£40 Million Boost for Fastlink

13 Oct 2011

The Scottish Government has announced it will contribute £40million to Fastlink, the new bus rapid transit scheme for Glasgow.

The ultra-modern bus operation will link the city centre and the IFSD with the Commonwealth Games area at the SECC and the new Southern General Hospital.

It will also connect with the city's key interchanges at Central Station, Queen Street Station and Buchanan Bus Station.

SPT's Chief Executive Gordon Maclennan said: "We are delighted with the funding news. SPT's enhanced Fastlink business case, which was submitted to the government earlier this year, showed that the improved network would boost the number of people using public transport, cut congestion and improve bus journey times by up to 20%.

Fastlink-branded buses will also have smartcard technology as standard with the intention of linking up with the planned Glasgow Subway smartcard technology, bringing seamless multi-modal travel one step closer for passengers.

Glasgow City Council has been working on delivering key parts of the network - the segregated lanes at the Broomielaw and dedicated capacity on the Clyde Arc.