Waverley set to overtake Glasgow Central for first time in 150 years

[takno]

Arguable the worst aspect about Edinburgh airport is that there are no toilets (if there are, we've never found them) between disembarking aircraft and getting through security.

Some of the gates descend pretty directly into passport control, but I'm fairly certain there are still toilets before both sets. Ask the staff directing people towards the right queue.

 

[Tetchytyke]

devolution, which gave Edinburgh the most political power in Scotland.

This is the key driver for all of it, in my opinion. Before devolution, Edinburgh and Glasgow were fairly evenly matched. The ECML and WCML both operated a roughly 2-hourly frequency from Scotland to London. But it's not like that now.

Business, and everything else, follows the political power. The political power is now firmly centred in Edinburgh. That's given Edinburgh an inevitable leg up on all sorts of things, but transport will be a main one. The people and companies you travel to see are now all in Edinburgh so that means more trains and more planes. There has now reached a critical mass where so much goes through Edinburgh that you no longer have a choice between the two airports. It balanced out when Euston-Glasgow went to hourly but Edinburgh's pulled away again now Kings Cross-Edinburgh is half-hourly.

We've seen the same in northern England. Growing up, Manchester, Liverpool, and Leeds were all very evenly matched economically. But the BBC moving to Salford has given Greater Manchester huge amounts of political clout and so more and more businesses are now moving to the city. Manchester is hoovering up business from everywhere else. I've seen it in West Yorkshire; traditionally, places like Hebden Bridge looked towards Leeds economically but now the biggest destination from Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd is actually Manchester Victoria.

 

[sannox]

I think the woes of Glasgow are slightly overstated. Edinburgh has always been big on leisure/tourism which has held up and Glasgow was big in terms of office commuters and retail both have been decimated in recent years -not helped by retail in Glasgow moving to the outskirts.

Having spent a lot of time in both cities, I've always preferred Glasgow. I think it just feels more lively and bigger with more stuff on that I was into. The City Centre was terrible during Covid and still needs a lot of work. The local politicians to have a spine and address the social problems / crime and make it cleaner. The Southside and West End are doing fine however. .

I've moved out of Glasgow now and the difference in public services is stark - the council and authrority structure of Greater Glasgow needs change.

Edinburgh security outbound is worse than Glasgow. Coming back, the stairs is a pain, considering there used to be an escalator straight ahead from the main gates.
The nickel and diming at Edinburgh for the baggage trolleys is sickening, especially after the almost obligatory wait for an age.

I actively avoid flying though Edinburgh Airport. Terrible image of Scotland for people arriving.

It's too small for the numbers using it and it is a crap user experience. Last time I used it was to get to a wedding in the first day of the summer school holidays. It was horrendously crowded, there was virtually nowhere to sit without having to go to a cafe or bar- even when my flight was called, most of the people seated in the gate area weren't for that flight.

 

[cats_five]

Arguable the worst aspect about Edinburgh airport is that there are no toilets (if there are, we've never found them) between disembarking aircraft and getting through security.

There were last time I was there, just under a year ago

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Some of the gates descend pretty directly into passport control, but I'm fairly certain there are still toilets before both sets. Ask the staff directing people towards the right queue.

I walked down a long slope to the hall with passport control in, toilets were around to the left.

 

[Buzby]

between disembarking aircraft and getting through security.

I thought this was planned? You are routed on a path to security or Border ‘Force’ that avoids WC’s just in case you plan to use it for non-approved purposes.

 

[Chester1]

Lots of good points on this thread re Glasgow. But one thing I’ve noticed over the last few months is the huge number of new buildings going up within the city centre and immediately around it.

There’s a massive development on the Broomielaw stretching up to the expressway and Anderson station, another large one on Newton St up to Charing X station and the surrounding streets, plus the College Lands area near High St station. The much maligned Sauchiehall St is seeing the old M&S store being rebuilt and extended upwards into student flats. There are many more examples and many more in the pipeline. One thing they all have in common is scale and density which will push up the city centre population and drive demand for additional services which will hopefully result in empty premises being refurbished.
As a Glaswegian I’m fine with Edinburgh growing, but believe that Glasgow is on the cusp of finally turning the corner.

