A tram-train link between Glasgow Airport and the city centre will cost more than £90 million to introduce, according to experts.
Consultants reviewing transport options have concluded that the preferred option of running trams jointly on newly-built light rail lines and existing heavy rail infrastructure would be the second most expensive option at an estimated £92.4m.
It compares to an estimated £207.4m to reinstate a heavy rail project, while a third option of running futuristic bubble cars, which could each carry four passengers and sets of luggage, was estimated at £71.7m.
The final report on the issue was jointly commissioned by Glasgow Airport, Transport Scotland, and Glasgow and Renfrewshire councils to find the best way to improve access to the airport, which can currently only be reached by road.
Last month, Transport Minister Keith Brown announced that tram-trains were the preferred option and a feasibility study was under way.
However, consultants Aecom noted that a "potential lack of capacity" on the existing rail network could hamper the airport tram services at peak times, and suggested shuttle buses may need to be used to carry passengers from Paisley Gilmour Street to the airport.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article