Clyde Metro
Active Travel and transport
Dec 2024 - Ongoing
Supporting health through investment in Glasgow City Region’s transport infrastructure
Clyde Metro offers a transformational vision for the future of Glasgow City Region’s transport infrastructure. It emerged as a key recommendation from Transport Scotland’s Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2), which outlined the Scottish Government’s national transport investment priorities for the next 20 years (2022-2042). Clyde Metro is also included in the statutory National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), which is the Scottish Government's long-term spatial strategy for Scotland. Clyde Metro is one of eighteen identified developments considered to be of national importance that will help deliver the strategy.
Clyde Metro aims to be a fully integrated mass transit system which will connect seamlessly with existing rail, bus, and subway services, as well as active travel modes such as walking, wheeling, and cycling. Mass transit modes being considered include metro rail, tram train (hybrid of rail and tram), light rail (tram) and bus rapid transit. As a long-term multi-billion-pound investment, Clyde Metro will be transformational in nature, seeking to address multiple, connected policy areas such as inclusive economic growth, health and inequality, climate change and net-zero, and placemaking. Specifically, it aims to stimulate regional regeneration, improve access to healthcare, employment and educational facilities, reduce car-dependency and promote more equitable access to good quality, affordable public transport. When fully developed, Clyde Metro could serve a City Region that is home to around a third of Scotland’s population, including some of its most deprived communities that have suffered the impacts of unaffordable, unreliable, and poorly connected local transport for decades.
Clyde Metro Vision
“Clyde Metro aims to deliver transformational change for the Glasgow City Region, providing opportunity for all through sustainable, transport-led, investment. Fundamental to the programme will be integration to achieve placemaking, regeneration, and densification and enable a healthier, fairer and more prosperous City Region. Investment today will connect people with opportunity, welcome visitors and investors, reduce carbon emissions and provide the platform for the Glasgow City Region to fulfil its potential as an economic powerhouse for all of Scotland.”
Governance and Delivery
Clyde Metro is an ambitious, city-region project. Consequently, several workstreams need to be developed which demonstrate the need and value of delivering a project of this scale. Undertaking this task, termed the ‘Case for Investment’ (CFI), is the primary focus and will set out the Programme Level Business Case for Clyde Metro and arrangements for its initial delivery phases. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) are leading on the development of the CFI. Glasgow City Council is supporting this work on behalf of the Glasgow City Region, with Transport Scotland providing project assurance.
The CFI is being funded by £12.155m from the Glasgow City Region City Deal, with the Scottish and UK Governments each contributing 50% to the funding package. Once the CFI is complete, the project can be taken forwards to future stages. Tasks would include detailed appraisal, engineering design, making the financial case for funding and ultimately the delivery of future lines or routes. The delivery of the CFI is being undertaken in accordance with Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) and HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance for the development of business cases.
The CFI is split into two stages, with completion expected in early 2027. Stage 1 of the CFI, which was finalised in Spring 2025, developed a Case for Change and Initial Network Option. You can read more about this stage here. Stage 2 of the CFI will identify a preferred network option for Clyde Metro and outline how it can be funded, delivered and operated - shaping future decisions around routes, phasing, and implementation. This vital, ongoing work will lay the groundwork for turning Clyde Metro into a reality.
Supporting this latest phase is a Public Health Researcher from the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, working in close collaboration with Glasgow City Council to ensure health and wellbeing considerations are embedded throughout the process.
Current status of Clyde Metro
CFI Stage 2 is a two-year programme of work (2025 - 2027) being delivered through eight workstreams, as follows:
- 2A: STAG Appraisal and Related Technical Workstreams
- 2B: Strategic Environmental Assessment and Habitat Regulations Assessment
- 2C: Non-Environmental Impacts Assessments
- 2D: Programme Business Case
- 2E: Programme Business Case Audit
- 2F: Preliminary Engineering Statement
- 2G: Land-use & Placemaking and Housing Assessment
- 2H: Transformation Strategy & Framework and Action Plan
Each workstream is being progressed to demonstrate the impact and potential benefits of Clyde Metro to the City Region, with 2A and 2D providing the spine of the CFI programme, through which the other workstreams will feed in. Workstream 2C has the greatest emphasis on health and is being considered through a range of impact assessments. These are being delivered through an integrated approach, with targeted stakeholder engagement taking place at the scoping and full assessment stage. Health considerations are also embedded within the ‘human health’ component of workstream 2B and are a key component of workstream 2A. Insights and learning on health generated through this work will inform key decision points throughout the planning and delivery of Clyde Metro.