I think what your describing is near universal to the principal regional cities in the UK now. Manchester and Salford get the most investment and attention but are part of a much wider trend. I think London hit the limit of its model in the late 2010s and the pandemic reinforced its limitations and enabled more jobs to be based outside of London. A city is never going to have strong growth if ordinary people can't afford to start families. Thats the situation in London but despite the rhetoric its not the situation in cities like Glasgow where affordability is only a serious problem for people on low incomes. The big thing for me is that we don’t indulge in the very British habbit of tall poppy syndrome and be overly negative about success stories that aren't London. Edinburgh doing well should be applauded and is a reason to push Glasgow's leadership to get its act together.

 

[Russel]

I think what your describing is near universal to the principal regional cities in the UK now. Manchester and Salford get the most investment and attention but are part of a much wider trend. I think London hit the limit of its model in the late 2010s and the pandemic reinforced its limitations and enabled more jobs to be based outside of London. A city is never going to have strong growth if ordinary people can't afford to start families. Thats the situation in London but despite the rhetoric its not the situation in cities like Glasgow where affordability is only a serious problem for people on low incomes. The big thing for me is that we don’t indulge in the very British habbit of tall poppy syndrome and be overly negative about success stories that aren't London. Edinburgh doing well should be applauded and is a reason to push Glasgow's leadership to get its act together.

Indeed, Glasgow has some incredible buildings, an excellent suburban transport system and is the gateway to the West Highlands and Islands, there is no reason it couldn't be as great as Edinburgh, if the powers that be wanted...

 

[702]

Just in terms of airports it's the 2-way flows that really determine which routes/airports are successful. Even a large airport like Manchester has lost a lot of overseas flights in recent years because although it has a large catchment to people wanting to fly out to places, fewer from overseas want to fly in. What keeps all those US flights out of Edinburgh going for example is almost entirely down to incoming US tourist demand.

Interesting, I suppose Edinburgh is also closer by luxury coach to St Andrews as well, so may be preferred by those on holidays to the home of golf. Obv Glasgow is better situated for Turnberry, but I suspect on balance Fife and East Lothian draw in more rich golfers from the US, and so Edinburgh Airport is more appealing.

 

[Davester50]

Interesting, I suppose Edinburgh is also closer by luxury coach to St Andrews as well, so may be preferred by those on holidays to the home of golf. Obv Glasgow is better situated for Turnberry, but I suspect on balance Fife and East Lothian draw in more rich golfers from the US, and so Edinburgh Airport is more appealing.

Often see the small golf tour coaches from St Andrews kicking about Carnoustie when I'm at the station.
Add in Kingsbarns and to a degree Gleneagles it's a lot of big courses and resorts that bring in a lot of money on the east.

Dundee Airport when the Dunhill's on is packed with private jets.

 

[Carntyne]

i truly wish this was the case, but the percentage of new construction in Glasgow that is student housing is ridiculous.

It feels like the city is being built around the needs of overseas students, not the inhabitants.

They're not really overseas students though are they? They're just student, and inhabitants.
More investment in the city and boosting the population, particularly in the centre is key.

 

[Davester50]

They're not really overseas students though are they? They're just student, and inhabitants.
More investment in the city and boosting the population, particularly in the centre is key.

Temporary migrant students aren't building a lasting community though.
It's investment for property companies at the cost of people who want to stay and live there.

And it empties in the summer when they're all away home.

 

[Ian Hardy]

This is the key driver for all of it, in my opinion. Before devolution, Edinburgh and Glasgow were fairly evenly matched. The ECML and WCML both operated a roughly 2-hourly frequency from Scotland to London. But it's not like that now.

