GLASGOW | Subway and Urban Rail

[Kolothos]

A few central Glasgow stations on the two cross-city sub-surface lines.

High Street - North Clyde Line



Queen Street (Low Level) - North Clyde Line


Bridgeton - Argyle Line


Anderston - Argyle Line
image hosted on flickr



Charing Cross - North Clyde Line

[Kolothos]

Some stations in the west of the Greater Glasgow/Strathclyde area:

Greenock West - Inverclyde Line
image hosted on flickr


Paisley Gilmour Street - Inverclyde Line/Ayrshire Coast Line
image hosted on flickr


Wemyss Bay - Inverclyde Line *interchange with ferry services

image hosted on flickr

[Kolothos]

Whitecraigs - Cathcart Circle Line


Crosshill - Cathcart Circle Line
image hosted on flickr

[makita09]

Great update, Thx

[Kolothos]

Glad you're enjoying them

Pollokshaws East - Cathcart Circle Line

[makita09]

Got any pics of the improvements to the Paisley Gilmour St area?

[Kolothos]

Not personally on me, no. I'm never in Paisley, so I'm not sure what's been improved upon.

[Kolothos]

Govan - Subway
image hosted on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24772733@N05/2576062578/

[flierfy]

Is this a subway? It looks more like a rail station to me?

[Kolothos]

That particular picture is of the Subway. The rest of the pictures are from the urban heavy rail network.

[Kolothos]

Cessnock - Subway

[flierfy]

Originally Posted by Kolothos

That particular picture is of the Subway. The rest of the pictures are from the urban heavy rail network.

Ah, I see. You mean subway in terms of metro rather a subway.

[Kolothos]

Yep! The Glasgow Subway is it's name. We tend to refer to subways as underpasses.

http://www.spt.co.uk/subway/

[Kolothos]

Cowcaddens - Subway


(has since had the new platform edge tiles, as in the Cessnock photo, placed)

[Falubaz]

What is the ridership of Glasgow subway? It seems pretty small system, one line, tiny trains...

[Kolothos]

Yeah, it is pretty small. The busiest stations will see around 2 million passengers per year.

The most recent stat for daily ridership I can find is 2007/2008, where the daily passenger count was on average, 39,698. I'd like to think that's increased now though. During peak times (8-9am and 5-6pm), travelling between the West-End and the City Centre, the trains are very crowded and packed.

Many reasons for this. Just one line, and small trains, as you say. Some of the stations south of the Clyde are in run down empty areas with little housing or development (however new developments in these areas in the near future will boost Subway numbers).

Like I said in the first post, unlike in London, our original sub-surface underground railways were not absorbed into the Subway, and remain part of the main lines today. The urban and commuter rail network is the largest outside of London in the UK, and as such carries many more passengers per day.

Hopefully the new modernisation works, and automatic trains, will help increase capacity in the system and increase ridership. Perhaps someday the Subway will be extended or expanded in some way, but right now the Scottish Government is spending it's transport money elsewhere (like the Edinburgh Trams project).

[Dobbo]

If there was a new line (or lines) to be constructed - how would you set them out?

a second loop, or perhaps an end to end line?

[sds]

Originally Posted by Kolothos

Absolutely, it would make great sense, and it would represent an integrated mass transit system for Greater Glasgow. People usually just think of our wee circle line Subway, but in reality, that's effectively just the central part of a much larger system.

Yeah, so, a few months back I hastily put this together and posted it elsewhere as an indication of the part of the rail network that is in Glasgow (or reaches places that are often effectively considered to be Glasgow):



Sticking Paisley Gilmour Street in there is a bit cheeky, but it's there for the airport. And you could make a good argument for stretching out to East Kilbride.

Regardless, the point is: we have a nice collection of rail routes around this city, and on these lines the train frequencies are pretty good.

Regarding stations, Maxwell Park was mentioned earlier. I love that station; I walked past there at the weekend:


And for something not Glasgow, Bridge of Orchy:
image hosted on flickr

[sds]

Originally Posted by Dobbo

If there was a new line (or lines) to be constructed - how would you set them out?

a second loop, or perhaps an end to end line?

To invigorate the use of the subway, I don't think entire new lines need to be built. Little things would help:

• Better integration of Buchanan Street (subway) and Queen Street (national rail. This is on the cards, so I'm cheating.)
• Better connectivity between St Enoch (subway) and Central (national rail). Covered walkway, tunnel, whatever.
• Similarly, better connectivity between St Enoch (subway) and Argyle Street (national rail).
• Additional exits from St Enoch (to the St Enoch shopping centre) and from Buchanan Street (to the Buchanan Galleries shopping centre).
• A new station at West Street on the existing line directly above the now isolated West Street subway station.
• SPT-backed cycle schemes at stations.
• Modification of some bus routes to terminate at subway stops. Actually hook together some of those modes of transport, and remove some of the bus routes from the city centre!

The current modernisation and future streamlined ticketing will help a lot. Extending the opening hours will help a lot.

[Dobbo]

Thanks - integration is why the London Underground is so sucessful - is there really no desire for a new line?