Light Rail


	Light Rail


	Light Rail is : - Safe and speedy, avoiding congestion through segregation and priority - Clean and green, enhancing the environment with no polluting emissions - Reliable and versatile, running at high speeds when segregated - Adaptable, coping with tight curves, steep gradients and narrow roadways

Nottingham Express Transit is a Light Rail system with considerable on-street running. Currently there are 15 tram stops attracting some 5.1m passenger journeys each year. Plans for the future involve extending the system to 3 routes with 40+ stops and 25+km of dedicated track.
The importance of the project in reducing environmental damage is seen in the Governments willingness to provide £167m funding over a 10 year period. The expectation is that the trams will eventually help remove 2 million car journeys per year from the city’s congested network.

2001 saw the provisional approval of Leeds Supertram scheme, covering 28km of track with approximately 50 stops and 40 articulated trams. The network would serve the city core with branches to the north, south and east. It will contribute to the Government’s target of a 50% increase in Light Rail use in the UK over the next 10 years.
The Government is insisting that the project does not exceed £500m, and ordered a rethink in mid-2004 when it was suggested that it might cost twice that sum. 25% of the funding is expected to be found by private sector funding.

Lancashire County Council has investigated Light Rail for the Lancaster and Morecambe District before. A Feasibility Guide For Rapid Transit Systems In Lancashire was completed by consultants Steer Davis Gleave in June 1993.
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The systems investigated were Light Rail, Guided Light Transit, Guided Bus, Bus Priority Measures and Quality Bus Routes. Each of these was considered in relation to the local traffic corridor from Heysham Harbour, through Morecambe and Lancaster to Bairigg and Galgate. Light Rail, Guided Light Transit and Guided Bus were all found to require large capital expenditure and substantial operating costs, which effectively produced negative cost / benefit ratios. At that time the decision was made to pursue the less financially draining routes of Bus Priority Measures and Quality Bus.


	A study from 12 years ago cannot be relevant today. Technology has changed and congestion increased. We believe that Lancashire County Council should look again at Rapid Transit Systems for the area and recalculate the costs and benefits

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