AN extra 1.6million passengers a year would use the Subway if it was extended into Glasgow's East End, a study has found.

AN extra 1.6million passengers a year would use the Subway if it was extended into Glasgow's East End, a study has found.

But early finance estimates for the project show it could cost as much as £120million to complete the spur.

Experts were commissioned this year to find out the likely cost of a new link and how many people would use it.

They have now submitted their report for the extension, which would connect the main Argyle Line in the city centre with the Parkhead area.

The region's transport agency, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, says passenger numbers are based on the current population of the East End and so would likely soar in the future.

The area, known as Clyde Gateway, is a national regeneration priority where 10,000 new homes and 21,000 jobs are planned at a cost of £1.6billion.

It is also where the Commonwealth Games village will be built in time for the 2014 event.

On Friday, SPT board members will be asked to approve a detailed survey of the new route at a likely cost of around £250,000.

If they agree, it will mark a major step forward for the Subway extension plan.

SPT chairman Alistair Watson said: "This study will bring the possibility of a Subway extension a step closer.

"Going ahead with the second stage study indicates that SPT is determined to make this a reality."

SPT wants to use existing railway tunnels to link the SECC in the west with Celtic Park in the east.

Experts will also be asked to look at the possibility of providing two new spurs from the exhibition centre.

One would run to Yorkhill Hospital For Sick Children and the other to the Clyde waterfront, where it would link up with the planned Fastlink bus service.

They will also report on the possibility of the new link to the existing Subway network at a new transport interchange at St Enoch Station, where the Subway passes beneath the heavy rail line.

An SPT spokesman said: "The first study has determined the extension is possible.

"The second will look at what engineering is necessary; what types of trains will run and how; how the extension will contribute to the economic regeneration of the East End; and how the work will be funded."

The existing 111-year-old Subway presently carries 14million passengers a year.