Clyde Metro – my vision for Renfrewshire

It takes a thought process and looking at maps and plans to think through what exactly I’d look to do.

Plan by Chic Gibson

That’s my line drawing version of what I think an eventual Clyde Metro should look like in Renfrewshire.

A mainline tram system going from Govan Subway via the QEUH hospital to Braehead, Renfrew Riverside and Renfrew Bridge to Amids and Glasgow Airport.

A connective chord from Glasgow Airport to Shortroods and both Paisley Gilmour Street and Canal Street

A tram based link using land around Paisley Canal station to Kilmacolm via Bridge of Weir, Linwood and Elderslie and a spur from Elderslie to Johnstone West and Kilbarchan.

These are in Green.

I would envisage a limited full system service from Govan to Kilbarchan/Kilmacolm.

My thoughts are that Govan, Braehead, Glasgow Airport, Paisley Gilmour Street/County Square and Paisley Canal Station are the principal starting points for journeys.

There may be Braehead to Paisley Canal services, Paisley Gilmour Street via Glasgow Airport to Govan services and Kilmacolm to Paisley Canal/Gilmour Street to connect with Scotrail services.

The services on the system can build to give half hour or quarter hour or more frequent services with the busiest points being the connection from Paisley to airport and vice versa with extended services to Braehead and Govan.

There are interchanges with Scotrail and the Glasgow Subway from the initial system and brings public transport penetration back to Bridge of Weir, Kilmacolm and Kilbarchan.

Tram Route at simplest.

Additions and Extensions

In yellow, possible additions and extensions.

An extension to Festival Park/Glasgow Science Museum and Finneston over the Squinty Bridge and into Glasgow.

An extension from Renfrew Bridge to Yoker Railway Station adding connectivity to the North Clyde Line Railway.

A westward extension to Inchinnan, Erskine and perhaps onto Bishopton Railway Station.

A link to the RAH hospital and further south in Paisley and toward Barrhead.

A West Paisley route from Paisley Gilmour Street to St Mirren Park, through Ferguslie Park to the Phoenix commercial area and onto Linwood.

A road based tramway following Glasgow Road Paisley linking Town Centre, Abbey, Whitehaugh, Ralston to Crookston and along Paisley Rd West.

A link from Braehead through Hillington Park, Hillington Industrial Estate and Penilee to Ralston and Paisley Road West.

A route from Paisley Gilmour Street to Renfrew Cross via Renfrew Road and Paisley Road with provisional stops near Gallowhill and Moorpark, Renfrew.

Research

I started by looking at Renfrewshire in terms of railways, roads and rivers

A very basic tracing of a map and outlining existing roads and railways.

A further drawing colouring roads, railways, closed railways and rivers.

Red for roads, blue for Scotrail, green for potential tramway.

A line drawing adding potential new Clyde Metro stops or potential routes.

My attempt to refine as a line diagram.

My final drawing needed annotated.

For clarity it doesn’t exactly follow Renfrewshire’s geography and a kink/bend needed to make the airport to Paisley section work.

In conclusion.

I don’t suppose to be influencing those at work on Clyde Metro. I’m floating what makes sense to me.

Previously in my blog, I have covered developments on the Glasgow Airport access project and Clyde Metro.

I agree with initial conclusions that a riverside line is needed to the Airport via Govan, QUEH Hospital and Braehead. It also needs to link to both Gilmour Street and Canal Street Railway Stations.

The fastway bus infrastructure in Govan would lend to a tram system and has the link to the subway and Partick for the Scotrail lines there.

Festival Park and the Glasgow Science Centre would be an obvious extension to a tramway as would the fast link infrastructure into Glasgow.

Thought is needed as to length of journey by tram from Glasgow City Centre to Airport.

A solution might be limited stop services between city and airport and perhaps also having bypass track at certain stops to facilitate express as well as all stopping services.

I see a wider question in Clyde Metro scheme as to whether a heavy rail solution to the Airport from the Argyle line and via Exhibition Centre to Glasgow Airport is an answer too.

Although, I see that as a bigger transport intervention and it would need tunnelling under River Clyde and under Govan to facilitate a metro line. Possibly with more tunnels at the Airport to achieve a satisfactory terminal for Metro or heavy rail electrified trains.

For now, I’ve stuck to assumption of a mainly Renfrewshire system with the obvious connection onto the subway at Govan.

