Edinburgh to Glasgow airport - help please

[megy]

Hi all, I have just been offered a temporary job at Glasgow airport and would like some help. Having never been there before I need to know how long I should allow to get there from the Leith Walk area of Edinburgh, I need to be there for 8 am. I have never driven along the M8 to Glasgow, yet alone the airport so do not know the road or any of the other routes.

Any help would be benificial for me and I appreciate any that anyone can give, thanks.

[kmm]

I stayed in Glasgow but that was years ago. My wife worked in Glasgow when we stayed in Hamilton and then when we moved to Falkirk and the M8 was always really busy from around the Ballieston cut off until over the Kingsdon Bridge. If you are there before 0745 then i think the traffic should be reasonable. Direct route straight down the M8 past Glasgow & Paisley and then take the Airport cut-off. Allow about 10-15 mins in light traffic from Glasgow to Airport. I recon it will take you around an hour, but leaving 10 mins later could cost you 40 mins extra in travel time if you hit traffic.
There will be someone on here who drives the route regulary. You could also get an estimated time distance through one of the route finders.

[militantmandy]

I would about 1h 30min minimum, given the time of the morning you're going to hit the bridge. I take it you mean Glasgow-Paisley, rather than Prestwick?

[Edinburger]

megy said:

Hi all, I have just been offered a temporary job at Glasgow airport and would like some help. Having never been there before I need to know how long I should allow to get there from the Leith Walk area of Edinburgh, I need to be there for 8 am. I have never driven along the M8 to Glasgow, yet alone the airport so do not know the road or any of the other routes.

Any help would be benificial for me and I appreciate any that anyone can give, thanks.

Hi, congratulations on the job. Bad news is the M8 is not a good drive...

I travel all over Scotland in my job and the M8 is the road I hate most. The Kingston Bridge in Glasgow can be horrendous at rush hour and the airport is the other side of Glasgow. If I were you, I'd probably leave home in Leith just after 6. Give yourself an hour and a half minimum each way.

Perhaps train would be a better option?

[chriis]

Dont get a job there , i work in Glasgow Airport and its 'orrible !!

[jamieboy]

Train to Glasgow and then bus, maybe an option?

[Stablelad]

The best advice I can offer based upon the logistics behind your proposed commute is to kill yourself.


HTH

[Dyl]

I drive the M8 from Coatbridge to get to uni and I have to leave the house at 7.20 to be in the city centre for just before 8 most mornings. Sometimes the traffic is very quiet, but when that section of the M8 has an accident or breakdown, it can get really bad - 1 mile in an hour I've experienced.

So I'd say aim to be on the outskirts of Glasgow for 7 and you'd be fine. So leaving at 6 as mentioned before seems suitable.

[megy]

chriis said:

Dont get a job there , i work in Glasgow Airport and its 'orrible !!

Hi Chriis, what do you do there? I hope where I will be working wont be too 'orrible, beats being on the dole anyway.

Edinburger said:

Hi, congratulations on the job. Bad news is the M8 is not a good drive...

I travel all over Scotland in my job and the M8 is the road I hate most. The Kingston Bridge in Glasgow can be horrendous at rush hour and the airport is the other side of Glasgow. If I were you, I'd probably leave home in Leith just after 6. Give yourself an hour and a half minimum each way.

Perhaps train would be a better option?

jamieboy said:

Train to Glasgow and then bus, maybe an option?

I might have a look into this, see what the times and logistics will be like.

Stablelad said:

The best advice I can offer based upon the logistics behind your proposed commute is to kill yourself.

This might have to be considered after a couple of weeks, IF the journey is really bad.

Dyl said:

I drive the M8 from Coatbridge to get to uni and I have to leave the house at 7.20 to be in the city centre for just before 8 most mornings. Sometimes the traffic is very quiet, but when that section of the M8 has an accident or breakdown, it can get really bad - 1 mile in an hour I've experienced.

So I'd say aim to be on the outskirts of Glasgow for 7 and you'd be fine. So leaving at 6 as mentioned before seems suitable.

Cheers for the advice, seems to be the general consensus of opinion.

Thanks all for the help, much appreciated.

[Craigie]

Once you start it may be worthwhile to take some time to learn the various "rat runs" that avoid the M8 when it gets really busy or stationery although, ultimately in most cases, you need to rejoin the M8 to go over the Kingston Bridge.

It will be better when the M74 extension gets completed.......

[sherman]

jamieboy said:

Train to Glasgow and then bus, maybe an option?

The train from edinburgh to glasgow is about an hour to queens street. You would then need to get a bus or similar public transport which would take another hour out to the airport.

Its quicker drivng

[bigwheel]

sherman said:

jamieboy said:

Train to Glasgow and then bus, maybe an option?

The train from edinburgh to glasgow is about an hour to queens street. You would then need to get a bus or similar public transport which would take another hour out to the airport.

Its quicker drivng

There's a direct airport bus that'll make Glasgow city centre to GLA in 15 mins or less.

[sherman]

At rush hour in glasgow at that time of the morning, bearing in mind you dont have to wait for it if your train doesnt come in at the right time everyday.

[cat220]

Thats a killer commute every day, especially driving. Not so much going if you leave early enough but the return journey the M8 will be packed. As mentioned the train might be an option about £75 for a weekly ticket to Queen Street. And either the airport bus from Buchanan Street or a train to Gilmour Street in Paisley(15-25mins from Central) and 5-10min on the bus to the airport from there. At least with the train you can relax. I done a very similar commute to Edinburgh for 6 months and after driving it for a few days the train was my only option due to the stress and strain of the drive.(and I love driving)

Congrats on the job, as you say, even with the commute it beats being unemployed.

[fluffnik]

Craigie said:

It will be better when the M74 extension gets completed.......

By then it'll be quicker to cut across the icefields of Hell.