In the May 1994 Working Timetable (which is the earliest edition available on the Network Rail archive) the ECML was hourly Kings Cross - Edinburgh with some extras (with a 2 hourly service extended to Glasgow Central), but Euston - Glasgow was only every 2 hours with some extras.

So at least 5 years before devolution, Edinburgh had a better service to London than did Glasgow.

 

[InOban]

In the May 1994 Working Timetable (which is the earliest edition available on the Network Rail archive) the ECML was hourly Kings Cross - Edinburgh with some extras (with a 2 hourly service extended to Glasgow Central), but Euston - Glasgow was only every 2 hours with some extras.

So at least 5 years before devolution, Edinburgh had a better service to London than did Glasgow.

In my experience the frequency from Edinburgh to London has always been twice that from Glasgow. It has been sustained by the large amount of traffic to and from the intermediate stations. I recall back in 66/7 getting the 08.00 from KX which would be almost empty at the start but well-loaded by Edinburgh.

 

[QueensCurve]

Unfortunately I agree with this, massive missed opportunity to build a large airport in the Falkirk area and shut both Glasgow and Edinburgh. It could've been as big as Manchester / Dublin. Whereas Glasgow is stuck with an airport west.

Also for train travel north of the central belt, Edinburgh takes the crown. A cross platform interchange at Haymarket or a run up the ECML is more attractive than walking between two Glasgow termini (or that shuttle bus).

I actually prefer that walk in Glasgow. A TARDIS on the way to boot.

 

[edwin_m]

In the May 1994 Working Timetable (which is the earliest edition available on the Network Rail archive) the ECML was hourly Kings Cross - Edinburgh with some extras (with a 2 hourly service extended to Glasgow Central), but Euston - Glasgow was only every 2 hours with some extras.

So at least 5 years before devolution, Edinburgh had a better service to London than did Glasgow.

The Euston and Kings Cross services were about an hour apart at Glasgow, and pre-Pendolino the journey time via Edinburgh was similar to via Carlisle. So both cities had a roughly hourly London service.

 

[hexagon789]

So at least 5 years before devolution, Edinburgh had a better service to London than did Glasgow.

In my experience the frequency from Edinburgh to London has always been twice that from Glasgow. It has been sustained by the large amount of traffic to and from the intermediate stations. I recall back in 66/7 getting the 08.00 from KX which would be almost empty at the start but well-loaded by Edinburgh.

The Euston and Kings Cross services were about an hour apart at Glasgow, and pre-Pendolino the journey time via Edinburgh was similar to via Carlisle. So both cities had a roughly hourly London service.

Edinburgh has had the more frequent and generally faster service since May 1978, when an hourly accelerated mixed HST and Deltic timetable was introduced. The full HST service being introduced in 1979. The fastest trains from 1979 took about 4h40-45, most were nearer 5 hours.

Glasgow had previously had a better service than Edinburgh since 1974, when the Northern WCML electrification was completed and as well as journey times being reduced by about an hour on average the frequency was increased to 8 trains (9 on Saturdays, 10 on Fridays), offering an hourly service at times taking typically 5h 07-08 and the fastest exactly 5 hours.

Edinburgh had six regular services (with some summer additionals) at the same time, the fastest taking approximately 5 and and half hours, but most were nearer 5h40-45 or longer depending on stops.

 

[och aye]

It annoys me as a Glaswegian that it feels like Edinburgh is pulling ahead in every metric, while we sit idly doing basically nothing to improve our city. I blame the 1996 local council redrawing getting rid of Strathclyde regional council and devolution, which gave Edinburgh the most political power in Scotland.

I'd say it was the creation of Transport Scotland that stripped SPT over it's responsibility for heavy rail in 2005, rather than the 1996 reorganisation of local government which replacement the District and Regional councils with the Unitary authorities we have today.

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Mirrors the feeling in Edinburgh back in the 1980s when Glasgow started to pull itself up - remember “Glasgow’s Miles Better”?

