Yesterday morning (December 11), commuters in Glasgow were unexpectedly greeted by two shiny, brand-spanking-new subway trains.
The vehicles are the first new trains on the city’s underground system in 43 years, so it was well due an upgrade. The first two trains were launched by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and will run along existing services on the underground across 15 stations.
They are the same length as the old trains but have four cars instead of three. They’re also air-conditioned, wheelchair accessible and feature a ‘walk-through design’ (in other words, you can see right from one end to the other).
A further 17 more modern locomotives will gradually replace the older fleet next year as part of a £288 million revamp programme. Eventually, they’ll be able to operate without a driver or any staff on board.
Mark Toney, project director at SPT, said: ‘Our old fleet has performed beyond its expected lifespan and it has become more and more challenging to maintain them and find parts for them.
‘This new fleet will take time to grow towards its full capability and reliability levels but now that the first two trains have been introduced, passengers will have the opportunity to see them intermittently and experience for themselves as they run alongside our existing fleet over the coming months.’
Here’s a closer look at the sparkling new trains:
Pretty swish, eh? And Glasgow isn’t the only UK city to get some dazzling new public transport. At Time Out we’ve reported on how Manchester just launched its glitzy Bee Network of buses and Wales unveiled a fleet of tram-trains, while in London the Central Line’s refurbished trains are about to head into service.
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