It’s lighter solution and hopefully would be less costly.

As intermediate stops, Linthouse west of Govan, Braehead at the Retail Park and Braehead at the Leisure Centre end, along with Renfrew Riverside and the AMIDS development area all make sense.

I think the Renfrew Bridge as a tram stop makes sense as it is walkable to Yoker on the north side of the River Clyde.

I have seen proposals to route trams over the current swing bridge but, it has a variable pattern of closures to allow river traffic and for a permanent link.

The chord from Glasgow Airport to Paisley Gilmour Street is what the city deal should have developed as a first phase to the Clyde Metro programme.

We are now at about 17 years since cancellation of GARL and the wrong turns, lack of Transport Scotland involvement with City deal and other factors have dragged any progress.

Personally I think there are pros and cons to looking at connecting Glasgow Airport as part of a wider scheme and as years go on and there’s more consultant reports and evaluations of what is maybe already known. That’s that Glasgow Airport needs a fixed public transport link. We’ve had heavy rail ruled out and tram trains ruled out, so presumably tram is the answer.

If linking to Gilmour Street Lines then also linking to the Canal Line through Paisley makes sense in offering another connection to Glasgow by train.

Canal Street may offer opportunities under Clyde Metro but I’m aware of the areas built upon near the station and I think that heavy rail to where it currently stops with a use of nearby roads and car parking to facilitate a tram interchange and then to look at using part of the road width of Canal Street for a section of track before rejoining the former railway solum.

From there, Paisley West and then to Elderslie figuring out how to go under or over the railway in the most suitable way. It would make a good interchange point with the Ayrshire lines.

The walking and cycling paths from there lead to Linwood and Johnstone and Kilmacolm.

One is the former Kilmacolm line and I’d suggest that Linwood would be a point to find a station site and then use the old Houston Station site before Bridge of Weir and Kilmacolm on the old trackbed.

Another opportunity is the line that used to run Johnstone, Kilbarchan, Lochwinnoch and Kilbirnie. It might be a stretch to go as rural as from Kilbarchan to Kilbirnie but perhaps opportunity is there in future.

Having a terminus at Kilbarchan or connecting to Milliken Park Railway Station adds connectivity and means that the tramway in place of Canal line extension has two terminal points and can allow at least a half hourly service to both places and makes a through Paisley tram system a possibility with opportunity to run from Braehead or Paisley to either Kilbarchan or Kilmalcolm with connections to the Scotrail services from Glasgow at Canal or Gilmour Street.

And Finally..

Costs and practicality.

After Edinburgh Trams I think a limited scheme from Govan to Glasgow Airport and from Paisley Canal to Kilbarchan/Kilmacolm would work and the additional chord into Paisley links to Scotrail and knits a network that would have purpose and destinations.

Further links with on road tramway inroads where the previous Glasgow Corporation Tramway system ran are maybe possible too, but I’ve drawn possibilities in the yellow parts of the plan that would add destination and purpose to the system.

Inchinnan and Erskine from Renfrew makes sense as a later development. Perhaps even linking Erskine to Bishopton Railway Station too.

I looked at the practicality of diverting the North Clyde lines from Bowling to Erskine and unfortunately I don’t think that’s a practical or good value option.

Erskine by its distance from Renfrew and Paisley is a tough proposition for public transport. The Inverclyde Line doesn’t come close enough, there’s no previous trackbeds in the area either.

Best solution is Inchinnan and onto Erskine but question of journey time and suitability of mode of tram versus bus is another question.

I do have to also refer to Bus as I think many of the lines drawn also reflect services to and from Braehead.

The 77 first service from Braehead to Glasgow AirPort is relatively new but offers so many destination opportunities despite being a long route and a slow way into Glasgow.

McGills Clyde Flyers and Express services go to Braehead, Linwood, Bridge of Weir and Kilmacolm.

Abstraction and the forthcoming proposals in 2027 from SPT for bus franchising must be looked at.

If Clyde Metro overlays existing bus routes by train, metro or tram there will be grievances over process and choices made.

However Glasgow has already lost one potential tram system to bus interests in 1994 with Strathclyde Tram and even if Clyde Metro drags on to deal with similar issues, I think it’s worth addressing and that thought is with SPT and those reporting on Clyde Metro.

Strathclyde Tram.

