The Glasgow Subway system suffered disruption on one in every five days in 2022, a Herald investigation can reveal, leading to claims that it is inadequate and antiquated.
The underground light metro system, the third oldest in the world, suffered a total of 75 days of disruption last year, which equates to around 20 per cent of the days it operated.
The disruption ranged from full or partial closures of the Inner and Outer circles to closures of one or a number of the network’s 15 stations.
Factors involved in the disruption to Glasgow Subway services last year included broken down trains, signal faults, power failures, local power outages, weather conditions (ice freezing the depot yard), police incidents, ‘operational issues’, water ingress, alarm activations and staff diversions ‘to assist football traffic’.
READ MORE: Glasgow Subway services suspended three times in one day due to fault
‘Operational issues’ caused the most disruption to services on the underground network in 2022, resulting in services being unable to operate as normal on a total of 43 days last year due to closures to one or multiple stations.
Broken down trains caused the second highest amount of disruption to the network by forcing the suspension of either one or both the Inner and Outer Circles on a total of 13 days last year.
The entire Subway network was also closed completely on two days in 2022 due to ‘continued Subway modernisation works’.
The revelations come less than two weeks after a major signalling fault caused Glasgow Subway services to be suspended three times in one day.
Subway users took to social media to air their anger and frustration at the disruption, with one person labelling it “an absolute shambles”.
Responding to the Herald’s investigation, Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney said it highlights “just how inadequate” Glasgow’s Subway is and how much people who use the network “are being let down”.
READ MORE: Fresh smartcard calls after Glasgow 'gets integrated transport system' for one day
He said: “These findings from the Herald’s investigation shine a light on just how inadequate Glasgow’s Subway is, how desperately we need to upgrade and modernise its infrastructure, and the extent to which the travelling public in Glasgow are being let down. Anyone who uses the Subway knows that these problems exist and that the so-called modernisation programme has been moving at a glacial pace for well over a decade, so the fact well-paid officials at SPT preside over these failures happening time and time again is unacceptable and utterly intolerable.
“We are the biggest city in Scotland, with the largest population yet we have the most antiquated public transport infrastructure. That needs to change, and what better place to start than with an integrated ticketing system and full integration with the wider Glasgow Metro project to bring us into line with other cities of equivalent size across Europe.”
A spokesperson for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), which runs Glasgow Subway, said: “The Subway carries around 40,000 people daily and is an integral part of the transport network in Glasgow. We are very aware of the impact on our passengers when services are disrupted for any length of time or for whatever reason. These can vary from train breakdowns, signalling and power failures, and other operational issues as well as passenger incidents requiring assistance from colleagues in the emergency services. We’ve also had a number of scheduled shutdowns on Sundays to allow intensive work on the modernisation of the system to continue.
“The current system has been operating for more than 40 years and is unfortunately approaching end of life. We satisfy 95% of our timetabled service, in part due to the work and dedication of our engineering and maintenance staff to keep the whole system running, and despite many challenges including sourcing parts and equipment. New Subway trains will be in service later this year and installation of our new signalling system is also underway.
“We apologise to all our passengers for any disruptions they have experienced which are often only for a short time. This falls short of the service all our staff would wish to provide.”
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