Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), who have run Glasgow Subway since 2006 and is the largest of Scotland’s seven regional transport partnerships, confirmed passenger journeys are taking longer with the new trains.
SPT have said the reasoning behind why the new trains, which are a part of its £288 million modernisation programme, are running longer than their older counterparts is because of the signalling system.
They do, however, expect to reduce journey times once the system has been fully updated.
A spokesperson told our sister title The National: “Journey times for the new trains to complete a circle in the network do take slightly longer than the legacy trains.
“This is, in part, due to the new trains running on the legacy signalling system.
“Once we have completed the installation of the new signalling and communications system in the next stage of modernisation, we expect this time to reduce.”
Yesterday, June 12, The National told how the travel group plan to introduce new ticket prices from June 24 after reducing the number of travel zones in the network from 12 to seven.
One commuter who uses a SPT ZoneCard said their transport bill is set to increase by a staggering £152.60 every month because of the changes.
The transport body has also “not kept a formal note of suspensions or reasons for them” until this year.
According to the data obtained, there have been 48 suspensions from this year to date with the reasons given as a result of train breakdowns, signalling and power failures, and other operational issues.
There were also a number of passenger incidents which have required assistance from the emergency services which have caused suspensions.
When asked about the specific numbers on delays, cancellations and suspensions for this year and in comparison, to previous years a spokesperson said: “Until this year, we have not kept a formal note of suspensions or reasons for them.”
SPT have been rolling out a new fleet of subway trains in a bid to modernise the 128-year-old subway system.
A fleet of 17 modern electric trains will replace the 12 existing ones, which have been on the route for more than 40 years and have been phased in over the last several months.
There have been teething issues with the integration of the new trains.
The temporary update to signage which changed from showing the train frequency as opposed to the next train information was introduced while SPT made updates to timetable information in the system.
Signage has since returned to say, “next train due”, but the limited information shown on the internal train screens is still an ongoing issue.
However, SPT have confirmed they plan on updating the internal train screens as they “move through the next stages of modernisation”.
Plans include visual and audio information which will tell passengers which train side to alight, automated announcements for the next station, and other relevant passenger information.
From the introduction of the new trains in December 2023, SPT have had 11 formal complaints from passengers specifically mentioning them.