I still remember back in the late 1990s and early 2000s when people from Edinburgh would flock to Glasgow in their droves at the weekend as the shopping experience (in terms of variety) of shops was a lot better than what Edinburgh (Princes St) had to offer.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Edinburgh really needs to be twice the size. Not sure what’s wrong with Glasgow, it’s got a fantastic transport system already. More subway lines? A north-South rail tunnel? Definitely could do with being on a high speed line south to London and Manchester

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Edinburgh has had the more frequent and generally faster service since May 1978, when an hourly accelerated mixed HST and Deltic timetable was introduced. The full HST service being introduced in 1979. The fastest trains from 1979 took about 4h40-45, most were nearer 5 hours.

Glasgow had previously had a better service than Edinburgh since 1974, when the Northern WCML electrification was completed and as well as journey times being reduced by about an hour on average the frequency was increased to 8 trains (9 on Saturdays, 10 on Fridays), offering an hourly service at times taking typically 5h 07-08 and the fastest exactly 5 hours.

Edinburgh had six regular services (with some summer additionals) at the same time, the fastest taking approximately 5 and and half hours, but most were nearer 5h40-45 or longer depending on stops.

How many went via the West Coast?

 

[och aye]

As someone who did relocate to Edinburgh at somepoint in their life (and ended up living there longer than any other place I'd ever lived) I actually didn't find it desirable - I know I'm a bit of an outlier but it's not that unusual a sentiment. Housing is expensive, the Council seem to only pander to tourists (the Christmas Market taking over Princes Street Gardens for longer each year; no action seems to be taken against people who flout the new short term lets law aiming at stopping proliferation of AirBnB properties, etc), and it feels like too much effort and money is spent into keeping the tourists happy in the centre rather than actually dealing with some pretty severe social problems in several suburbs - the gap between richest and poorest in Edinburgh feels much wider than in other (large north-UK) cities I've lived in, and my (very humble) personal opinion is that this has a noticeable negative impact on the city. There's a significant area of the city centre (i.e. most of Old Town) which basically feels like a "tourist only" zone - there's nothing there that's aimed at residents.




the previous city I lived in, which I much preferred as a city, could probably be described like this too (although is also world famous and gets a lot of tourism because of some of its culture, but it never felt like it overwhelmed the city)



and now "People Make Glasgow"

This is absolutely true of the Old Town area. Streets like the Grassmarket, Canongate, George IV Bridge, South Bridge hardly have any permanent residents living there any more. The few that do still live there, tend to be renting for a few years than move on elsewhere.

There's an example from a few years ago, when some upper floors of a tenement block on the High Street were reinstated after being demolished back in the 1980s. Some developer bought all 12 flats and turned them all into STLs!

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Edinburgh really needs to be twice the size. Not sure what’s wrong with Glasgow, it’s got a fantastic transport system already. More subway lines? A north-South rail tunnel? Definitely could do with being on a high speed line south to London and Manchester

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How many went via the West Coast?

If by 'Edinburgh' you're referring to Waverley station, then I don't think there's much you can do as it is physically restricted by the geography in terms of expansion. Perhaps at a push, the former Goods Yard be reused for rail use or more controversially, you remove the ticket office and build more through platforms.

 

[hexagon789]

Edinburgh really needs to be twice the size. Not sure what’s wrong with Glasgow, it’s got a fantastic transport system already. More subway lines? A north-South rail tunnel? Definitely could do with being on a high speed line south to London and Manchester

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How many went via the West Coast?

Between where and where?

 

[och aye]

I agree and think the Hollyrood effect should not be underestimated as it attracts and directs investment towards Edinburgh whether actively or not. I don’t suggest it’s party political, just the natural result of it being there. I don’t think that the Glasgow city fathers (and mothers!) have done enough to promote and maintain the city, it’s a place I tend to avoid, opting for the leafy suburbs rather than the city of my birth and upbringing.