The opportunity is there and I believe for Renfrewshire that much could be done.

SPT and Clyde Metro show plans of nodes, key points and opportunity in their documents but I do think a system through Paisley and Airport to Braehead and Govan would work and make sense.

SPT.

SPT.

SPT.

SPT.

I’ll see in time if SPT and City Deal Group plans for Clyde Metro match mine about Renfrewshire, but there’s at least 2 years to go and a load of reports to come

SPT

Early to mid 2027 according to them and after that political decisions on spending and scope.

Fin/.

Glasgow Airport Tram Train – update February 2016.

I had meant to write an updated post sooner following the decision of the Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal Cabinet to look at Tram-Train to link Glasgow Airport to the City. I got fairly frustrated reading coverage of the proposal.

 Both articles came up pretty soon after the City Deal proposals for the tram-train link were reported.

It follows the logic that the previous GARL scheme was the best option.

The Rail Qwest criticisms are because they had a modified scheme called NewGARL, however, unfortunately, details of this countering scheme are difficult to find online. They have been previously given prominence in magazines such as Rail.

RailQwest are linked to Railfuture, at times described as a campaigner group for the West of Scotland, so this article in Railfuture’s December Railwatch magazine isn’t a particular surprise.

The language used is quite strong in its criticism.

But back to the Herald’s article with the expert. 

Yes, Mr Wolmar is their current chairman.

So, alternative proposal, Railfuture, RailQwest all link up to each other. And the narrative sold is the same. A heavy rail link is necessary.

If there is to be a public debate on the issue through quotes to newspapers and interest magazines, then shouldn’t it be a fair discussion?

  
Two visuals from the GARL proposal. One shows the viaduct over the St James playing fields, the other the proposed span over the M8 and A737.

In retrospect it was a huge scheme that planned to come in at second floor level near the airport car park block. It demolished a nearby nursery, the airport fuel farm and brought only a few additional services through Paisley Gilmour Street.

The utility of a heavy rail link without the Glasgow Crossrail scheme has been frequently mentioned in the past and is a topic in the Current Issue of Rail Magazine.

I think it’s a separate issue to how the airport can be linked to Paisley and Glasgow. Certainly there may be advantages to Ayr and Inverclyde trains linking to points east but we need further electrification schemes in the east of Scotland for through services.

But, disadvantages of Tram/Train to heavy rail?

These are the vehicles being introduced for the Sheffield/Rotherham Tram Train Trial. Class 399 built by Vossloh Espana, capable of 68mph/100kph, suitably crashworthy front sections for operation on the mainline. 96 seats, capable of 140 passengers.

Vehicles of that type won’t be unfamiliar to tourist and business travellers coming from Europe.

The Shields junction to Arkleston junctions section of track has triple track sections rated at 75mph speeds according to Networ Rail Route documents.

75mph is also the maximum speed of the currently used class 314 EMU’s used on some services to inverclyde.

The 314’s can share track and be overtaken by the modern class 380 units that are also currently in use, so it’s not a great issue to envisage tram trains sharing that route section.

The plan above shows proposed route, in simplified form.

A detailed route may look closer to this and that’s where the tram trains ability to handle a smaller curve radius wins out.

No need to cross the playing fields with a huge viaduct or use a bridge over the eight lanes of the M8 and A737 as those previous proposal diagrams showed.

Locally, it wins, it’s doesn’t cut a swath through the north of Paisley, it’s a modern and attractive solution. Capacity doesn’t need to be excessive given the variables of flight arrivals during the day and at busier times a double set could be used.

If park and ride at St James station and St James motorway junction can be suitably incorporated into the scheme, then there’s also a chance to abstract commuter traffic from a busy section of the M8.

Looking at the Airport area, Renfrewshire Council have proposals for improving the road to the east boundary and creating a new link over the White Cart to Renfrew.

It’s not a huge leap of imagination to think that the tram train link could link with other local proposals and in time link to Renfrew town centre and the Intu Braehead scheme.

It’s also not a huge leap of imagination to see that a tram/train could be routed off the main line in Glasgow and help to solve future issues around city centre terminus capacity at Glasgow Central.

So let’s have a fair discussion and let’s think if a tram/train solution brings more to the table for the airport, Paisley, Renfrewshire and the West of Scotland.

(Apologies for formatting underneath)

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