A call has been made for a local train line in Glasgow to be electrified to bring it into line with the rest of the rail network.

The Anniesland to Queen Street North Glasgow Suburban Line has been subject to cancellations and delays for a number of years.

It will be further disrupted with the closure of Queen Street station from later this month and is not included in any current upgrade plans.

Patricia Ferguson, Maryhill and Springburn Labour MSP has called on the Scottish Government to make an early announcement on electrifying the route.

Often, when there are pressures on train services in and out of Queen Street, services on the line are cancelled to ease capacity at the station.

It leaves passengers travelling to stations in Possilpark and Mayhill with no train service.

Ms Ferguson asked Infrastructure Secretary Keith Brown, to act on the line.

She said: “Passengers who travel on that line have recently suffered severe disruption from a number of causes, including the Edinburgh to Glasgow improvement project and the problems with the Forth road bridge.

“All that disruption is, perhaps, understandable, but they also now face 20 weeks of considerable disruption and substantially increased journey times during the period of works to the tunnels and other parts of the railway outside Queen Street station.

Will the cabinet secretary consider making an early announcement about the electrification of the line, so that we can bring it into the same situation as the other suburban lines in Glasgow?

Mr Brown said the route would be considered at the next stage of improvements which will be next year.

He said: “The Edinburgh to Glasgow improvement project, which is one of the causes of the disruption, is bringing substantial benefits to Glasgow. I think that I am right in saying that more electrification is happening in and around Glasgow than in any other part of the country”

He said other areas requiring electrification had to be considered as well.

He said: “As for an early announcement, I think that the matter is best considered when all the different options are taken together. Other parts of Scotland are very interested in the roll-out of electrification to their areas, and we have to consider that against the resources that we expect to be available at the time.”