Glasgow District Subway

Introduction

This line is open and is known as the 'Glasgow Underground' or 'Clockwork Orange'. It is an electrified double track underground line serving the city centre, Govan and West End. The circle is entirely underground although the depth varies between 7 feet below the surface between Kinning Park [Subway] and Cessnock [Subway], and 155 feet below Glasgow Street near Hillhead [Subway]. It passes under the River Clyde twice and the tunnels are lined in cast iron or mass concrete. The line's gauge is 4ft carrying trains 7ft 8in wide in tunnels 11ft in diameter. The cast iron tunnel lining segments were made by the British Hydraulic Foundry, Whiteinch.

Architecture

James Miller designed the station and company offices building in St Enoch Square St Enoch [Subway].






Dates

  /  /1890Glasgow District Subway
Line authorised.
  /  /1894Glasgow District Subway
Agreement between the Glasgow District Subway and the Caledonian Railway and Glasgow and South Western Railway companies (owners of the Govan Branch (Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway)) over purchase of land for Broomloan Depot [Subway] by Govan station.
14/12/1896Glasgow District Subway
Cable hauled double track circular line opened. (An accident on opening day leads to immediate closure, with re-opening the following month.)
21/01/1897Glasgow District Subway
Line re-opened.
02/07/1922Glasgow District Subway
Jointly run by Glasgow Corporation Tramways and Glasgow Subway Railway Company.
  /  /1923Glasgow Corporation
Acquires the Glasgow District Subway and Paisley District Tramways.
01/08/1923Glasgow District Subway
Taken over by Glasgow Corporation Tramways.
30/11/1935Glasgow District Subway
Cable haulage ceases.
05/12/1935Glasgow District Subway
Glasgow District Subway electrified with a third rail and re-opened with a new name.
03/03/1954Glasgow District Subway
Livery changes from red and cream to red.
21/05/1977Glasgow District Subway
Closed for renovation.
16/04/1980Glasgow District Subway
The Glasgow District Subway re-opens as the Glasgow Underground following extensive renovation and modernisation.
01/06/1997Glasgow District Subway
Open day at Broomloan Depot to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the line.
  /10/2005Glasgow District Subway
Construction begins of multi-storey car park at Shields Road [Subway] station.
  /  /2006Glasgow District Subway
During an overhaul programme the trains are repainted into a Strathclyde Passenger Transport livery of carmine and cream.
  /08/2011Glasgow District Subway
Hillhead [Subway] station upgraded.
  /09/2012Glasgow District Subway
Hillhead station upgrade officially opened by the Deputy First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon.
  /04/2013Glasgow District Subway
Patrick [Subway] station upgraded.
  /01/2014Glasgow District Subway
Ibrox station upgrade officially opened by the Deputy First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon.
  /05/2019Glasgow District Subway
Driverless trains built by Stadler arrive at Broomloan Depot for testing.

Route described

This is a circular line. It is entirely underground except the maintenance depot. The circle passes under the Glasgow city centre serving both the north and south sides of the river and continuing west to Govan, Partick and Glasgow's West End.

The engineers were Simpson and Wilson.

There were several contractors:
George Talbot 1,343 yds
David Shanks 495 yds
Charles Brand and Son 2,119 yds (including Govan [Subway] to Merkland Street [Subway])
John Patterson and Sons 1,227 yds
Hugh Kennedy and Sons 2,559 yds
Watt & Wilson 1,322 yds
James Smith & Co 817 yds
Robert McAlpine and Sons 1,645 yds (much of which was through rock)

This was the first pairing of Simpson and Wilson and Robert McAlpine and Sons who would go on to build the Mallaig Extension (West Highland Railway).


Locations along the line

These locations are along the line.

This is a station on the former Glasgow District Subway, now the Glasgow Subway operated by Strathclyde Passenger Transport.
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Looking down the escalators at one of the two entrances to St. Enoch station, Glasgow Subway, that replaced the original one of 1896 which still ...
David Bosher 17/09/2022
118 at St Enoch with an Inner Circle service on 5 January 2023.
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Bill Roberton 05/01/2023
John Cameron at the unveiling of the latest Transport Heritage Red Wheel, on the east side of the James Miller building, now a Caffe Nero, at St ...
John Yellowlees 18/03/2022
Original entrance to St. Enoch station, Glasgow Subway, on 18th May 2016. A distinctive Victorian red sandstone building in Flemish Renaissance style, ...
David Bosher 18/05/2016
4 of 17 images. more


