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Other Proposed Tramway, Light Rail, Guided Bus and Metro Schemes
The Trams for Bath Group’s proposal is designed to tackle Bath’s two main problems which are caused by excessive car, pollution and congestion. Trams are fume-free at the place of use, although their power generation causes some pollution. They also have the proven ability to attract motorists out of their cars which will reduce both congestion and car-exhaust pollution too. In addition, they have an image befitting a World Heritage City. This tramway would only cross the frontage of one historical building in the centre of Bath (The Mineral Water Hospital in Upper Borough Walls) and the visual effect of the track and wires would be negligible. Overall, a well-planned tramway is infinitely preferable to a city clogged with cars and buses.
Most recent tramway developments are restricted to a few transport corridors, normally ex-heavy rail. This proposal uses lightweight track and vehicles for Bath which opens up the economic construction of a network of routes which will serve a greater proportion of the population and be much more effective at reducing car use.
The plan is based on the 1904 system that appears to be based on sound principles and still applicable. The length of track being balanced against the number of properties served. The City Centre Circle represents a major departure from previous practice and it is proposed to extend the peripheral services to newer suburbs and Park and Ride sites.
The proposed system will be in the form of radial routes converging on a City Centre Circle. This will serve up to 90% of the built-up area and will give easy access to the city centre without congesting it.
In Bath the majority of journeys by public transport are from the suburbs to the city centre or from one side of the city to the other; passing through the centre. However, tram routes directly through the centre would cause problems with tram congestion, prevent service vehicles from stopping in the commercial area in already overcrowded streets.
A circular route will take the tram service around the centre, passing the end of each major shopping street but using only existing traffic-free routes. The trams only need a narrow corridor in which to work safely, but the narrowness of the streets would make such a scheme impossible with any vehicle which produced exhaust fumes.
The city centre circle will have to operate in a clockwise direction because there is insufficient room for double track and synchronisation of trams to meet at passing places would place near impossible. The frequency of the service around the circle, about one tram per minute.
The anticipated capital cost is: Track - £24m, Vehicles - £25m, Electrical + Signals - £15m, Depot - £4m, Diversion of services - £1m, Works - £1m, Stops + Equipment - £1m, a grand total of £71m. The proposed service could be operated with 40 vehicles and the Pullman T.P.L. design has been estimated to be available for £500,000 provided the equipment specification is not too elaborate.
This project is a Public/Private Partnership Project between the Local Authorities of Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council together with the Private Sector - Citylink in Association with Railtrack PLC.
The proposed system will provide a fast & efficient public transport system at an affordable price which will encourage the transfer of car users to public transport so reducing congestion introducing sustainable environmental and social improvements and enhancing the economic competitiveness of the North Bristol corridor. The proposals form a key element in the integrated transport policy for the area.
Starting from the centre of Bristol the line will be a newly constructed "on street" tramway to a junction with the existing railway near Temple Meads station.
Between Temple Meads and Filton Abbey Wood (7km) the route will share Railtrack infrastructure using either existing or reinstated double track. It is intended that a new segregated track will carry the tramway to Almondsbury where it will terminate at a park & ride site adjacent to the motorway.
The route length is 16.7km with 16 stops. The full journey time will be 30 minutes with a service interval of 6 minutes weekdays & 15 minutes on Sundays. The cost is estimated as being £105m.
The private sector has been involved with the two councils in the development of the route from the outset, a situation unique amongst all of the proposals for Rapid Transit routes in the United Kingdom. The business case has been drawn up jointly with Citylink consortium and, uniquely, the call on public funds is likely to be much lower than for similar schemes in England.
Submission to the Government under the Public/Private Partnership Project (PPPP) took place in 1998 and the project’s schedule is the application to be submitted by mid 1999, the order granted by late 2000, construction complete by Autumn 2002 and trams running by 2003.
If successful it is hoped to bring forward new proposals in conjunction with neighbouring local authorities.
Cambridge Rapid Transit System
A planning application for a Rapid Transit guided busway system for Cambridge has been submitted Cambridge Rapid Transit System Ltd. (CRTS), a joint venture between Stagecoach and Rapid Transit International plc (RTI), the builders of the Northampton system. This company is intended to promote an Intermediate Transit System between bus and tram to resolve the growing congestion problems of Cambridge and its environs.
This application paves the way for Cambridge to participate with RTI’s Northampton RTS project in the European Consortium promoting Intermediate Transit.
Local bus company Cambus, a Stagecoach operating company, is actively involved in progressing plans to create an RTS core network.
