Buses take up most of the public transport responsibility in Stirling. When traveling in Glasgow, we finally had a “reunion” with the metro.
As the largest city in Scotland and the third largest city in the UK, Glasgow receives visitors from all over the world every day. The Glasgow metro station gives free city maps and subway maps to those who first come to Glasgow and are unfamiliar with the subway line. Tourist attractions near each station are marked on the subway map, which brings a lot of convenience to passengers and enables people to get a preliminary understanding of this ancient and charming city.
The subway map with introduction of tourist attractions near to each station (Cr. Siyu Zhang)
A city map distributed by the subway station (Cr. Xin Shen)
Opened on ‘14th December 1896, Glasgow Subway is the third oldest underground metro system in the world after the London Underground and the Budapest Metro, and the only subway line in Scotland. Glasgow was the Scotland’s largest city in the ‘19th century, where the industry and commerce developed rapidly and population surged which put forward higher requirements for unban transportation system. On this occasion, Glasgow subway came into being. In Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, there is no subway lines because city buses, trams and other land vehicles meet daily transport demands.
Compared with the Nanjing Metro which is still expanding, the Glasgow subway has not experienced any obvious changes since it was officially put into use in 1896. The subway line has been maintained more than 120 years.
The route is a loop almost 6.5 miles (10.5 km) long and extends both north and south of the River Clyde. The system describes itself as two lines, the Outer Circle and Inner Circle, but this simply refers to the double track, having trains running clockwise and anticlockwise respectively around the same route although in separate tunnels. Stations use a variety of platform layouts including single island platforms, opposing side platforms and in some stations such as Hillhead one side and one island platform.
The color of Glasgow’s subway train is a matching of orange, white and black. Metro train’s cross section is shaped like a hexagon. The height of the carriage is lower than that of the domestic carriage. Some tall passengers have to bend over when entering the carriage. There is an orange-black “S” sign at the front of the subway train representing the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), a transport company in Scotland which is the largest of Scotland’s seven regional transport partnerships operating bus services as well as subway services.
In September of this year, the company unveiled a new subway model for the first time. The length and size of the new model are the same as those of the existing model, but it consists of four sets of cars, where the new design of the gangway maximize the space inside the compartment. In addition, the new model still retains the classic “clockwork orange” color scheme, which is highly recognizable.
New model of Glasgow subway (Taken from the Network)
Old model of Glasgow subway (Taken from the Network)
In the fall of 2013, SPT launched a smart ticketing solution — a reusable plastic metro smart card to replace paper magnetic strip tickets. This new system is more flexible and offers customers the benefits of a contactless, paperless system including pay-as-you-go travel. Gordon Maclennan, SPT Chief Executive said, “Smartcards will mean an end to paper tickets and easier, quicker journeys with fewer queues at ticket offices. I would encourage anyone who uses the Subway to apply now for their own card. It is reusable and is the most secure way to travel as it’s unique to the individual.”
Self-service ticket vending machines in the subway station (Cr. Zepeng Gou)
The Glasgow subway runs at a speed of about 25km/h, which is nearly 50% slower than the subway in Nanjing. Because the stations and trains are relatively old and the platform is narrow, there is no facilities like automatic security doors.
The platform of the Buchanan Street Station (Cr. Zepeng Gou)
Automatic security doors settled in the Nanjing subway station (Cr. Zepeng Gou)
What surprised us the most is that there is no security check at the Glasgow subway station, which means anyone can check in directly after buying a ticket. We neither got the answer from the staff for this phenomenon, nor find relevant evidence on the Internet. We can only guess that the Glasgow subway was built too early and did not took the security check into account.
After the subway terrorist attack in London on September 15th 2017, an UK reporter of People’s Network interviewed with Rafael Pantucci, Director of International Security Research at the Royal United Services Research Institute of the Think Tank. He said that some London underground stations are old and small. If security measures are set up, the crowd waiting fro security check may become the target of the attack, “the terrorist attack should not be overreacted and needs to be handled with caution.”
Although there are no security facilities, we can see conspicuous restrictions signs on the side of the subway entrance gate:
(Cr. Zepeng Gou)
The Nanjing Metro strictly prohibits eating and drinking in the train, but we did not see similar restriction here. Caroline, a passenger we met in the station, explained to us that everyone can eat on the subway, as long as the taste is not obvious. People even drink on the subway after watching the match. However, Christopher, a staff works at the subway station, explained that diet is allowed on the subway while drinking is not. During the subsequent ride, we found that passengers did see the subway diet as a very common thing. Smoking on the subway is also prohibited. Real-time monitoring on the subway is used to protect passengers’ safety. In the meanwhile, a staff wearing fluorescent vests walked to check the condition of the rails as we waiting for the subway.
A passenger named Caroline introduced the situation of Glasgow subway for us. (Cr. Xinyu Zhang)
The Glasgow subway peak period is 8:00-9:00 in the morning, and 5:30-6:30 in the afternoon, when people go to work and school. The staff who conducted safety inspections in the subway station said that passengers at the peak time are “lots and lots”. “There would be no enough seats in peak period, but not crowded. It’s much better than the London Underground.” Caroline said while making a suffocating expression because of crowding.
People in the carriage at the late peak period (Cr. Xinyu Zhang)
Even when there are a lot of people, they are not in a hurry to get on and off or worried about being caught by the door, because the driver will head out the window to make sure all the passengers are safely boarded before closing the door.
The driver heads out to make sure all passengers board safely. (Cr. Zepeng Gou)
There are enough seats during off-peak hours. Even so, passengers don not put their bags on the seat next to them, either holding them in their arms or placing them under their own feet. The signal on the subway is very poor, few people play mobile phones. They are either sitting in a daze or reading books or newspaper.
An old man read newspaper in the carriage. (Cr. Zepeng Gou)
At the subway entrance sets the highest circulation free newspaper in the UK-Metro. Passengers can take a copy before boarding the car, leave it on the seat before getting off. So the next person sitting in this seat can continue to read it to spend time. The first time I took Glasgow subway, I found a neatly stacked newspaper in my seat the first time I took Glasgow subway. It was like receiving a gift from a stranger. Sitting in the carriage can only hear the sound of the wind when the subway is running, people tacitly maintain the quiet atmosphere of the enclosed space together.
A container for the newspaper at the subway entrance(up) and the newspaper in the seat(bottom) (Cr. Zepeng Gou)
The fast-moving underground subway shortens the physical distance between the locations. Taking subway is an unique method to experience this city. We took half an hour to circle the city by subway. With the dim light and the shirring wind in the carriage, we could not help imaging if we crossed back to the year of 1896 in this moving subway.
