Guides / Local Information
Transportation in Glasgow
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Bicycle
Glasgow is a great city to use a bicycle. It offers a great opportunity to save the planet, your money and get some exercise! The city offers over 300km of cycleways and still adding more, with Glasgow’s city council aiming at increasing that number to 400km in 2025 and 590km thereafter.
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There is a cycle hire scheme operated by OVO Bikes (or nextbike) with prices varying and a pay-as-you-ride scheme of £1/20 mins. This is similar to Santander bikes in London, Lime, TIER and others.
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There are also different tours that you can take which are designed to take you in the good cycling surfaces depending on your fitness levels. Check out more here.
Lastly, there are plenty of National Routes set up that can take you throughout the city and the surrounding areas. Just follow the National Cycle Network sign.
Subway
Glasgow’s metro rail system or Glasgow is over 120 years old. It’s the world’s 3rd oldest underground system. The subway or SPT has 2 circular lines that can get you around the city centre and the West End. It runs every 4 minutes at peak times and takes 24 minutes to complete a full circuit of all the 15 stations it goes through. Learn more here.
Similar to an oyster card in London, there is the Smartcard which allows you to travel across Subway, rail and bus. The card gives you access to the best subway ticket prices and you can top up with pay-as-you-go. They are free if you register online or £3 if you get an anonymous Smartcard from any subway station.
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There are no discounts for students.
Bus
The main operator of buses in Glasgow is FirstBus. They offer a variety of tickets to choose from and you can find more information on their website.
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As a student you are eligible to get student tickets from the FirstBus website.
If you are under the age of 22 and live in Scotland for at least 6 months a year you are entitled to apply for a free bus pass which is accepted on most bus services in Scotland.
While at the bus stop you will need to raise your hand when the bus is approaching, otherwise it may not stop. In the bus there are little red buttons scattered on the handles around the bus which you can press to indicate that you want to get off at the upcoming station.
For traveling larger distances from Glasgow, there are a number of different providers such as City Link, Megabus and National Express Coaches. For students there are a number of discounts you can get for these. You can check out the Young Person's Coach card or Citylink’s Students Discount.
Train
There are 2 rail stations in Glasgow that connect the city with North Scotland, London and other major cities around the UK. There’s Glasgow Central (GLC) and Glasgow Queen Street Station (GLQ). Trains are operated by ScotRail and Virgin Trains.
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For rail travel within or outside Glasgow, you could buy a Young Person’s Railcard for £30 and reduce the cost of most UK travel by up to 1/3. Anyone between the ages of 16-25 or anyone in full-time education can also apply for a Student railcard.
Taxi
Ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft do operate in Glasgow but traditional taxis are also available. They can be hailed on the spot or booked online, by call or by using the official Glasgow Taxis app. The taxi fare in Glasgow is rumoured to be the cheapest in the UK.