The benefits of the GARL project stretch far and beyond the more obvious advantage of transporting thousands of holiday makers, visitors and business people to and from the city to the airport with greater ease and speed.
The people and the economy of Glasgow and the surrounding areas will be the direct benefactors. However, this investment in Scotland’s public transport infrastructure will promote the sutainable economic growth of the nation as a whole.
In 2003, nearly nine million people used Glasgow Airport, with 95 per cent of those traveling to it by road. The airport’s operator, BAA, estimates this number could reach as many as 24 million by 2030 and it believes GARL is integral to it doing so.
Moreover, the new rail link will help bring 52,500 additional visitors to Glasgow every year thereby creating more jobs.
Similarly, as the rail link relieves much of the current congestion on the M8 from people traveling to and from the airport, the area will become more accessible and so more attractive and competitive to business investors.
Beyond the economic impact of GARL, it will be an ambitious civil engineering project combining the expertise of Transport Scotland and Network Rail and the construction of the new branch line expected to attract interest from leading constructions firms across Europe. Already GARL has paid dividends, proving to be a major plus-point in the contest to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow.
The rail link will help to support:
- Glasgow’s growing £115m conference sector
- 650 extra jobs in Glasgow and Renfrewshire over the next 10 years
- An additional 675-700 jobs to Paisley town centre after three to four years
- Development of 135,000 sq ft of office accommodation in Paisley town centre.
Additional benefits include:
- New third track will provide extra capacity to Inverclyde and Ayrshire
- Additional four trains per hour between Glasgow and Paisley
- GARL patronage: 1.4 million in opening year, rising to 1.85 million by 2030
- The rail link would also help to generate £3.14m per annum Gross Value Added from tourism and leisure employment and in excess of £10m per annum from Paisley town centre-based employment.
