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SPT Survey Shows Subway Users Want East-West Link
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
SPT director of Communications, Bob Wylie, has returned to his old beat to make a film investigation about what Subway users think of the current service. And whether they would support an East West link being developed.
The first proposals about an extension to the Subway were published early last year following a research investigation by the consultants Atkins.
Their original proposals involved the creation of an entire Eastern loop for the current subway which was described as an Eastern Extension. But this was costed at £2.3bn. So SPT set about defining cheaper options.
The result is an East - West link which would run from the SECC in the west of the city to near Celtic Park in the east. This would exploit existing railway viaducts which are currently preserved but unused. By building extensions into the existing low level rail lines running through Central Station it would be possible to create such an East West link.
This would provide a link which would go to the heart of the East End of the city and the area which will become the centre of the Commonwealth Games national arena and village. It would become a vital legacy of the Games for the economic regeneration of the city’s east end as proposed in the current Clyde Gateway plans.
The present Subway system would be linked into this development by an interchange which would probably join the current St Enoch Subway station to the low level lines at Argyle Street. SPT decided at the Partnership meeting in January that these proposals should be investigated further in a £250,000 second stage study. Tenders for that work are about to be advertised.
After the decision, Bob Wylie went to the Subway and asked passengers what they thought about where we are now and the possibility of an East-West link.
There was overwhelming support for the ideas, confirming a recent straw poll carried by The Evening Times. In that, 95% of those polled said 'Yes' to the East-West proposals.