Glasgow on track to deliver its 60th rail station

0 Several new stations have opened in Glasgow in recent decades Glasgow is set to open its 60th railway station after the local authority yesterday approved £10 million worth of funding for a project that will also deliver 1,600 new homes.

A halt will be built at Robroyston, a suburb in the north-east of the city, on the existing line from Queen Street to Cumbernauld.

Glasgow has witnessed a spate of station openings over the past 30 years, with the city boasting the largest suburban rail network in the UK outside of London.

The station at Robroyston, expected to open in late 2019, will offer two Park & Ride facilities and a drop-off lane for commuters.

It is the first to be funded through the £30m Scottish Stations Fund, which was first announced in 2014 by Keith Brown, the then transport minister.

The £18.9m scheme will accelerate the building of almost 1,600 homes in the are- as, for which planning permission in principle has already been agreed.

It is estimated that the completion of the development will bring an extra £14.2m to the economy every year.

The £10m of forward funding from the council will be repaid on the completion of the houses through a Section 75 legal agreement.

Council leader Frank Mcaveety said: “This is fantastic news for Glasgow, providing a new rail station for the people of Robroyston and Millerston and helping to bring almost 1,600 muchneeded new homes to this part of the city.”

Strathclyde Passenger Transport chairman Jonathan Findlay said the new station was “a vital factor in ensuring the long-term success of the redevelopment of the area as a whole”.

In addition to the £10m provided by Glasgow City Council, Transport Scotland will contribute £7.13m, SPT £1.25m and developers will contribute the remaining £485,000.