Bridge Street Subway is in fact on Eglinton Street, as it says on the bus shelter. True, there was already an Eglinton Street (surface) station, but ...
David Panton 14/07/2021
Bridge Street subway station in December 2021. Somebody must love it ...
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Bill Roberton 27/12/2021
An Outer Circle service calls at Bridge Street on 11 January 2020. The rear car was repainted in 1896 livery to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the ...
David Panton 11/01/2020
Bridge Street station. Not as magnificent as its now closed overground namesake once was. ...
Ewan Crawford //1988
4 of 6 images. more


A moment on an (almost) empty Subway car halted at the quietest station, West Street. These cars were due to be replaced during 2020, but apparently ...
David Panton 11/01/2020
An outer circle service pauses at West Street in 1988. ...
Ewan Crawford 04/11/1988
A fairly typical scene at West Street on 17 September, least used of the Glasgow Subway stations. ...
David Panton 17/09/2008
West Street Subway 2006. See image 27637 ...
John Furnevel /08/2006
4 of 5 images. more


109 departs Shields Road with an outer circle service on 5 January 2023.
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Bill Roberton 05/01/2023
An Inner Circle service calls at Shields Road on 5 January 2023.
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Bill Roberton 05/01/2023
Passing services at Shields Road subway station on 5th January 2023.
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Bill Roberton 05/01/2023
Shields Road subway station on 5 January 2023.
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Bill Roberton 05/01/2023
4 of 9 images. more


View of Kinning Park Subway station looking south west in May 2007. Photographed on a Sunday morning through part of the footbridge which spans the M8 ...
John Furnevel 13/05/2007
The doors are opening on an Outer Circle service at Kinning Park on the quiet morning of Tuesday 4 January 2011, a public holiday in Scotland.  All ...
David Panton 04/01/2011
Kinning Park Subway on 13 May 2007, with the M8 running past in the background. ...
John Furnevel 13/05/2007
3 of 3 images.


It’s Saturday 11 January 2020 and at Cessnock Subway station there are more trains than passengers - if you ignore me (and people usually do). ...
David Panton 11/01/2020
A little license is granted in the corporate image of the Glasgow Subway when it comes to the colour schemes of the smaller stations. Here at Cessnock ...
David Panton 11/01/2020
A slight nod to Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style is evident in this
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David Panton 16/10/2010
A look along the full length of the platform at Cessnock station on 16 October. The Glasgow Subway is just like a real underground system only much ...
David Panton 16/10/2010
4 of 9 images. more


Ibrox Subway station looks nice and quiet on Saturday 11th January 2020 but trains had just departed in both directions. I'm on the Outer Circle ...
David Panton 11/01/2020
Entrance to Ibrox Subway station on Copland Road on 13 May 2007 with Woodville Street on the right. ...
John Furnevel 13/05/2007
As can be imagined Ibrox Subway station can get rather busy at certain times, though all is quiet here on the morning of Saturday 16 October. It is ...
David Panton 16/10/2010
3 of 3 images.


A Glasgow Subway carriage being prepared for lowering on to the running lines at Broomloan Depot in 1975.
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Bill Roberton //1975
Subway car 41, restored to original livery, at Broomloan depot in 1975.
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Bill Roberton //1975
Battery powered 4-wheel shunter in Broomloan Depot in 1975. Built by British Electric Vehicles of Liverpool in 1927 and supplied to Glasgow ...
Bill Roberton //1975
Glasgow Subway's Broomloan Depot in 1975, on the occasion of a visit by the Strathspey Railway Association.
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Bill Roberton //1975
4 of 18 images. more


Unit 112 enters Govan with an outer circle Subway service on 17 November 2022.
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Bill Roberton 17/11/2022
Subway Unit 132, in 'Powered by renewables' livery, leaves Govan with an outer
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Bill Roberton 17/11/2022
There are no driverless trains on the Glasgow Subway yet (coming 2021?) but this train is very temporarily without a driver. An Outer Circle service ...
David Panton 11/01/2020
Changing drivers at Govan will soon become a thing of the past - because there won't be any drivers. New trains are currently under lengthy test and ...
David Panton 19/10/2019
4 of 11 images. more


This was an underground station. The east end is directly below the embankment of Partick station which is above at street level.
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This is an underground station. It is below, and a little to the east of, Partick station which is above at street level.
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The larger Subway stations make the trains look particularly small; visiting Londoners must have difficulty keeping a straight face (though of course ...
David Panton 11/01/2020
A look along the Outer Circle platform at Partick Subway on 4 January. It's a pity I can't convey the smell, neither pleasant not unpleasant, which ...
David Panton 04/01/2011
A study in beige: looking across the tracks at Partick subway station on 4 January.  The decor is stuck in the late 1970s when the Subway was ...
David Panton 04/01/2011
Partick UndergrounD station, one of the bigger stations which replaced Merkland Street station. ...
Ewan Crawford //1988
4 of 4 images.


