huat Ung, who bought the structure in 2010 for £750,000, the Category B listed building, which carries the GSWR arms on its stonework, has been unused since then, and has now been placed on the Scottish Buildings at Risk register.

The condition of the historic railway hotel is now so dangerous, that Network Rail has had to take emergency safety action, erecting scaffolding and securing parts of the building to allow trains to operate and passengers and staff to walk safely below the structure, which includes the station entrance, and faces directly two of the station’s platforms.

Read more in Issue 233 of HR – on sale now!

Article continues below…
Advert

Advert
Subscribe to Heritage Railway Magazine Enjoy more Heritage Railway reading in the four-weekly magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Article Tags:

About the Author