GLASGOW’S Subway is set to close this Sunday as driverless train trials continue.
Commuters in Scotland’s largest city have been warned the underground service will be shut for four Sundays, once on July 19 and three times in August.
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) said it has closed the Subway so it can carry out final testing of its new signalling and communications system.
Its operations will transfer to a new control room at the end of August as part of its £288 million modernisation programme, which marks the biggest upgrade of the network in almost 50 years.
SPT said it plans to have its driverless trains, which would be the first system of its kind in the UK, running by 2027.
Anyone planning to use the Subway on Sunday has been urged to find alternative travel.
SPT has confirmed further closures on August 16, 23 and 30.
Director of Transport Operations Richard Robinson said the project has reached another “crucial point” for the Subway’s modernisation.
“The installation of the new signalling and comms system into our Victorian Subway was always going to be the most challenging of the modernisation programme,” he said.
“We have been successfully carrying out testing at night for several months, operating the system from our new Operational Control Centre (OCC) and we are now ready to transfer to the new OCC completely.
“However, once we move to the new OCC we must thoroughly test the new systems and our staff, running every operational scenario possible before introducing passengers.
“We need to replicate a full service without passengers as we transfer over.
“When we have completed this on the final Sunday on 30 August, then passengers should start to see a difference when travelling with us.
“It is our expectation that once everything has transferred over and the system is confirmed as ready, passenger announcements will be fully automated, with more information available on the passenger screens on board trains, new passenger information screens will also be working in stations and the recently installed PSDs will be operational in stations.
“As more PSDs are rolled out across more stations, these will also become operational.”