The initial application deals with a route from the proposed Trumpington Park and Ride site south west of the City to the City Centre. This initial route would be set into the context of a core network of 7 lines radiating out from the centre to other park and ride sites or new settlements, and perhaps to market towns beyond. Further planning applications will follow in respect of such additional lines.
A scheme by the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation.
TRAK 21 by Cheshire County Council & City of Chester Council.
Edinburgh – The New Edinburgh Tramways Company Limited
http://www.edinburgh-tram.co.uk/
Edinburgh is one of the few European capitals without the benefits of trams, something NET intends to rectify because trams provide a high quality service that is fast and smooth. They are proven to attract motorists from their cars. Trams are accessible to all. Their smooth movement is especially attractive to people with mobility impairment, who can find existing public transport difficult to use. They are an environmentally friendly method of travel whichencourages civic pride and improves the quality of city life.
By using state of the art technology for the track and trams NET have made the tramway affordable by the private sector, without the need for government grants.
At £24M this scheme is far cheaper than the previous tram scheme, which involved much tunnelling. That scheme was abandoned in favour of the guided bus system (see below).
City of Edinburgh Council Transport Committee on 31/5/99 appointed DTZ Pieda to carry a study of the NET project, assisted by several other firms of consultants to look at specific fields. The DTZ Pieda study report contained a number of conclusions. One of the most important was that the scheme could not proceed as proposed for legal rather than technical reasons. During the time the study was taking place the Scottish Parliament introduced new procedures for private legislation. The Company had been led to believe that the existing Westminster procedures would be adopted, but instead revised procedures were introduced. The documentation the Company had does not fit in with the new procedures, so this is being revised. Because of this legal hiccup the Company withdrew the scheme, as constituted at the time. This does not mean, despite press impressions, that the proposal is dead. Rather NET are revising our documentation and looking forward to depositing a scheme at the earliest opportunity.
The company has taken this opportunity to study the scheme in the light of the DTZ Pieda report. There may be potential to extend the scheme to Granton as part of the Waterfront development. LEEL, the local enterprise organisation, is particularly interested in this option and the company has been in discussion with potential backers for this route. Discussions with other potential backers continue with the aim of securing funding for a Parliamentary Bill.
The proposed route would run from Newhaven to Haymarket, a distance of 7.06km (4.38 miles). Throughout its length the route would be double track laid in the highway. Various methods to give priority to the trams would be used, including Trambaans and operation of traffic lights in favour of the tram. As a result the tram would be about 20% faster than existing services.
At this stage in the project there are a number of options regarding the detailed route and the design and location of stops. The route outlined here is provisional.
The route would start at Pier Place, Newhaven. This would be the end of a loop that would turn the trams without the driver having to change ends. The tracks would keep to the north side of Lindsay Road as far as Anchorfield. From this point they would run through the Dock Estate, emerging onto the highway again at Portland Place.
Portland Place is the junction of Lindsay Road, Commercial Street, North Junction Street and the 'middle' entrance to the Docks. The route would emerge from the Dock Estate and run along the centre of North Junction Street. The route would then continue along Great Junction to the Foot of Leith Walk.
The tracks would continue up Leith Walk as far as Annandale Street/Montgomery Street, where they would transfer to the west side of Leith Walk and run from there past Gayfield Square and along Picardy Place.
Emerging from Picardy Place the tracks would cross Broughton Street and continue along York Place where they would then turn sharply into North Saint
Andrew Street with a stop at the bus station. The arrangement of tracks in St Andrew Square provides a way of turning trams short of their destination if necessary. Part of this track runs the "wrong way" along St Andrew Square. This would be made under traffic signal control.
Given the plans to restrict car access to Princes Street, trams will fit into what would be called a public transit mall in North America. The location of the tracks is proposed to be on the north side of the street, with buses on the south side. There are many examples of very busy streets where pedestrians and trams operate perfectly happily on the mainland of Europe.
The tracks would continue along Shandwick Place and West Maitland Street to Haymarket. Trams to Haymarket would not run around roundabout formed by Torpichen Street, Torpichen Place, Morrison Street and West Maitland Street. Instead they would continue along West Maitland Street under traffic signal control.
Two locations have been considered for the terminus at Haymarket. One is in the goods yard to the West of the station. This is less cramped and serves the new developments here. A reservation for trams was left here as a condition of planning permission. The other option is a terminus in front of the station area. This would be cramped.
