Competing light rail options for Glasgow airport will be explored as part of a £67m package of City Deal funding for infrastructure.
The package, approved by the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley City Deal cabinet on Tuesday, includes £39m towards the £250m new Canal and North Gateway road in Sighthill, and £22m towards the Cathkin relief road in South Lanarkshire.
The latest allocation brings to £74m the total funding awarded by the cabinet since its first meeting in August.
The Scottish Government cancelled a heavy rail route to Glasgow airport on cost grounds in 2009. With £1.149m of City Deal funding for the project approved, an outline business case will be developed, based on either a tram-train service or a ‘light rail personal rapid transit system’.
The latter would connect the airport to the main railway network at Paisley, where passengers would interchange.
Studies have shown that tram-train would offer best value for money because the direct service to Glasgow Central would attract more passengers and improve journey times between the city centre and airport. It is estimated to cost half as much as the rejected heavy rail line.
However, it would depend on a favourable outcome from the UK’s pilot tram-train project in Sheffield, which is now not due to commence until early 2017.
