Glasgow, 24th-30th July 2005

The IR Festival will be held in Glasgow in Scotland.

All workshops (IR Theory, IRiX, AMR, and INEX) will be held in the Western Infirmary Lecture Theatre. The Western Informary Lecture Theatre is building B9 on maps of the campus. It is most easily accessed via University Place, off Byres Road just south of University Avenue.

Travel

Flights to Glasgow:

Glasgow is served by two international airports: Glasgow International Airport (GLA) is the the main airport in Scotland and lies about 15km west of the city centre; Prestwick Airport (PIK) is used mainly by Ryanair and lies about 50km south-west of the city centre.

British Airways and BMI have regular flights from London Heathrow and other UK destinations to Glasgow Airport - these are often well priced from London, but can be very expensive. If you are connecting through Heathrow and have a connection time of under 2 hours, pack assuming that your baggage will miss your connection - especially if it is odd/outsized. Heathrow is also an extremely large airport which means a lot of walking and congestion in the air - give plenty of times for changeovers - it may take your flight a while to land and you will probably have a long walk in the terminal. Amsterdam can also be used for connections to Glasgow - with regular flights by KLM (and the occassional EasyJet).

London's Luton and Stansted airports provide regular low-cost services to Glasgow/Prestwick operated by EasyJet or Ryanair. In addition, the site http://www.AirNinja.com lists a number of budget airlines not found on most booking engines. So for example, to view the airlines flying to Glasgow and all possible places of departure, try http://www.airninja.com/discountairlines/arrivals_GlasgowUnitedKingdom.htm.

As well as flights from many UK airports (e.g. by BA, BMI, EasyJet, and Ryanair) there are at regular direct flights from/to:

Getting from the airport

Glasgow is much closer than Prestwick but has no train line. A regular bus to the city takes 20 mins in good traffic but can be up to an hour (Scottish Citylink have timetables - enter your destination as Glasgow - you will go to Buchanan Bus Station which is the main bus terminal in the city centre). Prestwick is about 45 minutes out of Glasgow by train; these run every 30 mins or so during the day (National Rail Enquiries timetables give train connection information). A taxi from Glasgow Airport to campus will cost around £15 and will take about 20 mins in good traffic -- from Prestwick a taxi is about £40 taking about 1 hour. With a Ryannair ticket train prices are considerably reduced, however Ryanair is ticketless so its tricky to have proof of this, printing your e-booking in colour makes it more likely to be accepted on the train.

Getting to the conference venue

• Buses: Routes 11 and 44 run through the main campus from the city centre. Numerous other routes serve Dumbarton Road, Great Western Road and Byres Road. A seasonal tourist route stops at the University.
• Underground: The main station for the University is Hillhead. Kelvinhall and Kelvinbridge stations are more convenient for some locations (see map of Glasgow).
• Local trains: The nearest suburban rail station is Partick, about one mile to the west of the University. It has an interchange with the underground and with bus services on Dumbarton Road.
• Taxis: Black taxi cabs can be picked up at most times in the University area and the city centre.
• Cycle racks are provided on campus at A21, B3, B4, E1 and E2 (see Campus map...).

Other Transport to Glasgow

Edinburgh is about an hour and 30 minutes drive from Glasgow, with frequent rail and bus (e.g. Citylink or Motovator) transfers. Traveline offers a journey planner for travel within Scotland.

Rail to Glasgow

Timetable enquiries at National Rail Enquiries. In Scotland, ScotRail operates most services and the sleepers to London, with Virgin and GNER doing most day-time services to England. The journal from London is about 5 hours 30 but can be often delayed. Virgin have just started running Pendolino tilting trains which may speed up the journey by 30 mins. There are two city-centre terminals, Queen Street and Central (served by Buchanan St and St Enoch underground stations respectively). Flights from London are often cheaper than rail - especially from the low-cost airports.

Coach

Buchanan Bus Station is the main terminus for long distance coaches. National Express is the largest inter city coach service in the UK. Megabus offers low cost coach travel, with fares for London-Glasgow starting at £1.

Roads to Glasgow

From Carlisle, Newcastle and the south, exit M74 on to the M73, joining the M8 at the Old Monkland junction. M8 exits for the University are J18 if travelling from the south, Edinburgh and the north and J19 if coming from Glasgow Airport and the west. Other main routes serving the University include Great Western Road (A82, north of campus), Clydeside Expressway (A814, south) and Byres Road (B808, west). Car parking on the University campus and surrounding area is extremely difficult.

Other Hints and Tips

The UK uses the EU standard 230v mains supply but a very different plug from most of the EU - adapters can be bought in the airport or most big newsagents in the city.

Scottish banks have the right to produce their own bank-notes - so you will see various versions of each banknote: Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank and Bank of England. See www.scotbanks.org.uk and www.bankofengland.co.uk for extensive information (the £50 and £100 notes are rather rare).

EasyRentACar has a location near Glasgow Airport - at time of writing they charged from £3 per day plus a one off £10 charge for insurance. But you have to book early for the cheapest rates and they have tight regulations and limitations. The big rental companies also have desks at Glasgow Airport.