NET’s LR55 rail will be laid directly into the road, without the need to divert underground services. This reduces costs considerably and allows the track to be laid more quickly than with other forms of track. There is less disruption while the track is being laid. A section of the track has been successfully carrying trams (and over 100 Heavy Goods Vehicles a day) in Sheffield, for three years. This track was installed to replace conventional track that was failing. An instrumented section of track was also successfully installed in Rotherham bus station where it survived the equivalent of many decades of service in a road. Railtrack are also interested in the track, as a means of lowering tracks through tunnels to allow higher freight vehicles to pass.
NET’s lightweight trams use mass produced technology to reduce the cost to roughly half that of existing trams. Off the shelf, mass produced components like motors and axles are the key to a tram that performs like other trams while costing less. A prototype tram has been running successfully in Blackpool for 12 months.
The prototype vehicle has gone through a thorough evaluation by the operators of the system in Pittsburgh, USA. It has been shortlisted as one of the contenders for a 60 vehicle order for this system. Serious interest has also been shown by Boston, Philadelphia and Rotterdam.
Numerous options of length, width, door arrangement and seating layout are available from the tram design. The preferred design for Edinburgh would be 28m long by either 2.40 or 2.65b m wide and 2,90 m high (excluding pantograph). It would weight between 20 (unladen) to 35 (max weight) tonnes seating 80 passengers with another 120 standing.
The tram would have a cab at each end and four sets of double plug doors on either side. The doors would give access to the low floor section of the car, which represents 65% of the total floor area. The floor in this section is 300mm above rail/ground level, permitting level access from the stops. The floor at either end is 800mm above ground level to clear the motor bogies. It is accessed by two 250mm steps. The two 90kW (120hp) motors are located under the driver's cabs and drive all wheels of the adjacent bogie. Adequate provision will be made for luggage, pushchairs, buggies, as well as for wheelchairs and guide dogs. Bicycles could also be carried. An adequate number of stanchions will be provided, together with seat-back and horizontal grab rails.
The prototype has been extensively tested and the vehicle is approved for carrying passengers by the UK Railway Inspectorate and meets all the relevant standards. The vehicle is modular, has a short delivery time, is assembled off the shelf and is software configured.
A 9km system is proposed in Edinburgh to run from Edinburgh Airport through the South Gyle Business and Shopping Centre and alongside the existing Edinburgh and Glasgow railway to Murrayfield and then along the disused lines (presently a relief road) of the old Caledonian Railway to Princes Street Station. From there it moves onto the normal roads to the centre of town.
Future developments could involve a city wide system linked to the waterfront development and North Edinburgh with bus services to the airport also being linked into the route.
The busway will operate on a segregated alignment for most of its length but will use normal bus lanes in the City centre and on other sections. New rail facilities at Gogar and Edinburgh Park will provide interchange between the busway and the existing suburban service. Services from other parts of the city will be linked into the busway for part of their journeys.
The infrastructure and special vehicles will cost about £40 million which will be obtained by a Private Finance Initiative scheme. The costs will be offset over the franchise period by applying access charges to other bus operators (including other FirstGroup companies). The City Council will take a share of any profits made by the consortium during the franchise period. The change in the plans by ConCERT to include the Murrayfield Sports Complex and Stadium to be on the first route will cost the City Council some £4 million for properties it had bought and which must now be sold.
The preferred bidder for the design, build and operate contract for the Edinburgh scheme is ConCERT, which is composed of Balfour Beatty, FirstGroup, Central Parking, Edison Capital and Abbey National Treasury Service. The involvement of FirstGroup means that the technical nature of the scheme will probably be similar to those operated by FirstGroup in Ipswich and Leeds. ConCERT will be trying to obtain the 25 year franchise for this scheme. Construction is planned to start in 2001. For this to happen some £15 million of Government money must be released by Spring 2000.
A proposal by Strathclyde Regional Council but the PTA's proposals were rejected by the Parliamentary Commissioners selected to oversee the public inquiry.
The International Institute of Rail Electrification Engineers has set up a project group called "Island Metro" to promote the conversion and further development of the existing railway, currently operated with out of date and life-expired ex-London Transport tube stock. The plan would see the upgrading of the existing rail line to tramway standards with extensions to Newport and Shanklin and street running in both those towns.
The Isle of Wight Council has agreed to include the provision of light rail corridors in its forthcoming local transport plan.
FirstBus, through its subsidiary First Leeds, has been operating Superbus since 1995. It connects the City Centre with the northern suburbs along the Scot Hall Road.
The 850 metres of inbound guideway saves up to five minutes per bus in the morning peak and the 450 metres of outbound guideway saves up to 3 minutes per bus in the afternoon peak. In addition, both sections create absolute consistency in bus running times during both peak and off-peak services. The guideway bypasses the road with its traffic and the buses activate sensors which turn the traffic green for the bus coming off the guideway, giving it further precedence over other road traffic and rejoins the normal road ahead of the traffic queue.
