Barrhead's new £18m railway station supported by city region cabinet

An £18m plan to build a new railway station for Barrhead has moved forward after securing support from council leaders.

The Glasgow City Region Cabinet — made up of council leaders from eight local authorities — has granted permission for the project to proceed.

It is hoped a Barrhead South Rail Station, off Balgraystone Road, will support the regeneration of the town and house building in the area.

Trains on the Glasgow Central to Neilston line, a half hourly service, running more frequently during peak hours, would pass through the station.

Work is expected to begin in June next year and be completed by December 2025. The cost is set to be £18.3m, after officials reported in 2021 that it had increased from an initial £8.8m due to inflation and changes to the scope of the scheme.

Glasgow City Region’s cabinet approved an outline business case for the station on Tuesday morning. It also agreed to use £2m for further development and enabling works, which will progress the project to a full business case.

East Renfrewshire Council leader Owen O’Donnell, Labour, said: “I’m delighted that we have passed this major milestone in making a new train station in Barrhead South a reality.

“This will be a warmly welcomed new asset for the people of Barrhead.”

The new station is expected to be made up of two platforms, which will need “step-free access” — either a lift or ramp and an overbridge.

Facilities at the station are set to include shelters, benches, a customer assistance help point, a bus interchange and a three-bay taxi rank.

Cycle lockers and car parking spaces will also be included, with access for vehicles from Balgraystone Road. Bus services 3 and 51 will call at the Park & Ride.

The Glasgow City Region City Deal is an infrastructure programme backed by £500m each from the UK and Scottish Governments. Almost £16m of City Deal money will be used on the Barrhead station, with around £2.5m provided by East Renfrewshire Council.

A report to the City Region cabinet said for every £1 of public money invested, there will be just over £2 of economic benefit. It stated the project demonstrated “value for money”.

East Renfrewshire Council has engaged Network Rail as the contractor to deliver the project, the report added.

“This project is a core part of the combined Barrhead South regeneration, alongside other City Deal funded projects to upgrade Aurs Road and Balgraystone Road,” officials reported.

They added the funding “represents an opportunity to support the ongoing regeneration of Barrhead, and particularly to support, and stimulate house building in South Barrhead”.

“The combined Barrhead South project will deliver vital transport infrastructure within Barrhead South that has been identified based on the potential to stimulate private sector housing development, maximise economic opportunity and address socioeconomic and social deprivation.”