Last Updated 13/04/2006
R.o.B Underground Railways
The Glasgow Subway (Underground)
Glasgow is Scotland's largest city many forgetting that Edinburgh is actually the capital of Scotland and not Glasgow. There is evidence to suggest that people lived in the area of what is now 'Glasgow' in the Stone Age and it is certain that the Romans settled there around 80AD with the area known as Cathures which later became Glas Cu or 'Dear green place'. The city has its heritage founded in trade and religion with St Mungo believed to have performed miracles there in the 7th century and the all important river that was to later become an important location for the famous Clyde ship yards. Trade had started along the river long before the 17th century but it was then that it really took off with imports and exports going to and from the Highlands and Island's and to Ireland to the west coal and fish being some of the more common traffic. Then in 1674 the first cargo of Tobacco arrived raising the city over the following years to become the 'Emporium of the World'.
The 18th century saw sea traffic increase with the introduction of trans-Atlantic trade to and from Canada and America especially with the American tobacco cargos though the American war of independence had a serious affect on the city and its trade. By the end of the century Glasgow had become the world's biggest importer of sugar from the West Indies where many Scots purchased plantations and worked the lands resulting in today's Caribbean Islands having many Scottish Surnames, such as Mc Leod, Reid and Forbes, the imported sugar being used to make rum. Then in 1770 the Clyde was dredged deep enough to allow large ships to make their way right up to the city seeing the development of places such as Port Glasgow near Greenock, this new possibility seeing Glasgow's ship building trade really take off, though these were not the only industries within and around the city, as the Industrial Revolution took hold at the start of the 19th century, Glasgow's new industrialists were expanding their manufacturing bases, in soap-making, distilling, glass-making, sugar and textiles. Textile production used coal in the steam-driven cotton mills and power-loom factories. Other industries included bleaching, dyeing and fabric printing. The population was also growing as people moved there from the Highlands and Islands, not just for work but due to the farming plans of the Lairds of the land that kicked their tenants off the land. By the mid to late 18th century Glasgow was also turning to heavier industries growing in the ship building producing 1/5 of the world's market as well as locomotive construction, and heavy engineering, nearby Motherwell having a huge steel works. It is not surprising then that at that time its streets were swamped with road vehicles congestion rife, just as it was in London at the same period, a proposal was made in 1887 for an underground railway.
The idea was to construct a single tunnel that could hold two running lines each with a gauge of 4 feet and with the stations at equal distances of 700 yards apart with a continuous cable used to draw the single carriage trains through the tunnel and once the winding engine was stopped the carriages would be at every alternate station. Unfortunately due to its revolutionary idea Parliament refused permission for it to be built though this did not deter the promoters putting forward another proposal the following year which would use two continuous tunnels passing twice under the Clyde in a loop north to south side. This was again refused this time on the grounds that the tunnels were not deep enough to allow the future deepening of the river. Then in 1889 the Glasgow Harbor Tunnel company gained permission to build tunnels under Finnieston harbour. In fact this was three tunnels, two vehicular and one pedestrian running under the Clyde from Finnieston to Mavisbank Quay on the southern side of the river. During the Glasgow Fair Holiday on 15th July 1895 the tunnels were formally opened though the traffic was light fro the first week due to the fair but once business started as normal the following week 218 vehicles passed through the tunnels which were open from 05.00 to 19.00hrs every day. To gain access to the tunnels which were deep down the shafts that had been used fro initial construction were converted to allow the installation of 6 lifts, 3 up and 3 down, provided by the Otis Elevator Company of New York. These lifts would not only take passengers up and down but also vehicles and horses rather than having a ramp that would have been far too steep in the area that was purchased for the tunnel. Instead the Lifts and equipment were housed in large brick 'Rotundas'. The use of the lifts allowed carters to carry up to 5 more sacks of Flour, it was reported to the Otis Company, than could be taken on the steep ramps down to the nearby Clyde ferries. The tunnels did not earn enough with the traffic that used them with the ownership being transferred to Glasgow Corporation who also operated the much more popular ferries. There seems to be some disagreement as to what eventually happened to the tunnels in the 20th century some sources saying that the vehicle tunnels were closed while the pedestrian tunnel remained open, others that the pedestrian tunnel closed with the vehicular ones remaining open before the pedestrian one was re-opened. Sadly it is out of the remit of R.o.B to pursue the matter though it would be interesting to find out generally. Anyway the pedestrian tunnel was closed on 4th April 1980 and today is used as access for a water main with the traffic tunnels having been filled-in in 1986. One of the Rotundas has been converted in to a Restaurant while the other is derelict.
