Saving the Subway legacy fleet: 'It felt like the city’s regard for municipal heritage was slowly eroding'

After more than four decades of screaming through the tunnels of the world’s third-oldest underground rail transit system, Glasgow said goodbye to the Subway’s legacy fleet.

MSP Paul Sweeney 📷 Robert Perry

AFTER more than four decades of screaming through the tunnels of the world’s third-oldest underground rail transit system, Glasgow said goodbye to the Subway’s legacy fleet. Railway enthusiasts of all ages boarded the iconic 1980 Metro-Cammell trains on June 28 to say farewell.

Of the 33 carriages, one would be preserved at the Riverside Museum. Nearly three dozen would be scrapped. For transport enthusiast Paul Sweeney, it seemed like a missed opportunity. The Labour MSP felt like the city’s regard for municipal heritage was slowly eroding. Before the vintage carriages were cast off, he decided to launch a campaign to save them.

After going back and forth with SPT, Sweeney eventually got in touch with Swiss contractor Stadler. The firm was responsible for bringing in the new rolling stock and disposing of the old trains. It had already done a deal with a scrap metal company who had agreed to pay around £5,000 per carriage. Anyone interested in purchasing a carriage would need to cover that cost, plus a £5,000 fee for an HGV and low loader crane required to move it.

Sweeney weighed in with Stadler, warning the firm it would be “reputationally damaging to continue to hold the carriages hostage like this as part of the city’s heritage”. He added: “You may not appreciate that, but there’s great goodwill out there for these carriages that are quite unique, quite quirky. There are only 30 of them in the world. Why not be more proactive about it?”

The pressure worked. Stadler would waive the £5,000 fee for nonprofits and charities, but they would need to get in touch by the end of August to secure a carriage.

“It’s heritage that is so mundane and day to day that only when it’s been taken away, you start to appreciate its value, right?” Sweeney said. “It’s why the last day of the trams was such an emotional experience for people in Glasgow.”

Around 250,000 residents came out to witness the final tram service on September 4, 1962. As a procession of 20 trams travelled through the city, Glaswegians created mementoes by chucking pennies on the tracks to be bent by the cars.

“I think we’re a city that takes great pride in its heritage even though it’s a city that has suffered a lot of damage over the years. Maybe I occupy a niche in thinking in the midst of officialdom and bureaucracy by just trying to push harder for a bit of imagination and a bit more proactivity. I think it’s met with a degree of disdain and people thinking this is just eccentric, but I think it was worth annoying a few people.”

The campaign to save the trains has proved inspirational for organisations who can now entertain the possibility of acquiring a carriage. Harry Armstrong, a volunteer at Ibrox Primary School, is determined to get one for the playground, especially given its proximity to the underground.

He said: “We just have a concrete playground and there’s not a lot of stimulation for the children.”

A fundraiser has been launched on GoFundMe to raise the £5,000 moving cost. If successful, the school hopes to use the carriage as a breakout space where faculty would be able to teach children about the city’s municipal heritage.

Harry added: “It would be a way of teaching the children the value of respect. Having something from our heritage and being able to look after it, respect it. But also to inspire them to have aspirations for the future. They could dream of being a train driver when they grow up.”

He points out that having a carriage preserved in the Riverside Museum is great, but a lot of the pupils in Ibrox don’t often have the chance to go to the West End. “It would be nice to have something special for them.”

Beatroute Arts, based in Balornock, is another organisation keen to repurpose a carriage. Director Jenny Reeve wants to bring a legacy car onsite for the community to use in perpetuity and to increase the organisation’s footprint to host activities and workshops: “Our hope is that a Subway car would allow us to uphold the legacy of the part they’ve played in Glasgow’s historic landscape and what they mean to a lot of citizens in our city.”