Idea for moving walkway instead of Glasgow Airport tram link

An architect has proposed building the world's longest moving walkway as an alternative to the planned train-tram link between Glasgow city centre and Glasgow Airport.

Glasgow Airport

Maurice Rodger, writing in the Herald, said a sky-travelator, around a mile long, combined with a new train station on one of the country’s busiest lines, would drastically reduce the cost.

Mr Rodger’s rough plan involves creating a new train station in Paisley on the Glasgow to Wemyss Bay line, and combining it with a covered moving walkway which he estimates could take pedestrians to Glasgow Airport’s main terminal in just eight minutes.

A recent report found that Glasgow City Council’s plans for a tram-train link from the city centre to the airport would struggle to justify the expected £144million cost.

The tram-train link was mooted after the Scottish Government controversially cancelled plans for a direct rail link in 2009 as a result of the economic crisis.

As a result of Glasgow’s City Deal, the idea was resurrected with a specially designed tram and a relocated Paisley St James station planned to reduce journey times.

Mr Rodger says his plan would reduce the cost of the link from £144m to just £10m, creating the longest pedestrian travelator in the process.

The architect said: “The idea came about because of the latest news that the latest study to take a tram to the airport was deemed to be uneconomic and possibly damaging to Ayrshire and parts south and west of the airport.

“My colleague and I were chatting away and when you think of it a train station and walkway would be considerably less expensive than a train or tram link.”