I've often heard/read this statement that the Scottish Parliament has refocused things towards Edinburgh rather than Glasgow. The Scottish Office was based in Edinburgh pre-devolution (of course the decisions were made down at Dover House), but the point is that I haven't seen any real evidence that due to devolution more investment is made towards Edinburgh rather than Glasgow. If there is clear evidence of it, I'm happy to be corrected.

What I would say, just from an observational point of view, is that when the Scottish Parliament was coming into view in 1999, economically things had/were changing rather dramatically. Edinburgh always had a bigger focus on finance compared to Glasgow. Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, Scottish Life, Scottish Provident, Scottish Equitable, Scottish Life, Scottish Widows etc. were all based in Edinburgh and during that time finance bubble was massive. Glasgow was still recovering (and still is, in my opinion) from the massive decline in manufacturing and industry that was decimated in the late 1970s/80s.

Add to the fact that low cost airlines had been introduced a few years earlier and fast forward to today, where you see tourism play a much greater role in Edinburgh compared to 25 years ago (I blame Harry Potter and YouTubers for this ) this can be attributed somewhat (not 100%) as to why things have changed in the post Scottish Parliament era.

On a positive note, there is plenty of development happening in Glasgow today. It reminds of Manchester back in the mid-1990s. Glasgow is a great place, it's just a shame about their football teams.

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Agreed!

Edinburgh security outbound is worse than Glasgow. Coming back, the stairs is a pain, considering there used to be an escalator straight ahead from the main gates.
The nickel and diming at Edinburgh for the baggage trolleys is sickening, especially after the almost obligatory wait for an age.

When you have a private equity company like Blackrock owning 49.9% of the airport, should we be really surprised?

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Meanwhile in Renfrew, Paisley, Kilmarnock, Ayr...

Prestwick airport?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Feb 2026 ==

Meanwhile in Renfrew, Paisley, Kilmarnock, Ayr...

Prestwick airport?

Accessibility to Glasgow Airport would be greatly improved with a rail link; Which was planned but cancelled. Whereas Edinburgh Airport at least has a tram line.

I moved from Oxford to Glasgow in 1984 and do not regret it for a minute, Glasgow is a wonderful city.

The problem with GARL proposal was that it would have essentially just been an expensive shuttle service between the Airport - Paisley and Glasgow Central. No other service would be able to stop without reversing at the High Level platforms. It obviously would have helped connectivity for those that could benefit from it, but overall it probably wouldn't have benefitted that many people for the cost and additional congestion to Glasgow Central.

 

[waverley47]

When you have a private equity company like Blackrock owning 49.9% of the airport, should we be really surprised?

I could tell you horror stories about the management of Edinburgh Airport.

They wanted us to pay them a lot of money to build the airport rail link, to the point where negotiations broke down completely. It was their position that as the owners of the land, and as the owners of the car parks, that any rail link would reduce their income.

There was one very fraught meeting where they threatened to pull cooperation and sue ScotGov unless we built the infrastructure, and then gifted them the ownership of the actual tunnels and station under their land, and leased back the tunnel and the rights to operate trains through them. It got to the point where they offered to set the leasing costs for ten years, but they reserved the right to reset the leasing costs at five years increments, with no maximum increase.

Unofficially, the absolutely awful relationship between Edinburgh Council, the airport owners, and ScotGov was one of the primary reasons for the cancellation.

 

[och aye]

Only criticism of Edinburgh is the one road in, one road out situation (the A8). It can take a long time to reach the motorway at Newbridge from the airport, during the peak traffic flow.

There are plans to build a road from Gogar Roadabout to the airport in the next few years.

There are even more ambitious plans for a direct link and a new junction at the M8 in the longterm. I'm not sure we'll see this happen in the next decade (if at all).

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I could tell you horror stories about the management of Edinburgh Airport.

They wanted us to pay them a lot of money to build the airport rail link, to the point where negotiations broke down completely. It was their position that as the owners of the land, and as the owners of the car parks, that any rail link would reduce their income.

