Glasgow Subway - did anyone ever call it the Clockwork Orange?

[bramling]

You are missing the point here, there are members of the public outside the subway's catchment area, and (you should be flattered here) that public that has actuallty seen and maybe ridden on the trains, have also called the line the clockwork orange.
Strange, I never thought that Glasgow people were this isolationist and precious about the nickname of their trains.
Maybe I'm wrong and the hostility is just among a few RUK members.

I think you’re massively over-analysing this.

In Glasgow the system is always simply referred to as “the subway”, it’s as simple as that. I’ve never seen any evidence of anyone being precious about it.

Given this is what it is officially known as, anyone visiting is also likely to catch on to this rather than anything else, though of course given that it’s very much a local system for local people it’s quite likely that many visitors to Glasgow can spend time in the city without needing to use it. There just isn’t the same tourist value in visiting somewhere like Govan or Partick compared to the many touristy destinations LU serves.

 

[matchmaker]

Well, I live here and never heard ‘the public’ refer to it this way. How this equates to being ‘isolationist’ is a big stretch - it’s a reaction to an artificial and lazy trope by media, with 50% accuracy, (orange, but not clockwork) it opened in 1876 and ran until 1935 cable hauled, then electric until 1977.

For those 101 years it was called the Subway, not a clockwork anything. Reopening in 1980 with G2 vehicles and the media hauled out the lazy trope before it replaced those G2 trains in 2023, they only lasted 43 years - when compared to the G1 sets. I much prefer the original heritage - not the much later media trope. If the St Albans Abbey Line was created, journos demeaned it with a stupid moniker, would you be so sanguine?

Opened December 1896...but still the third oldest in the world after London (1863) and Budapest, which beat it by 6 months (May 1896).

 

[AM9]

Well, I live here and never heard ‘the public’ refer to it this way. How this equates to being ‘isolationist’ is a big stretch - it’s a reaction to an artificial and lazy trope by media, with 50% accuracy, (orange, but not clockwork) it opened in 1876 and ran until 1935 cable hauled, then electric until 1977.

Whatever traction the line had is irrelevant to a nickname.

For those 101 years it was called the Subway, not a clockwork anything.

For 85 of those 101 years, there was no such thing, actual of fictional as a 'clockwork orange' to name the line with as the book was released in 1962 so whatever the line was called then is irrelevant to this thread.

I much prefer the original heritage - not the much later media trope.

That's your choice.

If the St Albans Abbey Line was created, journos demeaned it with a stupid moniker, would you be so sanguine?

It is called the 'Abbey Flier' but any other name would make no difference to me. The Wickford to Southminster branch of the Southend Victoria line was known as the 'vomit comet', nobody took it seriously and certainly nobody offended or hurt. Some posters here are taking things too seriously for their own good.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 31 Aug 2026 ==

I think you’re massively over-analysing this.

No 'analysis' by me to 'overdo'.

In Glasgow the system is always simply referred to as “the subway”, it’s as simple as that. I’ve never seen any evidence of anyone being precious about it.

Given this is what it is officially known as, anyone visiting is also likely to catch on to this rather than anything else, though of course given that it’s very much a local system for local people it’s quite likely that many visitors to Glasgow can spend time in the city without needing to use it. There just isn’t the same tourist value in visiting somewhere like Govan or Partick compared to the many touristy destinations LU serves.

I did the circuit in 1987 on my first and only visit to Glasgow. On b returning back south, others who had visited Glasgow said that they had heard it called that as well. Everybody's experience can be different to mine or indeed anybody else's. That I accept, but some clearly don't.

 

[D6130]

I think you’re massively over-analysing this.

In Glasgow the system is always simply referred to as “the subway”, it’s as simple as that. I’ve never seen any evidence of anyone being precious about it.

Given this is what it is officially known as, anyone visiting is also likely to catch on to this rather than anything else, though of course given that it’s very much a local system for local people it’s quite likely that many visitors to Glasgow can spend time in the city without needing to use it. There just isn’t the same tourist value in visiting somewhere like Govan or Partick compared to the many touristy destinations LU serves.

Oh, I wouldn't say that. Govan for the old church with its early Christian tombs....and Partick for the Riverside Museum.

 

[Buzby]

others who had visited Glasgow said that they had heard it called that as well

Ah yes, the power of the media. I assume they were tourists too? The fact it wasn’t named until the after the film came out shows the continued lack of erudition!