With the allowance to build the road tunnels, plans were put forward once again for the underground railway this time the 'Glasgow District Subway Company' and on 4th August 1890 Royal assent was given to build a cable worked subway making it the 3rd underground railway in the world. Work started at St Enoch Square, just outside the terminus building of St Enoch Railway station which was opened by the Glasgow and South Western Railway in the 1870's, in the March of 1891. Though the subway was relatively shallow, the deepest station being Buchanan Street at 40 feet deep the shallowest being Kinning Park at 14 feet deep, there were several problems with construction to do with the hard rock and sand that the tunnels were to be cut through. The system known as cut and cover was widely used which did alleviate some of the problems that boring would have come across but the going was still difficult, the tunnels pre-dominantly following the layout of the streets above. The tunnels, 'the outer circle' being used for clockwise running and the 'Inner circle' for anti clockwise running, were built with minimal gradients the steepest being 1 in 20 and 1in 23 on the approaches to the under river crossing with short 1 in 20 sections on approach to the 15 stations to aid stopping and starting of the train, only 8 of the station s being on the north side of the Clyde. When the boring under the Clyde took place there were several occasions of explosions due to air compression with one explosion in the February of 1894 actually causing a waterspout just off the Custom Quay. About 1/3rd of the tunnels are lined with cast iron plating mostly where the tunnels descend under the river, the remainder lined with brick and concrete. When the subway was complete it formed a 6 1/2 mile loop around the city with the stations at equal distances apart of all of which were of a standard 150 feet length 28 feet wide with an island platform of 10 feet across passengers having to use the stairs to get to and from street level. Some of the stations were built in the tunnel while others were built in a cutting between the retaining walls with those in the tunnels lit by electric lighting while the ones in the cutting were lit by daylight. An example of how some of the line is in cutting is or was demonstrated at Govan where the former depot was sited either side of the subway, see below.
There were 4 sets of cables wound around drums, the cables having a length of 7 miles and a diameter of 1 1/2 inch formed in to continuous loops weighing in at 57 tons for each drum. The cables ran in the 4 foot of the track 2 inches above the track bed doing one full circuit of the system every 39 minutes. The cables could last for as long as two years or 175,000 miles. Only 2 drums were in use at any one time and to operate the winding drums two coal fired stationary steam engines were located at the Scotland Street power station. The engines able to produce 1500-2000hp had 8 boilers between them driving a cylinder 3 feet 6 inches in diameter with a 6 foot stroke which in turn drove a 50 ton fly wheel, 25 feet in diameter, at 55 revolutions per minute creating a cable speed of approximately 13mph. The coal for the power station was delivered via the Glasgow and Paisley joint railway which ran to the rear of the site with sidings connecting the two, while on the roof of the building there was a huge water tank. The power station also housed four 70 kilowatt generators to provide power for the electrical lighting system at the subway stations, the water drainage pumps and the crane at the depot. The cars used a small shoe that contacted with a rail along the side of the wall to provide electric lighting to the saloons. The cars themselves used a clutch and grip mechanism where a shoe under the carriage was applied to the cable, 'gripping' it and when the driver wanted to slow or stop he applied the control that would allow the shoe to 'Un-grip' the cable and was the world's only cable worked Underground railway. Though this principle was basic it was also highly efficient and saw continued use until the subway was electrified in 1935. 60lb flat bottomed rail had been laid for the trains as weights were minimal due to the bogie vehicles not having any heavy mechanical parts to them to a gauge of just 4 feet.
