Kelvinhall Subway Station

This station is rather sparse but I’m still fond of it. Situated in a little alleyway off of Dumbarton Road, it has two machines in which to buy tickets or add money to the card and one person to help you with either of these things. It has one smaller gate in either direction and one larger gate to let you by if you have more to carry. The only way to get down is by a few short flights of stairs. There is a single platform to let you onto either path.
But what do I like about this station? It’s hard to say. It’s a helpful location to me personally. It’s just enough of Byres Road to be less hectic than Hillhead but is still close enough to get to everything in the area of Glasgow Uni. It’s the closest subway to BrewDog, Kimchi Cult, the Kelvingrove Art Museum, and a lot else I’m missing.
Basically I think I love it because it’s basic but it’s close to where I want to go and rarely overcrowded.

ahhh Kelvinhall… When I was a kid, I was convinced that it was Kevin Hall, and someone allowed this station to be built under their living room. The joys of youth…
Anyway, Kelvinhall is a fairly nondescript station on the grand big circle of shoogle that is the Glasgow Subway. It’s a useful gateway to a nice wee part Glasgow, and also to the Kelvingrove Art Galleries.
More to the point, there’s some awesome drinkin’ and eatin’ to be done in the vicinity of this station — Record Factory, The Three Judges, The Lismore, The Dolphin, The Aragon — all of these, and more are within stumbling distance from Kelvinhall station.
There’s also a nice big charity shop at the entryway, and several other wee shops, including the famous «Glamorous Geggies» sign that seems to have been there FOREVER. Loterally, forever. Since the Big Bang. Dinosaurs probably saw it.
It’s received a bit of a makeover recently, and the ticket booth is very bright and very shiny. Be warned, there’s a lot of stairs and no lifts or escalators, so if walking is an issue, this might not be the station for you.
Go for a wee shoogle and see!

Kelvinhall is the nearest station for Kelvingrove art gallery, and has relatively recently had a bit of an upgrade so is adorned with new white tiles and nice sculptural poetry engraved at various points around the stairs.
The lane which you access the station from is now quite well maintained, with Siempre Café bar on one side and the lane accessing nearby residential areas to the other direction (an alternate route onto Byres Road, take the lane to the left when you exit the station then turn right at the top of the lane).
It only has one platform– which is handy as you can just take whatever train comes first when you are heading into town (12 minutes to St Enoch, but only just marginally longer on the Inner Circle, so if it is a while between trains you could just get the ‘wrong’ train!).

What can you say about a subway station? It’s handy for the bottom end of Byres Road and places like the Lismore, Ichiban, Sparkle Horse, The Three Judges, Butterfly & Pig West End, and anything else in the vicinity of Partick Cross. Strangely, that’s what this station used to be known as before the 1980’s renovation of the entire subway system. What is now Partick station used to be called Merkland Street, and to avoid confusion when that station was moved to better serve the main line rail station, Partick Cross was renamed Kelvin Hall, despite the fact that it’s at least a brisk 5 minute walk from the aforementioned venue.
The location of Kelvin Hall station down a wee lane with access from both Dumbarton Road and Dalcross Street is very handy, although the lane used to be a bit scary in the dark and smelled of wee most of the time, with the odd bottle of Buckie occasionally found gracing the pathway. With the recent refurbishment things have improved dramatically and it finally has some decent lighting, although you are still often confronted by a mound of domestic furniture and other rubbish at the Dalcross Street end, which seems to have become a popular location with the locals for fly-​tipping despite the best efforts of the Council to keep it tidy.

This station is right on the cross with byres road and dumbarton road. Making it the most handy station for Kelvingrove gallery, tribeka, and a few other choice destinations. Ohh and the western infirmary if you are looking for an A&E.
The station itself is nothing special although is about to go through a refurbishment which will certainly brighten up the station.

Nothing to see here folks, nothing magical, mystical, institutional or authentically Glasgow about this stop on the good old underground circuit. It’s functional and gives you access to the Byres Road end of Dumbarton Road.
Handy AD Lib, Kelvinhall Sports Centre, Kelvin grove museum and indeed the park itself… i suppose you can also get access to the university and the Western hospital… so yeah, a handy wee stop on the route.
One word of caution though, it looks and feels that little bit dodgy given its location, however it tends to be fairly busy which adds to the whole safety in numbers thing.

The bane of the lives of regulars in the surrounding Partick pubs, Kelvinhall Station introduces subcrawlers to the likes of the Dolphin, Quarter Gill and Partick Tavern to name but a few.
It’s a pretty inconspicuous stop but is handy for the Partick cross section of Dumbarton Road. Despite the name, it is still a good 10 minute walk to Kelvin Hall from here with many city buses representing a better option for those wishing to visit the sports facility.

There’s something really intriguing about this stop on the subway. A tiny station with a tiny entrance hidden away down a dark alley away from public view, it feels like you’re walking into some secret service hideout or something. It’s hard to explain the attraction it has to me, it’s just to do with the size of it and the way it is hidden away that I love.
It’s only a short walk along the road from Partick underground and not very far from Hillhead either. It is quite a short distance to have between stations — I mean I used to walk it all the way from Broomhill Drive right through Partick to the top of Byres Road in half an hour to get to work. But hey, isn’t it good to have options for the lazy ones among us?
Ideal for the art gallery, Museum of Transport and even the bottom part of Byres Road, it is handy wee stop indeed.

Kelvinhall Underground is a good West-​end station, located near Dumbarton Road and close to the Kelvingrove Museum, Kelvin Hall sports centre, Glasgow Uni, and — of course — the Museum of Transport.
On a sunny day it’s a great place to step out, and although there can be some odd characters around, it’s next to a really nice part of town. There are also lots of cafés and bars in the area. This is especially true of Dumbarton road, which has loads of great little restaurants and «off the beaten track» sort of clothing shops.
For someone who has a hard time patching together all the little pockets of West End areas, Kelvinhall is a great stop. Honestly, I wouldn’t know how to get here on foot, so I just hop on the subway. Saviour!

Kelvinhall underground is kinda hidden from plain view. It’s behind a charity shop or two, but don’t let that put you off — Kelvinhall will let you access Kelvinhall Area, The Kelvingrove and the Transport Museum along with the amazingly colloquial Dumbarton Road (full of vintage clothes shops, knock-​off pharmacies, and greasy spoon cafes… fanastic!).
Often habituated by drunks (Liz?! I jest!!!) it can be slightly daunting. Just nod and smile, and pray they get on a different coach from you…

One of the most interesting stops on the Subway, Kelvinhall is used to access the Kelvingrove art gallery and museum, the transport museum and Glasgow Uni.
This means that the station is often absolutely chockers with sideways hair, vintage outfits and Daddy’s girls. I often stand here and assert my Strathclydeness by drinking a bottle of bucky and shouting about how I go to a real uni with people who got in on the merit of their brains and not who they know. For every posh kid I see, I gurn in an exaggerated slightly manic way.
This means I am given a wide berth and get some room on the platform all to myself. I’m one smart jakey.