 

[AM9]

Ah yes, the power of the media. I assume they were tourists too? The fact it wasn’t named until the after the film came out shows the continued lack of erudition!

Not all of them but it doesn't matter anyway, I hadn't seen it in 'the media' first so that's irrelevant to me. I can't see what the problem is even if it was media originated. This is such a trivial matter.

 

[D6130]

This is such a trivial matter.

It's not such a trivial matter if you're Glaswegian!

 

[Strathclyder]

In my near 30 years of living on Glasgow's western fringes and using the system on/off, I've never personally heard anyone referring to the system by this name, least of all the locals. At the same time, I haven't seen anyone from Glasgow be precious about the name either. Simple fact is, the Subway is and always has been the commonly-used name for the system by us locals, even during the 1936-2003 period (a not-insignificant chunk of it's history) when it was officially known by successive operators as The Glasgow Underground.

Oh, I wouldn't say that. Govan for the old church with its early Christian tombs....and Partick for the Riverside Museum.

I'd also add Hillhead for Glasgow University and the Botanic Gardens, Kelvinhall for, well, Kelvin Hall and Kelvingrove Art Galleries & Shields Road for the Scotland Street School (whenever that reopens of course).

 

[David M]

The Glasgow Underground until 1977 was I felt the nearest thing to the old Glasgow trams one could still get to. The speeds and body construction seemed comparable, possibly the sounds as well including the air brake hiss, and the uniformed staff, mostly seeming near retirement, were I understand principally those who transferred from the trams when they finished in 1962 and didn't care for handling buses. When the new trains came along in 1979 there seemed a new set of staff.

The old red subway cars actually used tramcar engines which would have helped as well.

Re people being precious, I'm pretty certain Londoners would object if I called their excellent Tube network the Metro.

 

[D6130]

The old red subway cars actually used tramcar engines which would have helped as well.

Presumably you mean motors?

 

[Buzby]

I recall the motors from the Coronation trams were highly thought of at the Broomloan Depot. I spent many a happy overnight watching them lift the 4 cars (2 from each Circle) for monthly maintenance. They were a work of art!

 

[Big M]

It's not such a trivial matter if you're Glaswegian!

I think that you would be surprised. They are more tolerant than you give them credit for.

 

[Hophead]

I think that you would be surprised. They are more tolerant than you give them credit for.

You'll be excluding football from that generalisation, though?

 

[Big M]

You'll be excluding football from that generalisation, though?

You got me there!

 

[Dr Hoo]

The definitive book on the Strathclyde PTE by Alan Miller - a Glaswegian and PTE staffer - embraces the Clockwork Orange moniker. His book includes a chapter, “The Clockwork Orange Springs to Life”. He attributes the name to press coverage rather than the general public, obviously invoking the eponymous novel by Anthony Burgess and film version.

I worked in Glasgow for over eight years and it wasn’t unusual to hear people using the term although “Subway” was always predominant.

 

[MF gorm]

When I first started using it was officially the Underground, although it was always referred to as the Subway. I have never heard any regular users, including fellow Rangers supporters who could wind people up, call it the Clockwork Orange.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

For example, when Sadiq Khan officially named Crossrail as The Elizabeth Line, my immediate reaction was that a four syllable name needed something shorter for locals.

Mayor Boris Johnson renamed Crossrail to the Elizabeth Line in February 2016. IIRC TfL had always intended to call the service Crossrail and direction signs with that name had already been installed (and covered) at several stations. Johnson's term as mayor ended in May 2016.

Crossrail to be named Elizabeth line in honour of the Queen

High-capacity service across London opening in 2018 will bear name of British monarch

www.theguardian.com

 

[AM9]

Mayor Boris Johnson renamed Crossrail to the Elizabeth Line in February 2016. IIRC TfL had always intended to call the service Crossrail and direction signs with that name had already been installed (and covered) at several stations. Johnson's term as mayor ended in May 2016.

Crossrail to be named Elizabeth line in honour of the Queen

High-capacity service across London opening in 2018 will bear name of British monarch

www.theguardian.com

There was a case for naming the line something other than crossrail when the core opened as there was a hope that Crossrail 2 might happen, but a moe snappy name would really have been better.

 

[Dr Hoo]

There was a case for naming the line something other than crossrail when the core opened as there was a hope that Crossrail 2 might happen, but a moe snappy name would really have been better.

Such things often get shortened to a single syllable with familiarity.
See Met, Picc, Vic, Joob… Now joined by Liz.