The Board of trade inspection took place in the November of 1896 with the line opening for one day to the public on the 14th December of that year. Upon the official opening on the 21st of January 1897 the trains initially consisted of one single car, 30 having been ordered the first 20 of which were numbered 1-20 and delivered in 1896 provided the initial service with the remainder numbered 21-30 arrived the ext year. A flat fare of 1d was payable for passengers between any stations on the line, this included going round to the station previous to the one they boarded the long way round which many people did! The subway proved reliable and a real asset to the city as it was soon realized that another car needed to be added to each train these new 4 wheeled cars held 50 seats and were added in 1898. With the opening of the subway traffic at street level was greatly reduced even after 1901 when the company introduced staggered fares and ticket inspectors the overall traveling time round the loop taking about 40 minutes. Until 1940 a halfpenny fare was charged on the busiest section of the line between Govan and Partick cross in line with the trams. 1914 saw the name of the subway changed from its original 'Glasgow District Subway Company' to the 'Glasgow Subway Railway Company'. In 1921 the subway faced financial difficulties and a meeting on the 17th of March that year saw the company shareholders authorizing the company Directors to close the railway. Needless to say the Corporation was not overly happy about this and by the February of 1922 the Corporation and subway company had entered negotiations as to the sale of the subway the Corporation paying for the subway to keep operating until the negotiations were complete. On the 13th March the negotiations became decidedly rocky as to the purchase price with the talks collapsing and the subway company closing the system from the 25th March 1922. After two months the talks recommenced possibly due to a public outcry at the inconvenience with a purchase price being agreed between the two parties on the 7th June the system re-opening on the 2nd of July the full legal ownership of the system transferring to the Corporation Tramways department on 1st July 1923. One of the few problems with the subway was that it was not directly connected to Glasgow's Central or Queen street stations of the LMS and LNER though it was close to St Enoch and Buchannan Street LMS stations, which allowed some interchange of passengers. 1927 saw the introduction of an electric battery locomotive for shunting duties in the depot and for maintenance work on the track and was refurbished in 1937. It is believed to also have shunted in the sidings connected to the Glasgow and Paisley joint railway.
In 1932 the Corporation decided that it might be an idea to renovate the subway and introduce electric traction in the form of 3rd rail power collection. At first only one car (No.60) and part of the inner circle between Merkland Street and Copland Street was altered to the new form of traction experiments taking place at night. On the 26th March the city councilors were given a demonstration ride of the new motive power and on the 13th April authorization was given for full conversion. To ensure that trains could still run the change was made to one tunnel at a time with a single line service being operated, the inner circle being converted by the 28th March 1935 and the outer circle being completed by the 5th of December that year the last cable hauled train having run on the 30th of November. While the tunnels were being converted and track re-laid the cars were also altered with the original vehicles re-built on new frames and fitted out with electric 60hp tram type traction motors which were controlled electro-pneumatically and bogies, with the traction current at 570V. The conversion of the rest of the fleet was to see Britain's last railway converted to conventional traction, (bearing in mind that the Great Orme at Llandudno is a tramway). Keeping approximately to their original design the doors on the cars remained gated as if to reassure passengers that though they were re-designed they were the original cable stock though by the 1950's the cars received sliding pneumatically operated doors once again holding the last of British title of gated door stock. As was demonstrated on many other electric railways on Britain the introduction of electric services saw an increase in efficiency and reduction in traveling to 28 minutes for a full circuit, making the subway even more appealing than the trams that were becoming regularly clogged up at street level, it becoming common for passengers to alight at tramstops near the underground, join a train and re board a tram further along the tramway where the subway passed under the route! Sometime around this time a third car was also added to each train. On the 5th of February 1936 the Subway was officially entitled the 'Glasgow Underground' until 2003 when it returned to its original title of 'Glasgow Subway'. Just before we have a look at the depots just a short note on Glasgow's other underground railway that runs from High street to Charring Cross and is known as the North Clyde low level line which is Glasgow's oldest sub-surface railway. During the September of 1940 a direct hit on the street above the underground near Merkland street station, now Partick, saw the cast iron lined tunnel collapse closing the subway until the 27th January 1941, during which time the rubble and debris was dug out of the damaged tunnel and repairs took place. After the war the underground saw a huge jump in passenger traffic even though it was still using the original cars and outliving the demise of the trams.
