Clyde Metro is a proposed multimodal mass-transit system in Scotland for the city of Glasgow and the surrounding area. It is named after the River Clyde, which flows through the city. [1] [2] [3]
In 2022, a Scottish Government review of public transport in Scotland, the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), [4] made a series of recommendations to public transport provisions, of which one was Clyde Metro. [5]
Incorporating existing modes and routes, including the Glasgow Subway and existing rail lines, the proposals outline the possibility of new light surface-running metro lines and heavy rail converted into heavy metro, with expansions of the latter. [4]
The Scottish Government notes that the recommendations in STPR2 are 'not fully funded and is subject to the funding allocations agreed by Parliament each year through the annual budget process'. [6]
In November 2023, it was announced that SPT would be taking the lead and working with Glasgow City Council, Glasgow City Region and Transport Scotland to establish the business case and the initial delivery phases; this phase is estimated to take two years, starting from 2024. [7]
Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in west central Scotland. The city is the third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom and the 27th-most-populous city in Europe. In 2022, it had an estimated population as a defined locality of 632,350 and anchored an urban settlement of 1,028,220.
First ScotRail was a train operating company in Scotland owned by FirstGroup. It operated the ScotRail franchise between October 2004 and March 2015.
The Glasgow Subway is an underground light metro system in Glasgow, Scotland. Opened on 14 December 1896, it is the third-oldest underground rail transit system in the world after the London Underground and the Budapest Metro. It is also one of the very few railways in the world with a track running gauge of 4 ft. Originally a cable railway, the subway was later electrified, but the double-track circular line was never expanded. The line was originally known as the Glasgow District Subway, and was thus the first mass transit system to be known as a "subway"; it was later renamed Glasgow Subway Railway. In 1936 it was renamed the Glasgow Underground. Despite this rebranding, many Glaswegians continued to refer to the network as "the Subway". In 2003, the name "Subway" was officially readopted by its operator, the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT).
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) is a regional transport partnership for the Strathclyde area of western Scotland. It is responsible for planning and coordinating regional transport, especially the public transport system in the area, including responsibility for operating the Glasgow Subway, the third-oldest in the world.
The city of Glasgow, Scotland, has a transport system encompassing air, rail, road and an underground light metro line. Prior to 1962, the city was also served by trams. Commuters travelling into Glasgow from the neighbouring local authorities of North and South Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, and East and West Dunbartonshire have a major influence on travel patterns, with tens of thousands of residents commuting into the city each day. The most popular mode of transport in the city is the car, used by two-thirds of people for journeys around the city.
The British Rail Class 320 is an electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger train found on the Strathclyde rail network in Central Scotland. They are mainly used on the North Clyde Line and the Argyle Line, but they can also be seen on Glasgow Central to Lanark, Cathcart Circle, Paisley Canal Line and Inverclyde Line services. The Class 320 uses alternating current (AC) overhead electrification.
The Cathcart Circle Lines form a mostly suburban railway route linking Glasgow (Central) to Cathcart via a circular line, with branches to Newton and Neilston, on the south bank of the River Clyde. They are part of the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport network.
Transport in Scotland is facilitated by road, rail, air and water networks. The Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament has control over most elements of transport policy within Scotland, with the Cabinet Secretary for Transport holding portfolio responsibility within the Scottish Government. Transport Scotland is the Executive Agency responsible for the Scottish transport network.
The British Rail Class 334 Coradia Juniper is a suburban electric multiple unit passenger train built by Alstom in Birmingham. They are part of Alstom's Coradia Juniper family of trains, along with Classes 458 and 460.
Partick is combined National Rail and Glasgow Subway station in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland. Along with the adjacent bus station, it forms one of the main transport hubs in Glasgow. As of 2022, it was the fifth-busiest station in Scotland, but was overtaken in 2023. The station is served by Glasgow Subway and ScotRail services and was one of the first to receive bilingual English and Gaelic signs, due to the significant Gaelic-speaking population in the surrounding Partick area.
Jordanhill railway station is a side-platformed suburban railway station in the Jordanhill area in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland. The station, which is governed by Transport Scotland and managed by ScotRail, lies on the Argyle Line and the North Clyde Line. In operation since 1887, the station stemmed losses for an area that was in decline.
Crossrail Glasgow is a proposed railway development in Central Scotland to connect the stations Glasgow Central and Queen Street. It has been estimated at a cost of £200 million.
The Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL) is a proposed link between Glasgow City Centre and Glasgow Airport. The original plans for an airport rail link were proposed during the 2000s to directly link Glasgow Central station with Glasgow Airport in Scotland. The link was intended for completion by 2013 and would have had a service of four trains per hour via Paisley Gilmour Street railway station.
Govan subway station is a station that serves the area of Govan in Glasgow, Scotland. It is located on the south side of the River Clyde. Just south of the station is the main depot and test track for the Glasgow Subway. The station is located near the historic Govan Old Parish Church.
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a high-speed railway which is under construction in England. The line will run between Handsacre, in southern Staffordshire, and London, with a spur to Birmingham. HS2 is to be Britain's second purpose-built high-speed railway after High Speed 1, which connects London to the Channel Tunnel. London and Birmingham will be served directly by new high speed track, and services to Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester will use a mix of new high speed track and the existing West Coast Main Line. The majority of the project is planned to be completed by 2033.
Clyde Fastlink is a high frequency bus rapid transit system in Glasgow, Scotland. The system was designed to provide greater connectivity and faster journey times between Glasgow City Centre and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Govan, as well as to several other key developments along the north and south banks of the Clyde Waterfront.
MetroWest, formerly known as the Greater Bristol Metro, is a project to improve the rail services in Bristol, England, and the surrounding region. It was first proposed at First Great Western's Stakeholder Event in March 2008. The aim of the project is to develop half-hourly services through central Bristol which will also serve the surrounding West of England region. Transport campaigning groups Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways (FoSBR) and Transport for Greater Bristol are actively supporting the proposal, as are the three unitary authorities under the West of England Combined Authority and North Somerset Council.
The Glasgow Subway rolling stock serves the Glasgow Subway, the third-oldest underground metro system in the world. The Subway is currently on the third generation of rolling stock, which entered service on 11 December 2023. Unlike other Metro systems in the United Kingdom, the Subway has a running gauge of 1,220 mm.
The Northumberland Line is a railway project under construction in North East England; it is aimed at reintroducing passenger rail services to freight-only lines in South East Northumberland. Under the scheme, a new passenger service will link some of Northumberland's major population centres in Ashington and Blyth to the nearby city of Newcastle upon Tyne. Construction of new stations and works to upgrade the existing rail infrastructure to bring it up to passenger-carrying standards was reported as having begun by late August 2022. The first anticipated launch date of the new passenger service was December 2023. However, this was pushed back, first to the summer of 2024 and then in August it changed to December, when three of the new stations will be opened. The rest of the stations will open in 2025.
Stadler METRO is an electric multiple unit and battery electric multiple unit train made by Stadler Rail for use on heavy and light railways. They are currently used on Berlin U-Bahn as BVG Class IK, on Minsk Metro as M110/M111 series, on Glasgow Subway as the G3 stock, and on Merseyrail services in Merseyside as the Class 777. In the future they will be used on the Tyne and Wear Metro as the Class 555s, on the MARTA subway system of Atlanta, Georgia as the CQ400s, and on the Lisbon Metro as the ML 20 and ML 24 series.