Glasgow Subway extension petition gathers pace

The group are saying that the subway needs a massive revamp Picture: John Devlin

AN ONLINE petition has been launched for an extension on the Glasgow Subway, gathering almost 3,000 signatures in four days.

The group, nicknaming themselves “Team Tube”, began by expressing frustration over the lack of quality transport in Glasgow over Twitter.   A spokesperson for the group would not divulge how many people are active in the campaign but said the petitioners consisted of “a small group of car-less Glasgow residents who are totally fed-up with the terrible public transport provision in the city.” 

The group said: “We had each been getting angry, alone for a while.

“A couple of weeks ago, we finally met up to start work on the petition together.

Plans for the new driverless trains were unveiled last month

“Plenty of people complain passively about the lack of an extension to Glasgow’s Subway. There’s an attitude of ‘it would be nice, but it’s not going to happen’.

“The fact is, an extension was going to happen almost 10 years ago, and the SPT statements are there to prove that they were “in tune with the public” demand for it.”

An SPT survey, carried out in 2007, interviewed 700 people with 93 per cent agreeing that they wished to see an extention on the current subway network.

Several options were considered at the time, from a cosmetic upgrade, to a full on extension of the subway to the East End.

Built in 1896, Glasgow has the third oldest underground in the world but has never extended its Subway.  

On the the petition’s website the group declared: “The Subway is not accessible to the majority living in Glasgow and as a result is under used for a city of its size.  

“Glasgow’s subway fails to compare to that of geographically smaller and less populated cities such as Lisbon - whose annual underground ridership is 140.9 million, while Glasgow Subway’s annual ridership is 12.8m, despite having the larger population.”

The group are hoping to engage councillors in the May 2017 Scottish council elections by presenting the petition in the build-up to polling day. 

When asked why the Glasgow Subway should be singled out for infrastructure investment, the group said: “Expanding the Subway is a long-term investment in the physical and social health of the city, and a way of truly opening up Glasgow to its residents and visitors.”

A spokesperson for SPT said: “We have no plans to extend the Subway.

“The report from 2007 highlighted two options; being the modernisation of the existing system and consideration of a possible extension to the East End of Glasgow.

“Being estimated at £2.3billion the cost to extend are simply unaffordable and Scottish Government backed SPT’s recommendation to modernise the existing system.

“That programme has been underway for some time now and has seen the introduction of a new Smart Ticketing System, very significant improvements to our Subway stations, and within the past few weeks the order for a fleet of new automated trains and associated signalling systems which will make the Glasgow Subway one of the most advance metro systems in operation anywhere.”

You can sign the subway extention petition here

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