Glasgow needs to understand who is using the city centre at night to ensure public transport meets their needs, Susan Aitken has said.

The council leader said the solutions to be explored can involve trains and the Subway as well as buses.

Aitken said a new group has been set up to investigate the city centre transport needs and opportunities.

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She said: “As it stands at present, the council has no regulatory role in the bus sector, a matter I have raised in recent weeks with the new Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Mairi McAllan. 

"However, as the democratically-elected administration in this city we can bring together the relevant parties and help secure a result for citizens.”

She welcomed a deal between First and McGills to retain night bus services but said: “It’s also important to extend the conversation to wider night-time transport across the city region”.

She said: “The City Centre Task Force, co-led by the Council and Chamber of Commerce, is convening a transport group to explore the opportunities to better serve the city’s needs.

“That will require having the evidence and understanding of who is using the city centre at night, the type of places they’re going, what the main drivers of the night-time economy are, and how much of this is determined by changing public needs and demands as much as it is by specific local circumstances.

"It’s crucial we have a clear picture of the evening economy of 2023, not that of 10 or 20 years ago.”

While recent focus has been on the night buses she said other forms of public transport can play a part in services after midnight.

Aitken added: “Knowing where people are coming from and going to can help inform discussions on the possibility of late train services, something I’m sure the travelling public would want to see advanced, as well as the current and future role of the Subway in moving people around at night.”