There was one very fraught meeting where they threatened to pull cooperation and sue ScotGov unless we built the infrastructure, and then gifted them the ownership of the actual tunnels and station under their land, and leased back the tunnel and the rights to operate trains through them. It got to the point where they offered to set the leasing costs for ten years, but they reserved the right to reset the leasing costs at five years increments, with no maximum increase.

Unofficially, the absolutely awful relationship between Edinburgh Council, the airport owners, and ScotGov was one of the primary reasons for the cancellation.

That is a shame. It's seems like a huge missed opportunity to link all of Scotland's cities (even potentially Newcastle) with a direct railway link.

I wonder with the change of ownership (VINCI now own 50.01% and GIP - now owned by Blackrock, own the remaining 49.99%) there would be a better dialogue. Although if the same management are in place, then I guess probably not.

Speaking of the management of Edinburgh Airport, did you ever read this bizarre story of the CEO allegedly jumping on the bonnet of a taxi in the car park?

Cabbie walks free from court after 'bizarre' confrontation with Edinburgh Airport boss who sat on taxi bonnet and filmed him​

Cabbie walks free from court after 'bizarre' confrontation with Edinburgh Airport boss who sat on taxi bonnet and filmed him

A cabbie who was charged following a confrontation with an airport boss has walked free from court after his lawyer blamed the chief executive’s “bizarre” behaviour for the incident.

www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com

Mr Dunne told the court that Mr Dewar’s behaviour contributed to the incident taking place.

He added: “His behaviour was, in my submission, unusual. Indeed it could be described as being aggressive.

“He sprinted the full length of a car park at Edinburgh Airport. He doesn’t have any identification on his person. He doesn’t identify himself.

“He doesn’t do anything until he is challenged by Mr Hunter and he says is chief executive of Edinburgh Airport.

“He is instantly very confrontational.”

Mr Dunne told the court that his client became concerned for his safety and tried to move away from the scene.

He added that Mr Dewar then sat on his client’s bonnet and tried to stop him from getting away.

The lawyer added that Mr Hunter’s vehicle struck Mr Dewar.

He added: “His vehicle has slight contact but not so much as to cause Mr Dewar to take a step back. It is the merest of touches.”

Mr Dunne said that if Mr Dewar was concerned that his client was parked in a prohibited area, he could have surrounding CCTV cameras to establish the taxi driver’s identity.

He added: “None of this would have taken place if it were not for a chief executive who it would appear has nothing better to do than to enforce taxi parking regulations.

“I think it is fair to say that none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for Mr Dewar’s behaviour.”

Mr Dunne also raised concern that the police and Crown weren’t able to disclose CCTV footage of the full incident. He said that he was told that none covering the entire confrontation was recovered.

Mr Dunne added: “I find it impossible to believe that there’s not a square inch of Edinburgh Airport not covered by CCTV.

“It seems a little odd.”

Sheriff Flinn told Hunter he was free to leave court.

He added: “I’m prepared to grant an absolute discharge.”

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It’s similar in the airline industry, Edinburgh is booming and everyone wants to go there, while Glasgow is declining and the airport operator is struggling. Ironically it means tiny EDI is cramped and chaotic for much of the day, while GLA has a large terminal that’s massively underused.

Americans in particular have no idea how close they actually are (or how easy it is to get from Glasgow to the highlands), which is why all the US flights are now in the capital. That’s a marketing failure.

Scotland really missed an opportunity to build a Central airport in the empty void south of Falkirk, which could have had 20min(ish) train connections to each city. Selfishness/stubborn pride in both cities would always have prevented this obvious solution, despite its potential to have become a major hub.

A lot of this is to do with the ownership of both airports. Back in the day when they were both owned by BAA. The management explicitly said that they considered that Edinburgh and Glasgow served different markets. Hence why all the longhaul flights were primarily located at GLA. Things only started to change when BAA were forced to sell either EDI or GLA. Once both airports were under different ownership, this is when you can see the big change of carriers moving/preferring to fly to EDI.

