GLASGOW and Renfrewshire councils have agreed on funding for a tram link between Glasgow Airport and Paisley, which could double as a feasibility study for a Glasgow-wide tram network.

It will be the first phase of a region-wide tram network currently in the planning stages – though it would still need to be approved by the Scottish Government before it can be a national travel project.

The plans include building the airport link section first, which will be part of an evaluation into the possibility to extend the network into Glasgow, via Renfrew, Braehead, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and finally across the River Clyde into the city centre.

Setting up a Glasgow Metro to create the tram network is a recommendation by the Connectivity Commission, a body set up by the council to meet 21st-century sustainability goals.

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The consideration of a Metro has been included in the Programme for Government and it could transform Glasgow's transport infrastructure to match cities like Copenhagen and Porto – which have been used as case studies by the council.

Council leader Susan Aitken will provide an update on the plans this Friday at the State of the City Economy conference.

She called the case for a Glasgow Metro "compelling" and said: “It’s less than a year since the expert Connectivity Commission proposed a Glasgow Metro but already our ambitions are making considerable progress."

Aitken added: “It’s less than a year since the expert Connectivity Commission proposed a Glasgow Metro but already our ambitions are making considerable progress.

“The Scottish Government has pledged to work with us on the Commission’s recommendations, while Glasgow and Renfrewshire Councils will undertake the feasibility work required to ensure it can be considered as a key, national project. Funding is already in place to deliver a first phase, linking Paisley with Glasgow Airport.

“We need to improve how our people get around if Glasgow is to build on its potential as a global city. For these reasons and more, the case for a Glasgow Metro is compelling.”

Last year, a paper written by Professor David Begg, a former transport advisor to the UK Government, highlighted that a substantial change is needed for modernising Glasgow's transport networks.

The Scottish Government's Programme for Government contains a section which reads: "We welcome the Glasgow Connectivity Commission report and the ambitious vision it sets out for the Glasgow City Region for creating an inclusive, thriving and liveable city.

"We are committed to working with partners to consider the Commission’s recommendations, and as part of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review, we will consider the potential for a Glasgow Metro, which builds on the planned City Region Deal investment to link Glasgow Airport and the new National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland to Paisley Gilmour Street.

A Glasgow City Council document called Connecting Glasgow outlines key goals and definitions for future projects.

It said: "The Glasgow Metro would be a network of high capacity rapid transit lines serving as much of the city as possible so that the fixed transport system plays the fullest possible role in ensuring inclusive growth across the city’s communities, sustaining the international competitiveness of the key employment concentrations in and around the city centre."