TikTok star Francis Bourgeois buys retired Glasgow subway train

A TikTok star known for his love of trains has saved a retired Glasgow subway car.

Francis Bourgois, who has more than three million followers, gained popularity after sharing his love for trains and videos of himself trainspotting across the world.

The 24-year-old shared the news with his followers on Sunday with a video entitled “I Have Bought a Train” on his YouTube.

It comes after, the star’s previous visit to Glasgow where he explored the city’s subway lines and show off the “ergonomic beauty” of its trains.

Francis Bourgois gained popularity after sharing his love for trains and videos of himself trainspotting across the world. YouTube/ Francis Bourgeois

He showed himself arriving to Glasgow on the Caledonian Sleeper before taking the subway to Govan to pick up power car 107.

Power car 107 was moved out of service along with the rest of the legacy fleet of Subway trains last year.

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) confirmed a new fleet would be taking to Glasgow lines in December 2023, after the old fleet had “performed beyond its expected lifespan”.

Bourgois told viewers he was “happy” could save the old train.

“It feels so bizarre to be sitting in a train that I can call my own. This was only in service a couple of months ago and would have been scrapped.”

Bourgeois did not say what he planned to do with the train, but shared clips of his exploring the train including how to manually open the doors.

Followers welcomed the news, with one commenting: “Well done, you! A bit of our heritage saved. Thanks for caring.”

Another commented: “107 was one of the good ones! I spent hundreds of hours driving that one. 107 had 101 in the middle (used as a trailer due to an ATO fault) and 103 at the other end. Really easy to stick to timetable on this set compared to some others.”