SO once again the topic of a rail link, be it either light or heavy, between Glasgow Airport and the city centre has reared its head (“AAirport rail link would be ‘a poor use of public money’, The Herald, November 178. And once again the real problem lies unaddressed.

Currently there is a fast, efficient and frequent coach service between the airport and the city departing every 10 minutes and with a scheduled time of 15 minutes to its first city centre stop and vice versa. Any rail link would find it difficult to better this.

The problem is not with transportation to and from the city; it is with transportation to and from the rest of the west of Scotland. The airport advertises a bus link to Paisley Gilmour Street from where there are frequent trains to Ayrshire and the Clyde Coast. Anyone who has travelled on this knows that this is an apology for a service. For the second time this year I arrived from overseas, waited for the timetabled bus which failed to materialise and waited a further 15 minutes. The bus then took 24minutes, which is its scheduled time, to reach Gilmour Street Station, a distance of 2.2 miles, an average speed of 5.5 miles per hour. In a piece of contrived lunacy, the driver often sits idling at interim bus stops (of which there is an abundance) to ensure the timetable is adhered to. In fact, anyone wishing to travel to Paisley Gilmour Street on public transport would be better advised to take the airport bus to the city centre and a train from there. And don’t even think of using this service on a Sunday or after eight in the evening when it operates just once an hour.

Instead of constantly bickering over a project which, let’s face it, is never going to happen, why don’t our bureaucrats vested with the responsibility of actually getting people moving get down to some practical and immediate applications; like providing a simple, speedy, non-stop free airlink to and from Gilmour Street that would take around ten minutes; like having the many buses that hurtle past the airport door without stopping, going to destinations such as Irvine, Kilwinning, Beith, Dalry, Bridge of Weir, Kilmacolm, Greenock, Port Glasgow and so on call in to the airport on at least some of their services?

This is a solution which could be put into effect almost immediately and at little extra cost to the public purse rather throw money at endless project reports and consultative documents for a useless vanity project. But that’s not how things work, is it?

Bob Buntin,

G/F1 Morland House,

Longhill, Skemlorlie.

JUST in case your readers missed the most important point in the report prepared for Transport Scotland, can I bring it to everyone’s attention: “... a simple A to B journey from Central Station to Abbotsinch would not take many people off roads as most passengers are not going from the city centre to the airport”. Hopefully our council leaders will now understand the problem with the proposed rail link which has been around since day one, which is simply that most passengers do not travel between the city centre and Glasgow Airport. Just how many experts and reports are required to make this fact clear?

Daniel Gardner,

Whistlefield Court, Bearsden.

RECENTLY I was dropping off a passenger at Fortress Glasgow, aka Glasgow Airport.

From a neat, almost welcoming place where you could stop briefly nearby, I even remember you could stop in front of the terminal, just like the airports I used earlier this year. Indeed, it used to be an exciting place as you dropped off, picked up or flew out yourself.

Miserably, it has now become something of a nightmare to negotiate.

Make sure you read the direction signs, don`t enter the wrong lane, then be corralled like sheep to the slaughter, as you advance through a forest of poles, miserable screen fences hopefully to get to a place to stop and set down your passenger and luggage. Then pay dearly for the privilege, maybe “only”£2, but if caught at the pedestrian crossing at a busy time, and a queue at payment, well £6 to escape.

I recently returned from Vancouver where they have a great system, “call waiting”. You stop, for free in an airport park about one mile from terminal and on its dedicated approach road and wait for the arriving passenger’s call, then drive up in front of terminal, pick them up, then away, so easy. To ensure no loitering, the old bane at Glasgow, Vancouver employs active wardens to “remind” you its set down /pick up only.

Why couldn`t Glasgow do it? Forget damage to its profit, would it not restore its original degree of friendliness, an excellent PR change from the nasty set-up? It would also have obviated the huge sum creating the present unfriendly situation.

JA Taylor,

19 The Fieldings,

Dunlop.

ABOUT 19,000 people petitioned the Scottish Transport Minister to strip Abellio of its Scotsrail franchise. I now understand

why.

Trains to and from Milngavie frequently travel non-stop stop from Westerton to Milngavie, skipping Bearsden and Hillfoot and forcing passengers bound for these stations to alight at Westerton and hope that the next train due in 15 minutes has not had its schedule similarly altered. This enables late trains to arrive at Milngavie on or closer to time.

This morning (November 17), I arrived at Milngavie Station in good time to catch the 09.24 train to Edinburgh. It was cancelled. The next train, the 09.39 to Cumbernauld, was to be five minutes late in arriving. On arrival, passengers boarded and having taken their seats were told to leave the train as the six carriages were being split into two trains of three. The train left seven minutes late.

Abellio was founded in 2002 and was originally called NedRailways. I wonder why?

David Miller,

80 Prestonfield,

Milngavie.

HERE is another example of the scandalous behaviour of ScotRail as regards fares. Last week I made an off-peak journey from Busby to Edinburgh, and return, using my Senior Railcard. For convenience I bought a through ticket at Busby which cost £12.35. I have since discovered that a return from Busby to Glasgow would have been £2.30 and from Glasgow to Edinburgh would be £8.40 – a total of £10.70.

Considering that there is a cost in issuing any ticket the combined fare should perhaps be lower than the sum of the two individual fares.

G Braidwood Rodger,

6 Woodhouse Court,

Glasgow.