Glasgow Subway

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A train arrives at West Street station

The Glasgow Subway is a Metro system which has a circular two track layout. Trains on one track run clockwise and anticlockwise on the other. It is nicknamed the Clockwork Orange because most of its carriages are painted orange. Between 1980 and 2003 it was officially called the Glasgow Underground, but has always been most commonly known simply as the Subway.

The track is a circular route 10.4 km long, and travels both north and south of the Clyde. It was built in 1896, making Glasgow's system the third oldest underground rail system in the world after London and Budapest. It is one of the few metro systems that have never expanded from its original route.

It is not the oldest underground railway in Glasgow itself however, that distinction belongs to a 3 mile stretch of the North Clyde line of the suburban railway network which runs in a sub-surface tunnel under the city centre between High Street and Charing Cross.

All of the main loop of the metro is underground, although the Broomloan Road maintenance depot (located between the Govan and Ibrox stations) is above ground.

Originally it was a clutch and cable powered system. The modern system is electrically powered from a third rail following a three year closure for refurbishment and modernisation in 1977-1980. The new electrical plant was supplied by Westinghouse and the rolling stock by Metro Cammell with GEC electric motors.

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Interior of Glasgow Subway car

Prior to the modernisation, the stations had a unique earthy smell. The backs of the seats were attached to the sides of the carriages, which moved semi-independently from the floor (to which the seats themselves were attached), leading to passengers being rocked forwards and backwards as the carriage "shoogelt" passengers around.

The system is run by Strathclyde Passenger Transport.

Connections

The underground has passenger links to the main rail system at two locations - at Partick, the system connects with the North Clyde and Argyle Lines of the Glasgow suburban railway network and a moving walkway exists between Buchanan Street station and Queen Street main line station.

Stations

The stations on the underground running clockwise from the northmost are:

• Hillhead
• Kelvinbridge
• St. George's Cross
• Cowcaddens
• Buchanan Street - connects to Queen Street Station via moving walkway
• St. Enoch - short walk to Central Station
• Bridge Street
• West Street
• Shields Road
• Kinning Park
• Cessnock
• Ibrox
• Govan
• Partick
• Kelvinhall

Hillhead, Buchanan Street and St Enoch are the busiest stations, some of the stations south of the Clyde are very quite.

Subcrawl

A subcrawl is a favorite pastime for Glasgow students. It is a pubcrawl using the subway to move from pub to pub. The nearest pub to each station must be visited, leading to a total of (at least) 15 drinks consumed.

External links

• Strathclyde Passenger Transport - Subway
• Photographs of Glasgow's rolling stock
• Gordon Inglis' page on the Glasgow subway