Proposals to build a tram-link to Glasgow Airport are being put forward as one of two options in the £1.13bn Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal.

The route would link the airport, Glasgow City Centre and Paisley.

Tram-train carriages would operate on the heavy rail network between Glasgow Central Station and Paisley Gilmour Street before moving on to new tram rails running between Paisley and the front of the airport terminal building.

The estimated cost of a tram-train link is £144.3m, including construction, rolling stock, inflation, contingency and land purchase.

Development could begin in 2021 and be operational by 2025.

Another scheme being considered is a light rail personal rapid transit system, where passengers would travel by standard train to Paisley before disembarking and changing onto a new light-rail system to complete their journey to the airport.


This would cost £102m and involve a mix of the existing heavy rail network. In addition, a new light railway connecting from heavy rail at Paisley to the airport would be built, utilising a bespoke system similar to that used at other airports.

The tram-train and personal rapid transit schemes are contained in a strategic business case which has been developed jointly by Renfrewshire Council and Glasgow City Council.

If approved by councillors in both authorities and the Glasgow and Clyde Valley Cabinet, further work would be done to develop more detail on both of these options before a final, preferred choice is made in 2016.

Renfrewshire Council Leader Mark Macmillan said: "This new connection will contribute a great deal to the success of the City Region; supporting the airport's continuing success and generating jobs throughout the area.

"City Deal has also committed £51million to the Glasgow Airport Investment Area where further infrastructure developments will create a business location offering unparalleled air, sea and land connectivity."

Glasgow City Council Leader, Frank McAveety, added: "We've long argued that a new rail link between the airport and the city centre is essential for the thousands of tourists and business travellers who fly into and out of Glasgow every day.

"The airport already supports thousands of jobs but this new rail link, which is the single biggest element of our City Deal, will be the catalyst that takes us to a new level, vastly improving the customer experience and generating even more jobs and inward investment."

(LM/MH)