As oil prices rise to more than $100/barrel, with consequences for the cost of moving around by car, Glasgow's lack of resilience in its public transport system is laid bare by the devastating fire at Glasgow Central Station. Since everything to the south of the Clyde comes in to Glasgow Central, the whole network is essentially shut down by the loss of this single node.
This wake up call should lead to change. Even the short term response here can be positive. Glasgow has a rail network, not simply a single station, it's time to use it. Temporary platforms and stations have to be built on this network, with trains continuing in to Glasgow Central without passengers in order to turn etc so that logistics can be managed. Further, rail tickets need to be made valid on the Subway - integrated ticketing now!
Inverclyde & Ayr via Paisley
Currently trains from the south west coming in through Paisley have a final stop prior to Glasgow Central at Cardonald. This needs to go further so that trains can still usefully come in from the south west. Temporary platforms need to be built either at Shields Road or at West Street so that the south side of the city centre can still be accessed, with passengers easily changing on to the Subway. It may be that despite the apparent convenience of access to the Subway from West Street, Shields Road is a better bet with space provided at the Shields Depot - this may be a necessary terminus for trains coming from the east from Newton and Motherwell via Rutherglen.
Southside
The Carthcart Circle trains (and trains joining it from Kings Park and Muirend) currently don't stop north of Pollokshields (East or West) until they get to Glasgow Central. Ideally there should be 3 temporary stops built for this line: Eglington Toll for an interchange with trains running east-west between Cardonald and Rutherglen (and beyond to Newton and Motherwell); Lauriston for an interchange with trains coming south over the Clyde via the Union Bridge from Bellgrove (and heading west either to Paisley Canal or Paisley Gilmore Street); and Bridge Street for access to the city centre and to the Subway.
Kilmarnock & East Kilbride
Trains come in from Kilmarnock and East Kilbride via Pollokshaws West and Crossmyloof. Perhaps a temporary Platform can be built for this line at Pollokshields East to allow for changes on to the other Southside lines, but otherwise these trains should continue to Dalmarnock and on to Glasgow Central low level.
ClydeMetro
These temporary stations and interchanges should be aimed to be made permanent under the ClydeMetro project, which should prioritise the resilience characteristics of a city-wide network, rather than a system of spokes which all lead in to one or two vulnerable nodes (despite the demands that people will likely make for a direct link to either Glasgow Central or Queen Street). The major development beyond making these temporary stations permanent, should be a new city centre station at Glasgow Cross, providing an interchange with the line running through Glasgow Central low level, and providing city centre access to the line running south over the Union Bridge (since otherwise this line would only be accessible from Bellgrove).
London
Trains to England are the big intercity loss with Glasgow Central, and there are two ways to deal with this:
1) Use Motherwell as the main station for journeys to England, with frequent local services from Motherwell to Glasgow: south of the river via Newton and Rutherglen, to the temporary terminus at Shields Depot; and north of the river via Coatbridge Central, Gartcosh, Robroyston, and Queen Street.
2) Run direct trains south from Glasgow Queen St, either via the line through Coatbridge Central and Motherwell (not necessarily stopping at Motherwell), or via Edinburgh.
In any case, there are options: Glasgow has a network, it's time to use it!
