Glasgow’s Subway is finally getting an upgrade

The Glasgow Subway is currently undergoing its most extensive modernisation programme in a generation.  

It has nearly been half a century since the last renovations took place, leaving many of the stations in a sad, soggy state, with missing roof tiles and platforms small enough to make you sweat. SPT (Strathclyde Partnership for Transport) promises that the upgrades will bring refurbished stations, improved accessibility, and later closing times; hopefully making the service more convenient and accessible for Glasgow’s students.  

Glasgow’s iconic “Clockwork Orange”, dubbed as such for its small, circular route and bright colour scheme, has served the people of Glasgow for over a century. As the third-oldest subway system in the world, it has somehow survived into the 21st century.

As much as it may be Glasgow’s pride and joy, it’s age is certainly catching up with it. It has lagged behind it’s European counterparts, featuring a signalling system dating back to the Victorian ages and tiny, cramped tunnels. Clearly, some renovations are much overdue.

These upgrades have long been in motion, with the original £288 million project being agreed between the SPT and the Scottish Government way back in 2011. 

As Scotland’s only subway system, it is a vital service for thousands of students travelling to work, college and university every day. Around 23 per cent of the 13 million annual journeys taken are for educational purposes.

One of the biggest complaints has been the Subways painfully early closing times, which are by far the earliest of any subway system in the UK.

The last trains currently run at 11:40pm Monday to Saturday, while Sunday services end as early as 6:12pm. It is one of the biggest obstacles for students and young people out late in the city centre, and it is common to forget that you have missed the last Subway until you wander up to a closed entrance. Compared to the rest of the city’s transport network, the Subway is something of an outlier, with buses and trains running much later into the night. 

The recent introduction of new four-car, driverless-capable carriages might change this. Eventually allowing the Subway to run much later without the need of a driver. 

For students, this could make safe, cheap travel after a night out a reality, eliminating the need to pay for expensive taxis or to walk home half-cut. However, there is no guarantee that driverless subways will actually result in longer operating hours, and it remains to be seen how well they will actually perform in daily operations.

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SPT has said that it is considering extending operating hours, but only once all current modernisation projects are complete. 

Stephen Dornan, SPT Chair Councillor, said: “We are all aware that there is a real ask from Subway users for extended Subway operating hours especially on a Sunday and it has long been a commitment of SPT to revise the operating hours.” 

This has recently been approved by the SPT, with the partnership voting in favour of extending operating times for the weekend.

via Unsplash

Other additions of the modernisation programme include the installation of platform screen doors and the rollout of contactless payment at ticket gates.  Although it has taken over a decade, there are finally some signs of progress, with further improvements to the system expected in the coming years.  

There are still significant challenges for the system, with the infrastructure only getting older each year, but these modernisations should offer some immediate relief and breathe some new life into Glasgow’s best form of transportation.  

An SPT spokesperson told us that: “SPT has stated consistently throughout the modernisation period that once the modernisation programme is complete with platform screen doors (PSDs) installed at all stations, and Unattended Train Operation (UTO) is in operation, then it will be in a position to extend Subway service hours beyond the current schedule.

“We are all aware that there is a real ask from Subway users for extended Subway operating hours especially on a Sunday and it has long been a commitment of SPT to revise the operating hours once Subway modernisation is fully complete.

“However, there are still a number of issues we need to consider alongside longer operating hours including future maintenance requirements of the system and future staffing. We have to look at the impact on our staff and the additional costs of running the service for longer during the week. As with all new transport operations, time will be required to build patronage so we will be keeping the revised operating hours under review for the first two years.

“During this modernisation work, we have continued to operate the Subway in passenger service daily while also carrying out all the modernisation work including introducing new trains, updating our signalling system, and installing a new communications system to enable the trains to communicate with our new control centre at the depot all within a four to five hour window each night when the system closes apart from Sundays when we have time to schedule in more extensive and time consuming works. Installing a 21st signalling and communications system into Victorian tunnels is not without challenges.  The last modernisation in the late 1970s saw the Subway closed completely for three years. This time, the decision was made to continue running services to minimise disruption to our customers who rely on the system to get around.”

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