You are in RA » Document Archive » Glasgow Electric

Glasgow Electric

Document Summary

A colour brochure issued for the introduction of Glasgow's suburban electrified service in 1960. The author takes an at-times lyrical look at the service, and the words are accompanied by a number of illustrations of the new equipment.

This document was published in November 1960 by British Railways (Scotland).

It was written by George Blake.

The original document format was Colour Brochure, and comprised 41 pages.

This document was kindly sourced from Paul Luscombe and is in our Publicity material collection. It was added to the Archive on 5th December 2005.

Copyright Information

This document is © BRB (Residuary) Ltd.

"Electrification of the British Railways suburban lines out of Glasgow is manifestly a point of major change in the history of passenger transport in Scotland. The hundreds of thousands of travellers enjoying the new services will come to realise that it is more than a mere change: that it is, in fact, a revolution.

When diesel-drawn trains were introduced a few years ago, first of all on the busy Edinburgh-Glasgow line, the public responded to the improvement with enthusiasm. It seemed wonderful that the old curses of smoke and smuts had disappeared. The sociability of the open corridor coaches was appreciated by the great majority of travellers. Busy men and eager small boys-appreciated the fast acceleration out of stations. Miraculously, these new diesels seemed to break down the old-standing barriers between Scotland's two largest cities.

Now by far the largest city of Scotland is having its internal pressures relieved by trains of the most advanced design. Its countless commuters, to use the convenient American word, are to be passed to and from their city tasks by a service of electric trains that move like arrows on a frequency unheard of in the days of steam. The focal point of the new system is obviously Glasgow's Queen Street Station, and during the peak period the new, bright trains pass through it at the average rate of one every three minutes."