STAFF, patients and visitors to Glasgow's new super-hospital will be able to use 68 buses an hour during peak times.

 

A report from SPT says at present 14 buses an hour travel to the area of the new South Glasgow University Hospital which is due to open next month.

But from May 11, almost five times more buses will travel to the hospital which will have 10,000 staff and 750,000 patients and visitors each year.

So far, bus operators McGill's and Stagecoach have registered new services using the new Fastlink priority route.

It will operate from the city centre to the hospital along the Broomielaw, Clyde Arc bridge, Pacific Drive and Govan Road.

According to SPT, these will provide buses every five minutes during the day from Monday to Saturday and every 10 minutes during the evenings and on Sundays. The services will operate between 6am and midnight daily.

The new services will begin using the route from next month but the it will be the end of June before the dedicated Fastlink bus lanes are fully ready.

First and McGills have also confirmed changes to existing local bus services to directly serve the new hospital.

A re-designed hospital evening visitor service will give visitors improved access to the new hospital from the West and South of the city.

According to the report, SPT has undertaken an analysis of 10,000 hospital staff postcodes and shift starting and finishing times to identify potential demand or gaps in the current bus network.

It says: "The key headline regarding the services which will be operational on May 11 for the Southern General Hospital is that the number of peak hour buses will increase from 14 to 68.

The provision of these services has been made, through SPT's intervention, at the commercial will of operators and at no cost to the public purse.

"Fastlink services are now confirmed to be operational by early May, Stagecoach's X1 service by May 4 and McGill's F1 service by May 11.

"These services, when combined, provide a five minute peak and 10 minute off-peak service frequency."

In March, SPT approved a £7million refurbishment of Govan interchange which covers the Subway, buses and Fastlink, which will result in a revamped transport hub and play a key role for people accessing the new hospital.

Eric Stewart, SPT assistant chief executive operations said: "Following a review of bus services due to operate when the hospital opens, there were some obvious gaps.

Although it is difficult to create direct services for every journey required, these new services will most certainly help in accessing the hospital from the south and north side of the city. "