When 1973 arrived a new owner for the subway was formed in the nature of the Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive due to the reform of local government taking over from Glasgow Corporation transport. With the new owners though technically the same people that formed Glasgow Corporation Transport it was decided that the underground needed drastic modernisation that would see away with the older vehicles, STILL the original refurbished cars and to update the stations with yearly passenger usage at 7 million journeys. The plan was for the system to be totally closed from 1977 to 1980 to allow this though this did occur a little earlier than planned in 1977 due to cracks forming in the tunnels at Govan. Another administrative change took place while the Underground was closed and this was the formation of Strathclyde Regional council which governed much of western Scotland around the Clyde River. This new authority kept the GGPTE style of livery for sometime before repainting of their buses and underground stock took place from the 1980's vehicles painted orange with black lining around the windows. The modernisation plan had been huge for the railway seeing the introduction of new track, signalling and power supply with a new control room. The services were provided by 33 new tube trains built by Metro-Cammel though they were still of only 2 coach formation with the option for a third coach to be added at a later date as the platforms had been suitably lengthened to accommodate this. The addition of the extra cars happened in 1992 when 8 un-powered cars were introduced to the trains allowing extra capacity. The trains are formed so that the un-powered car is sandwiched between the 1980 built power cars, the power cars being independently powered so they can be moved by themselves in the depot. This formation allows room for 112 seated passengers and room for an extra 165 standing passengers each car having a length of 12m which is governed by the curvature of the system.
On 1st November 1979 HRH Queen Elizabeth II inaugurated the Underground in its new form though it was not opened to the public until the 16th April 1980 though it was only open until 1900hrs to allow more time at night for the completion of minor works and track work the full timetable recommencing on the 29th September. Shortly after which it officially became part of Strathclyde PTE. The subway continued giving good service for many years when in 1996 3 park and ride facilities were opened at key locations on the route at Shields Road, Bridge Street and West Street seeing passenger numbers soar even further, Kelvinbridge park and ride having opened on the 27th November 1965. 1996 also saw another re-signalling project take place to bring the system even more up to date the system by that time carrying over 14 million passengers a year twice that of 1977. When in operation the trains are semi-automatic with the drivers allowing the train to accelerate and stop itself with a maximum speed of 54kph though there are permanent speed restrictions that the train automatically observes. Though the early stations were all island platform in nature, the modernisation of the late 1970's saw the introduction of side platforms at six of the busiest stations making it much safer for waiting passengers as previously they would have to wait on the one central platform for trains in either direction. Today's journey on the subway will take about 24 minutes which allows an evening service of 3 trains in either direction to provide an 8 minute service with 6 trains on each loop at peak periods allowing a 4 minute service. Interchange on the subway as with any other means of Public transport is a priority and it has close access to railway stations at Buchanan Street, Partick and St Enoch for National Rail services with bus stops and terminals near to all of the underground stations. Today's passenger numbers have balanced out at between 13 and 14 million passenger journeys a year and the system is still going strong.
The original depot for the trains was sited straddling the track though at surface level at Govan. With there being no connection to the surface, the cars remaining bunched up below the depot in the running tunnels at night between Govan cross and the depot, there was no need for points' work or crossovers. To get the cars up to surface level 20 feet above the subway a huge crane was used to lift the cars up six cars able to be serviced in the depot at any one time. So that cars could be recognised as to what line, outer or inner circle, they ran on the cars were numbered evenly or oddly respectively, with only one side of the car painted in the company's bright red livery. Today's depot is sited to the west of the subway and is connected to it by means of a spur and ramp for trains to get to the surface for overnight storage and maintenance work. At the depot is the works, administrative offices and also the railways control room. In the controller the system controllers can identify where each train is and have direct radio communication with the drivers when it is necessary along with control over the signaling system and the water pumps used to keep the tunnels dry as well as the electrical supply. The maintenance of the subway is done by the railways own maintenance staff unlike many other systems today where work is contracted out. Due to the nature of the system with no clearances in the tunnels during the day track and tunnel work has to be carried out at night with the use of battery powered locomotives to haul the wagons with the replacement materials if required. Spare trains are kept in the depot through the day to allow for routine maintenance and overhaul as well as spare units should it be necessary to withdraw a train from service.