r/Glasgow Tools

Title
Author	eenbiertje
Comment	The proposed metro/tram line (running from Paisley to the Airport to Govan to Glasgow) is much more cost effective in the round, once you consider that it would also serve highly populated areas with poor existing transport options (Renfrew). The area around the north and east of the airport is also experiencing a massive amount of investment, with the development of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District (AMIDS) and Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC), and along the Clyde there's a corridor of development between Renfrew and Govan involving Glasgow Uni. A tram line serving all these things, and interchanging with the subway at Govan, makes a lot more sense than simply moving St James station 600 metres closer to the airport. If you were to move the station closer to the airport, it'd be a challenge to increase the number of trains per hour, as there's a bottleneck in the network at Paisley Gilmour Street. You could try to increase services passing the airport (Inverclyde services), but you'd likely need to sacrifice some services from Ayrshire that go via Paisley Gilmour Street. Those serve a lot of people, so I think that's a non starter. So overall, building a new line - maybe not heavy rail, but a tram or light metro that runs on road in some places and on raised tracks in others - is the much better option all things considered. I reckon the prospects of this metro line happening are high. It was shortlisted in Transport Scotland's recent decade-long transport review options process (STPR2). Glasgow and Renfrewshire councils have also set aside protected budgets for the first stage of it, supported by money from the Glasgow Region City Deal.
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/v7kblx/whats_something_we_need_more_of_in_glasgow/ibpmkp0/
Created	Thu 9th Jun 2022 9:56am
Status	normal ()

The proposed metro/tram line (running from Paisley to the Airport to Govan to Glasgow) is much more cost effective in the round, once you consider that it would also serve highly populated areas with poor existing transport options (Renfrew). The area around the north and east of the airport is also experiencing a massive amount of investment, with the development of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District (AMIDS) and Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC), and along the Clyde there's a corridor of development between Renfrew and Govan involving Glasgow Uni. A tram line serving all these things, and interchanging with the subway at Govan, makes a lot more sense than simply moving St James station 600 metres closer to the airport.

If you were to move the station closer to the airport, it'd be a challenge to increase the number of trains per hour, as there's a bottleneck in the network at Paisley Gilmour Street. You could try to increase services passing the airport (Inverclyde services), but you'd likely need to sacrifice some services from Ayrshire that go via Paisley Gilmour Street. Those serve a lot of people, so I think that's a non starter.

So overall, building a new line - maybe not heavy rail, but a tram or light metro that runs on road in some places and on raised tracks in others - is the much better option all things considered.

I reckon the prospects of this metro line happening are high. It was shortlisted in Transport Scotland's recent decade-long transport review options process (STPR2). Glasgow and Renfrewshire councils have also set aside protected budgets for the first stage of it, supported by money from the Glasgow Region City Deal.