A love letter to Glasgow’s Subway

In June of this summer, Scotland’s only underground system will close for a minimum of 4 weeks causing a big inconvenience to people like myself.

Being a student in Glasgow and working in the city centre, I ride the subway almost every day – from Govan to Buchanan Street. I could easily take the bus, but I happen to really enjoy the subway for one reason being that there is less annoyances than on the McGills 26! Hearing the news of the underground closing for some time has actually gutted me a bit and now I have realised that the underground is probably one of my favourite features to Glasgow. So, without further ado, I feel that the underground isn’t appreciated as much as it should be and it is about time for me to piece together a love letter dedicated to the Strathclyde Partnership for Public Transport’s subway system;

Sub Crawls. A fun activity for anyone. Stopping at each of the 15 stops and visiting a pub in that area. I will actually miss seeing the hardcore ‘uni wanks’ dressed up characters from Harry Potter and the old men who try to ‘sub surf’ and end up falling on top of me. Sub Crawls will be sorely missed, especially throughout the summer.

A sub crawl is for all ages.

Each stop is 2 minutes away from each other. Although it doesn’t come it that handy with the likes of St Enochs to Buchanan (probably less than 2 minutes), unless you’re really lazy – I have actually done this once. But travelling from Govan to Partick is perfect. 2 minutes from one side of the Clyde to the other – uh-ma-zing!

It’s cleaner? I find that the underground itself is actually pretty clean. I never seem to see any litter lying about, I have definitely never saw a rat and there always seems to be someone in an orange hi-vis sweeping away. I don’t see much litter inside a carriage an awful lot, sometimes left over chippies or beer cans after a football match at Ibrox, but that gets cleaned up fast. It is 100% cleaner than buses anyway, which never seems to rid that smelly smell.

It’s somewhat relaxing. I personally find it relaxing, apart from when the brakes make that awful screech. For me, those 15 minutes without a phone signal is some time of peace underground. Some time to sit for a bit and listen to music, or read, or just think. It’s easy to get into a day dream since most of the time you really are just staring out of the window into darkness, so time also seems to go in quicker.

It’s the only underground system in Scotland! Isn’t this something to be proud of? Edinburgh doesn’t even have one (although they got to keep the trams). Also, not the mention, that it is the third oldest metro system in the WORLD after the London Underground and the Budapest Metro.

Cheap and efficient. I remember when I had missed the last subway on a Sunday and had no other option but to get the bus, my mind was blown when a single ticket costed me £3. That is how much a return on the subway is! And an all-day ticket to any stop is just £4!!!! You also never usually have to wait longer than 4 minutes for the next carriage.

Simples. Glasgow keepin’ it simple as usual with just a basic circle circuit. There’s no need to jump on and off to get to your destination, it’s never overly crowded and you shouldn’t manage to get lost!

So, although June is still a few months away, it’ll fly by. I will miss the subway during the time being and certainly do not look forward to taking the bus – unless I have passed my driving test by then which is seriously unlikely.