EDI's new owners (GIP) were very aggressive in getting new operators to the airport compared to the management at GLA, who were still owned by BAA and had more interest in Heathrow. Even when Heathrow Airport Holdings (the renamed BAA) sold off the remaining airports under its ownership - Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton as AGS Airports, the poor management didn't stop the rot.

The other factor is that a lot of tourists want to visit Edinburgh as part of their Scotland trip, rather than Glasgow. Again I blame Harry Potter for this You also have the fact that EDI is "easier" to travel to than GLA. Unfortunately GLA was built on the "wrong" side of Glasgow on the West. Perhaps if GLA had been built in the East, things might have panned out very differently.

Still on a positive note, AviAlliance bought AGS Airports just over 12 months ago, and are planning on expanding terminal at GLA. On the routes front, they have managed to get United airlines back for direct flight to USA for the first time since 2019 and working on getting new/return routes to the airport.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Between where and where?

Euston and Edinburgh

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This is absolutely true of the Old Town area. Streets like the Grassmarket, Canongate, George IV Bridge, South Bridge hardly have any permanent residents living there any more. The few that do still live there, tend to be renting for a few years than move on elsewhere.

There's an example from a few years ago, when some upper floors of a tenement block on the High Street were reinstated after being demolished back in the 1980s. Some developer bought all 12 flats and turned them all into STLs!

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If by 'Edinburgh' you're referring to Waverley station, then I don't think there's much you can do as it is physically restricted by the geography in terms of expansion. Perhaps at a push, the former Goods Yard be reused for rail use or more controversially, you remove the ticket office and build more through platforms.

I mean the entire city

 

[och aye]

Euston and Edinburgh

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I mean the entire city

I doubt that will happen in our lifetimes! Most new housing development for the city is being built in East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian these days.

 

[Palmerston]

The problem with GARL proposal was that it would have essentially just been an expensive shuttle service between the Airport - Paisley and Glasgow Central. No other service would be able to stop without reversing at the High Level platforms. It obviously would have helped connectivity for those that could benefit from it, but overall it probably wouldn't have benefitted that many people for the cost and additional congestion to Glasgow CeCentral.

Was/is this the only feasible route? Genuine question. Does explain why it didn't happen.

 

[hexagon789]

Euston and Edinburgh

Not in that period, no.

On the West Coast, Edinburgh had one per day to/from Birmingham and two from Manchester/Liverpool. Upped to 4 and 4 from 1974, with one of the Birminghams extended to/from Bristol. These all conveyed Glasgow portions as well.

 

[cats_five]

WRT the tourists, Edinburgh has some very obvious major tourist attractions which way outstrip what Glasgow has to offer, namely the Castle, the Palace, and the Parliament. There is also the Festival and the Fringe. Finally, the NMS and the art galleries are right in the middle. Kelvingrove and the Burrell collection are les obviously a nice walk from the train or bus stations. Of course central Edinburgh in August is hell!

 

[The exile]

Not in that period, no.

On the West Coast, Edinburgh had one per day to/from Birmingham and two from Manchester/Liverpool. Upped to 4 and 4 from 1974, with one of the Birminghams extended to/from Bristol. These all conveyed Glasgow portions as well.

Penmanshiel did of course result in some Edinburgh - Eustons for a period in 1979.

 

[Falcon1200]

The problem with GARL proposal was that it would have essentially just been an expensive shuttle service between the Airport - Paisley and Glasgow Central.

That's a fair point. although Airport trains could have been extensions of for example the Shotts or Lanark services, with as you say a reversal at Central. Whether that would have attracted more passengers to Glasgow Airport is another thing!

I could tell you horror stories about the management of Edinburgh Airport.

Here's my horror story; One evening a suspect aircraft landed, so it was parked well away from the terminal; Right next to the Edinburgh/Forth Bridge railway line, which we were then instructed to close on safety grounds!