This is an underground station with access on the north side of Dumbarton Road, just west of the intersection with the south end of Byres Road at Partick Cross. The Kelvin Hall is about a quarter of a mile to the east along Dumbarton Road and the Kelvingrove Art Galleries and Kelvingrove Park are just beyond. The University of Glasgow is to the north east, probably better served by ...

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Old and new rolling stock at Kelvinhall subway station. ...
SPT //2022
Kelvinhall station. ...
Ewan Crawford //1988
train at Kelvinhall station. ...
Ewan Crawford //1988
Dilemma! Entrance to Kelvinhall station on the Glasgow Subway (errr... on the right). ...
Colin Miller /04/2014
4 of 6 images. more


This is an underground station with an entrance and ticket office on the east side of Byres Road, about a third of the way from Great Western Road south to Dumbarton Road. The station is close to the well known Ashton Lane. The station is just west of the University of Glasgow.
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An Inner Circle service draws away from Hillhead on 4 November 2023.
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Bill Roberton 05/11/2023
Unit 119 calls at Hillhead with an outer circle service. New Stadler trains will be introduced later in the year. ...
Bill Roberton 25/02/2023
A 2nd generation Glasgow Subway unit calls at Hillhead, with an outer circle service, on 2 September 2022.
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Bill Roberton 02/09/2022
The orange station signs show that this is an Outer Circle train. There's a big march in a very wet Glasgow so the Subway is unusually busy; it's ...
David Panton 11/01/2020
4 of 10 images. more


This underground station has access by long escalator from Great Western Road, from the east end of the bridge over the River Kelvin. At ground level there is a ticket office by the station car park, built on the site of the goods yard of the former Kelvin Bridge station.
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Kelvinbridge looking west. ...
Ewan Crawford //1988
Outer circle train at Kelvinbridge. ...
Ewan Crawford //1988
Looking along the platform at Kelvinbridge Subway on 1 September as
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David Panton 01/09/2010
Rear of Kelvinbridge Subway on Great Western Road in July 2005. This car park was once part of the goods yard associated with the GCRs Kelvin Bridge ...
John Furnevel 10/07/2005
4 of 5 images. more


This is an underground station on a portion of the Glasgow Subway which runs under Great Western Road. The original surface buildings in the immediate area here were destroyed in preparation for the routing of the M8, and its approaches.
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St George's Cross Subway station seen on 11 January 2020. It looks like lining panels have been removed for some reason. I know this station had ...
David Panton 11/01/2020
The 'tower' of St Georges Cross Subway station with the shadow of
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David Panton 27/11/2010
It always seems a bit dark in St Georges Cross station. ...
Ewan Crawford //1988
St Georges Cross Subway, 8 April 2007, looking towards Great Western Road. ...
John Furnevel 08/04/2007
4 of 5 images. more


This underground station has access from the north side of Cowcaddens Road. The ticket office is at ground level. The station
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The driver of this Inner Circle service at Cowcaddens is not looking too unhappy given that he is soon to be replaced by an algorithm. Perhaps he is ...
David Panton 11/01/2020
Mint green is the colour at Cowcaddens Subway station, seen on 11 January 2020. ...
David Panton 11/01/2020
Cowcaddens station. ...
Ewan Crawford //1988
Glasgow Subway trains pass at Cowcaddens station on 25th July 2017. ...
David Bosher 25/07/2017
4 of 7 images. more


This underground station adjoins Glasgow Queen Street High Level and Glasgow Queen Street Low Level, both to the east and connected by a travelator to the underground station. The station is located below the north end of the pedestrianised Buchanan Street. The ticket office is below street level with a glass covered stairwell to the south and glass covered escalator to the north for ...

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An Inner Circle train calls at Buchanan Street on Saturday morning, 19 October 2019. Note the unusual platform arrangement, seen at two other Subway ...
David Panton 19/10/2019
The non-facing platform arrangement at Buchanan Street Subway seen on 11/02/2017. Left platform is Inner Circle, right Outer. To keep you right the ...
David Panton 11/01/2017
Security bollards in place around the Buchanan Street Subway entrance on 11 June 2010. ...
Colin Harkins 11/06/2010
The ticket hall of the Glasgow District Subway station at Buchanan Street, the busiest station on the system, photographed on 11 September 2010. ...
David Panton 11/09/2010
4 of 7 images. more