October 13, 2007

In response to the new SPT Subway Plan 2, thgRAIL have produced a report which questions the viability of the proposal being studied by Grant Thornton. Even with the scant detail provided to support the plan, there are questions which would render the scheme unworkable. Competing modes of transport would largely cater for any known passenger movements, although new investment in the National Arena would create new traffic patterns. Even so, the new route could be served by two new trains (possibly one) and the infrastructure and expense of creating a new depot for these trains would render the scheme unviable.

thgRAIL have made their report on the project available to all parties. Click here to download a copy.

October 13, 2007

thgRAIL have offered Grant Thornton full support and free consultation in connection with their instruction to report on the SPT plans for an East – West extension to the Glasgow Subway. Bill Forbes said “Whilst I welcome the idea of new investment for our Subway, I am concerned by the suggestion this could take 18 months to investigate. The last study took 20 months and is now effectively binned, I would suggest that we cannot waste a similar amount of time and therefore wish to assist Grant Thornton in keeping this positive momentum” 

                                        October 10, 2007

The SPT announced a new East – West extension to the Glasgow Subway based on the re-use of now redundant Victorian tunnels which would allow a new line to run from the SECC to the new National Arena and Celtic Park in the east end of the City. 

Grant Thornton, the international management consultants have been retained by the SPT to report on the merits of such a plan. (See SPT Press Release) 

See the full report on http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.1755423.0.0.php

October 11, 2007

thgRAIL exposed the plan for a city wide extension to the Glasgow Subway to a much wider audience by advertising the proposal in the Herald and Evening Times newspapers. The public response was excellent and provided an interactive contribution to the debate on which way the Subway should change. Strong indications of support for late night weekend operations, additional fares and the use of Smart Card ticket technology were gained. Also the thgRAIL plan for a new city wide Subway line received over 85% support.

October 10, 2007

Following encouragement from online comments in the Evening Times, the thgRAIL plan for improvements and extension to Glasgow Subway was advertised in both the Herald and Evening Times newspapers. This new initiative was designed to attract more people to the idea that there is an alternative plan for the Subway and that their comments were important in shaping that plan.

Bill Forbes said " We have already seen the SPT take notice of some of our ideas and understand that because of our prompting they are now looking at the possibility of an East - West extension to the Subway. Let's hope they pay heed to our poll and on line survey results too".  Click here to see a full copy of the advert. 

August 18, 2007

To allow greater input from visitors to our web site, a new on line survey has been launched to allow the views of those Subway passengers to be made known on matters such as late weekend services, increased fares to cover improvements, smart card ticket, etc. The survey will also be supplemented to cover the question of funding for compliance with the Disibility Discrimination Act. Click here for the survey. Click here to see the results. 

July 15, 2007

In the SPT newsletter, Interchange (issue 15, page 2) bold plans are announced for the Subway including an investigation into a possible East - West extension (now where have we heard that before). Yes, after paying Atkins £90,000 for their nine month investigation, the SPT have decided to look at other proposals - but only after an extensive fact finding mission to Toulose in France.

April 23, 2007

In a strange coincidence, the SPT unveil a new livery for the Subway carriages on the Glasgow system. Trains will now show the livery of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games bid - almost exactly like the proposal put forward by thgRAIL in January of this year. The only difference was that our proposal encouraged a sponsor paying for the new paint job rather than the taxpayer. SPT Subway boss David Wallace added: "We are committed to the 'Back the Bid' campaign and we're delighted to be involved". William Forbes added "where do they get such wonderful ideas?" 

April 20, 2007

Following the attack on the thgRAIL Subway proposals, John Halliday, Assistant Chief Executive issued an apology and confirmed that his previous letter (21/03/07) contained a malapropism which distorted the meaning of that letter. Mr Halliday continued his apology to confirm that his previous letter was not meant to be condescending and that thgRAIL had in fact submitted the most detailed response in relation to the Glasgow Subway as part of the RTS.

March 21, 2007

In an astonishing response to the thgRAIL plan for an improved and extended Subway system, SPT Assistant Chief Executive John Halliday slammed the 74 page document as "amateur" and simplistic in its approach. In a detailed letter (21/3/07) to thgRAIL he went on to deride the efforts of what amounted to the most detailed response to the RTS during the SPT’s year long preparation process. He went on to suggest that the engineering solutions and cost estimates offered were a “gross under-representation” and that the submission was “so meretricious” (tawdry) there would be difficulty in promoting the “proposal”. In response, William Forbes hit back demanding a formal apology for the savage attack on a genuine attempt to contribute to the RTS process. He added “It is significant that Mr Halliday took 20 months to compile his own proposal for the Subway. He used public money to hide behind external consultants yet was able to, personally, fully assess and assassinate my own views in less than 20 days. At least he now admits to considering both in detail. As a "professional", his view on which is the better scheme will be important.”

March 14, 2007

A call to improve and extend the Glasgow Subway drew an overwhelmingly positive response from readers of the Glasgow Evening Times newspaper. The paper conducted an online poll asking the question "Should the Subway be extended?" In one of their best ever responses over 600 people or 93% of those responding said YES. Not for the first time, the SPT were quick to grab that news as backing of their proposal and, despite the generality of the question, Cllr Alistair Watson claimed it was a “ringing endorsement of our plans”. The Councillor also used that trick in 2004 when the public was asked if they supported “a” Glasgow Airport Rail Link. Then the positive response was translated to support for the specific SPT plans – despite massive local opposition. 

See the full report on http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.1265057.0.0.php

March 13, 2007

Following (or perhaps prompted by?) the submission of the thgRAIL plan for the Glasgow    Subway, the SPT announced their plans on 13/3/07. This was the result of their 20 month long consultation with engineers WS Atkins and featured a major press announcement in the Evening Times newspaper which also conducted a reader’s poll on the subject. Despite the Subway expansion not being detailed in the SPT’s Regional Transport Strategy and despite any plans for Subway improvements being shown to take place beyond 2017, SPT Chairman Alistair Watson said it was "challenging but achievable" to have the extension built by the 2014 Games.

February 11, 2007

In response to the SPT's public consultation on the future of transport in the West of Scotland, thgRAIL submitted a detailed plan for the refurbishment and extension of the 111 year old Glasgow Subway system. The plan represents the biggest single response the SPT received as part of their consultation on the Regional Transport Strategy (RTS), the plan which sets transport policy in the West of Scotland for the next 15 years. William Forbes, Director of thgRAIL, said, “I was genuinely disappointed to see that the RTS offered no detailed proposals for the Glasgow Subway and that a general, unspecified, refurbishment option was put back until the end of the plan period, after 2017. The Subway is an integral part of the regional transport network and as such should feature at the heart of any plan to create a transport system suitable for the 21st Century. I would hope that our plan awakens the SPT to look more seriously at the Subway and the potential for it being used as a major component of an integrated transport network”