Project objectives
GCPH will support the delivery of the CFI by:
- Ensuring that up-to-date health data and relevant policy across the City Region feeds into the Stage 2 CFI.
- Generating advocacy for Clyde Metro with relevant stakeholders across public health.
- Supporting the Glasgow City Council Clyde Metro team with developments which require public health input.
- Bringing all health-related aspects of Clyde Metro into a coherent programme of work.
What is involved
Workstream 2C involves a range of non-environmental impact assessments to account for possible social, health and economic impacts. Specifically in relation to health, a Health Impact Assessment (HIA), Place and Wellbeing Assessment, Equalities Impact Assessment (incorporating a Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment) and Fairer Duty Scotland Assessment are being undertaken. Each assessment is following a process of screening (to determine whether the assessment is required based on policy and evidence), scoping (to set out the methodology, stakeholder engagement requirements and detailed evidence), interim assessment (to support the option sifting process and identification of preferred option) and full assessment (to comprehensively outline the various likely impacts of the preferred option on different population groups, how adverse impacts can be mitigated and how opportunities to improve health are maximised). In addition, a Strategic Environmental Assessment (2B) is being undertaken which incorporates a section on ‘human health’. This identifies how the environmental impacts of Clyde Metro could shape health and equity.
For the HIA, learning generated through the development of the Glasgow City Region’s CHIA toolkit has been embedded in the approach. As HIA is not a statutory requirement in the delivery of capital projects, the CHIA toolkit was developed to support their use in this context. Clyde Metro has been a pilot project for the development of the CHIA toolkit since 2021. This means that the resources developed, and the recommended approach outlined in the toolkit, have informed the process of delivering the HIA. The formation of an HIA Steering Group for the project, which includes health representation from across the region and HIA expertise, is an example of this influence. GCPH is represented on this group.
Additionally, research undertaken by the University of Glasgow will feed into the planning for Clyde Metro at key decision-points. This research has been commissioned as part of the GALLANT project to address the following:
- To identify cities that have successfully planned and implemented mass transit systems.
- To understand how these cities have integrated active travel with public transport to support multi-modal connectivity.
- To explore and identify ways to support adults who may face access barriers to using sustainable and active travel in the Glasgow City Region.
- To identify the potential health economic impacts of Clyde Metro.
Clyde Metro is a fast-evolving and complex programme of work. As such, input from GCPH has been adaptable to emerging needs. Broadly, the work involves:
- Supporting the Stage 2C CFI work which has an explicit focus on health.
- Supporting other Stage 2 CFI commissioned work which requires public health input.
- Providing evidence and information to appointed consultants in relation to health data, policy, good-practice and stakeholders for the Glasgow City Region.
- Commenting on draft versions of impact assessment reports and additional outputs developed in relation to health and health inequalities.
- Membership of a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Steering Group.
- Development of a framework to bring all work completed around health under one umbrella.
- Offering a public health perspective for all relevant Clyde Metro consultation responses.
- Attending weekly meetings with the Glasgow City Council Clyde Metro team.
- Ensuring that CHIA toolkit learning, resources and processes feed into the delivery of the HIA.
- Ensuring that emerging public health policy and strategy is considered in relation to the delivery of Clyde Metro.
- Generating advocacy for Clyde Metro through engagement, presentations and published written outputs.
- Supporting the development of wider work which progresses understanding and collaboration between public health and the transport sector.
- Supporting wider research being undertaken through Clyde Metro which advances understanding of the key challenges relating to transport in the Glasgow City Region.
Findings & outcomes
Emerging learning over the course of the CFI will feed directly into the assessment phase of each Impact Assessment. Extensive research has been undertaken to identify the key health challenges for the City Region, relevant health determinants, how these may impact on different population groups, and all relevant national, regional and local policy. Reports developed at the screening and scoping stages have been signed off by SPT as CFI lead, and each full assessment will be published in line with guidance. Where useful, further opportunities to highlight the potential impacts of Clyde Metro on health will be published here.
Up-to-date information on Clyde Metro can be found here
Further resources & reading
Transport and public health: presentation delivered by Alex Wilde from Glasgow City Council and Gregor Yates, GCPH, providing an outline of how Clyde Metro can support health across the City Region.
Previous