THE SNP has said it will plan to extend the Subway if it takes over control of Glasgow City Council.

Should the party oust Labour at the City Chambers on May 4, it said it has ambitious plans for the 120-year-old underground network.

Currently the Subway serves the city centre, West End and south west of the city.

The SNP said it will investigate possible extensions to the east and north.

To fund the work it said it will look at new ways of raising cash rather than capital grants from the Scottish Government.

The Subway is currently undergoing a £288m refurbishment including re-vamped stations, new track and signalling and eventually new trains.

Kenny McLean, SNP councillor and candidate for Partick East/Kelvindale, which includes Partick and Kelvinhall stations, said further improvements can be made.

He said: “It is our view that the Subway would be able to contribute more to economic growth in the city and be more responsive to the city’s people and visitors if it were controlled by the City Government. We are also confident that more can be done with the Subway to connect communities.

“We are also not afraid to build on the ongoing renovation of the Subway.”

Such a move would cost hundreds of millions of pounds to build new tunnels and stations under city streets.

Mr McLean added: “We will look at possible extension of the Subway and consider innovative funding methods, such as City Bonds, to fund this work.

“The subway is over 120 years old. It is high time that we look to connect communities in the north and east of Glasgow.”

The first move over the Subway would be to take it out of the hands of regional transport partnership, SPT and under the control of the City Council, which the SNP is referring to as the City Government.

Mr McLean said: “Glasgow’s Subway is a cherished asset of the city. It has, for decades, been managed by SPT on behalf of the city. “However, an SNP City Government will take steps to change this. We will work with the Scottish Government and SPT to bring control of the Subway back into the control of the City Government. “The Subway is entirely within Glasgow, it makes sense that the network is maintained by the City Government.”

Extending the Subway beyond the current 15 station twin-circle network has been mooted before.

In 2007 the then SPT chairman, Labour councillor, Alistair Watson, said there would be an extension into the east end in time for the Commonwealth Games, but the plans never came to anything.

After the city was awarded the games, Mr Watson said: “We will deliver the East End extension for 2014. I am being unequivocal about that.”

The plan then was for a link between the Games venues at the SECC and the Emirates arena and Celtic Park connected to the main inner and outer circles via Argyle Street at St Enoch.

If it happens it, would be the first new stations added since it was built in 1896, only the third underground system in the world, after London and Budapest. No stations were added at the last major refurbishment between 1977 and 1980.