Fix for Glasgow's £40m 'too slow' fast bus lanes

Bus firms who stopped using the £40m Fastlink lanes in Glasgow because they were too slow are to start using them again after a fix was put in place.

McGill's Buses and Stagecoach said problems with traffic light timings were affecting journey times.

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), which leads Fastlink along with Glasgow City Council, said adjustments to lights were now being made.

Bus operators are expected to resume using the lanes "in a matter of days".

The Fastlink project aims to provide high-frequency bus services between Buchanan Street Bus Station and the new Queen Elizabeth University Hospital via Central and Queen Street Stations.

The route goes along the River Clyde, past the SECC, in dedicated lanes which are partly segregated from traffic.

SPT's chair, Councillor Jim Coleman, said: "With contractors already working on making the necessary adjustments to the traffic light signals and arrangements now made to undertake bus tests following this, it was agreed that bus services should be back on the Fastlink route within a matter of days.

"As the scale of the Fastlink project coincided with the opening of the new hospital, introducing these new bus priority measures was likely to be challenging and over the past few days officers from Glasgow City Council, SPT, taking into account constructive feedback from the bus operators, have been able to define a programme of works which will resolve these issues."

McGill's managing director, Ralph Roberts, added: "To be successful, Bus Rapid Transit schemes such as Fastlink generally require testing and adjustment to signalling priority before going into operation.

"Perhaps with the need to deliver bus services to the new hospital, testing didn't receive the attention it should have.

"This is happening now, which invariably has led to disruption to services. The best news, though, is that there has been a very prompt and positive response by Glasgow City Council and SPT to the stance made by bus operators, and ultimately the most important stakeholder - our customers - will benefit from this."