RAIL travellers will be able to keep track of days, hours and minutes left until the start of the Commonwealth Games after a giant countdown clock was switched on at Glasgow Central station.
However, there was a glitch when the official timekeepers initially wrongly showed there were 128 days to the opening ceremony at its launch yesterday.
Organisers and Scotland's swimming medal prospect Michael Jamieson switched it back on a second time to produce the correct 135 days until the July 23 launch at Celtic Park.
It failed to dampen the enthusiasm of a number of schoolchildren who helped count down the clock switch-on after swimmer Jamieson earlier visited Hillhead Primary School to promote Sport Your Trainers Day.
Glasgow 2014 chairman Lord Smith of Kelvin feels the Games are already inspiring children to embrace sport.
Lord Smith said: "There are youngsters coming on to, for example, the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, and the Emirates Arena, using the very tracks that their great heroes are going to be running on and cycling on in a few months' time.
"It's a kind of legacy now. We have got youngsters involved in sport now, not just after the games. There is no question they are engaging.
"People in Glasgow are very excited. I spent Friday and Saturday at the orientation event for 15,000 volunteers and the excitement generated there was just fantastic. Golly, they are going to make these games something special.
"We actually had 50,000 people apply to be volunteers. That's the same as Manchester and Melbourne put together. We only needed 15,000. Golly, the excitement was tangible. These people are absolutely up for these games.
"This is pretty tangible stuff, you can now see the seconds and minutes clocking up towards the opening of the games.
"It's tremendously exciting."
Michael Jamieson added: "It's a huge boost to be involved in events like this and it's part of my job as an ambassador to promote the Commonwealth Games. It just brings home to me how fast the clock is ticking to July."
The event coincided with Commonwealth Day, with the Queen's Baton Relay in Grenada.
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