PASSENGERS using Scotland's only underground system will be able watch their journeys from giant windows at either end of the trains if the companies bidding to design the new Glasgow Subway fleet replicate the designs they have rolled out in other cities.
New rolling stock is about to be ordered as part of the network's biggest upgrade in 35 years.
Two shortlisted groups are in the running for the £200 million contract to build the new trains and automated signalling as part of a massive modernisation of the city's Victorian underground system, which is the third oldest in the world.
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, which operates the Subway, is expected to switch to driverless trains, potentially paving the way to replacing the driver's cab with passenger seating and a giant viewing window where commuters can look directly out at the Subway's tunnels.
Both the bidders have supplied driverless trains to other metros in Europe and North America which have this "viewing deck" design feature at either end of the trains.
Italian firm Ansaldo, which built driverless trains for the Copenhagen metro, is understood to have teamed up with Swiss company Stadler Rail and UK engineering giant, Babcock, to bid for the contract.
Its rivals are believed to be CAF, which built Edinburgh's trams, and France's Thales, which helped construct the driverless SkyTrain network in Vancouver.
Viewing windows at either of the train have proven popular with passengers using London's Dockland Light Railway, the only other UK metro system which boasts the design feature.
Simon Johnston, editor of Tramways & Urban Transit magazine, said: "To be able to sit and look out at the front and back makes for a more dramatic journey.
"On the DLR, these seats are the ones which are always occupied first."
The bidders will have to get to grips with the Glasgow Subway's unique measurements, however.
The six-mile circular gauge - the distance between the rails - is 20cm narrower than standard. This was set by the rail firms which built the underground in the 1800s to prevent rivals running their trains on it.
As well as the new fleet, the contract will see the construction of safety screens along the platform edges which will only open once the train has stopped.
The £300m modernisation programme, which began in 2011, includes upgrades of all 15 stations, the installation of new escalators, and major improvements of the systems tunnel lining to improve safety and reduce water seepage.
SPT said it was too early to comment on the design specifications for the new Subway fleet.
A spokeswoman said: "We are progressing with two bidders through the final stages of the procurement of new bespoke trains, automated signalling, control room and associated system improvements, such as platform screen doors.
"We will provide a recommendation on the award of the contract - and commencement of delivery - to our partnership board later this year."
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