Compact Subway

Glasgow Subway

Well, this particular hill walk with our club included a new and unexpected feature; we rode on a subway. And not just any subway, but the world's third oldest subway. Side note, we have previously ridden on the world's first and second oldest subways (London and Budapest).

After boarding an express bus in Edinburgh, we arrived in the center of Glasgow in a little over an hour (round trip tickets were a bargain at only $13 each). Then, all 13 of us exited the bus station and walked through a large shopping mall to a subway station. When the subway was built in 1896, it was powered by a clutch-and-cable system driven by a steam-powered plant; the power has since been updated to electric. What hasn't been updated is the compact size of the subway cars. As seen in the photo, headroom is barely six feet, and seating/aisle space is quite limited. This historical urban element complemented the natural green scenery we enjoyed as we walked 10 miles beside the river Clyde and Glasgow canal.