The guideway is normally situated in the middle of the road, between the two traffic lanes with a limited number of bus stops reached by pedestrian crossings. At these stops the pavements are raised so that there is a level boarding platform for wheelchairs and prams.
A city-wide network of tram lines is planned as part of the Leeds Transport Strategy, covering corridors where no rail link exists. In 1993 the powers were granted by Act of Parliament to build the South Leeds Supertram and the consortium Eurotrans has been appointed to Design, Build, Operate and Maintain the scheme.
Supporters of the scheme point out that Leeds has received only £4 million for transport over the last 25 years, which paid for four new rail stations. In contrast London has received £4,268 million, Newcastle £518 million, Manchester £297 million, Sheffield £272 million and Birmingham £187 million (all at 1998 prices).
A scheme has been promoted by Mersey Travel and Liverpool City Council. A planning application was submitted in the Autumn of 1999 by Liverpool Electric Tram Systems for a complex system. The first line would be between the City Centre and Speke with future extensions to Fazakerley and Childwall as well as a connection to the Mersey to serve Wallasey and Woodchurch. The proposed system would use the Roadliner type trams as per the prototype at Blackpool. The system would entail the removal of a number of central reservations on some roads, which had originally been tramways. In addition, a number of verges and trees would be removed to locate the tram stops. Local residents are opposing the scheme on the basis of reduced parking and creating an environmental wasteland.
A company called Llandudno Street Tramway Ltd. has been formed to raise public awareness of a new scheme and invite local residents to become shareholders. The proposed system will run on an east-west axis along the commercial heart of the town, linking it with a proposed park and ride scheme and a major secondary school.
London Transport has a scheme for an on-street tramway running from Camden Town to Peckham via Holborn and Waterloo.
Luton Borough Council is investigating a guided bus scheme which would run from Dunstable through the town centre, past the new Luton Airport Parkway Station to terminate at the Airport.
The Luton Scheme involves converting the disused railway from Luton to Dunstable into the core of a guided busway with non-guided feeder routes running to and from this core. These non-guided extensions would join the guided system at five places, including Dunstable Town Centre. The 7.5km journey from Dunstable Town Centre to Luton Station would take 12 minutes, while the 2.5km extension to Luton Parkway Station would add another 3.5 minutes as would the further 2.5km to Luton Airport. The 2.2 km branch from Parkway Station to a Park and Ride site near junction 10A of the M1 would take 3 minutes.
This scheme would cost £38.5 million to build (at 1999 prices based on a 30 year project life and a 6% discount rate). The total estimated total social benefit would be £102.9 million giving a "restricted economic benefits to costs" ratio of 2.5:1.
To operate such a system 34 new high quality low floor Translink vehicles would be required. Of these, 19 would substitute existing bus services. The vehicles would be replaced every five years and the old vehicles would have residual value to the operators who could use them elsewhere on their networks. These vehicles would be low floor with facilities for the disabled, wheelchairs, prams luggage etc. The vehicles will meet Euro 2 emission standards as a minimum with the aim of meeting the Euro 3 standard. The cost of the initial fleet would be £3.3 million.
The advantages of this scheme is that, because the guided part of the system will be on a disused railway track, it does not block the road with a bus guidance system which stops other vehicles using the road out of peak hours. The disadvantage is that stops a former railway line being re-opened as a railway or used for a light rail or tramway scheme.
An idea by Kent County Council. A "Karlsruhe" type tramway shared with heavy rail.
Mersey Guided Trolley Bus Scheme
Mersey PTE had formed an alliance, called Transform, with Arriva and Cegelec for the construction and operation of a guided trolleybus system on the Albert Dock to Page Moss corridor. It was a £49 million state of the art, environmentally friendly scheme which would have created 1200 jobs.
However, in Autumn 1999 John Prescott refused to grant an order under the transport and Works Act which would have released £15 million from the EU Objective 1 cash and would have allowed the scheme to proceed.
Rapid Transit International plc (RTI) are building a guided busway called the Northampton Rapid Transit System. The 6.5 Km route 5 will be open to passengers in the August 2000. A part of it will be on a segregated "Segway" and there will be two Park and Ride sites, one for 200 cars and the other for 1000 cars. Detailed design work is now well advanced for the next, northern, corridor.
When complete, the 40 Km Northampton Rapid Transit System will comprise five legs, each being in one of the five corridors of the Northampton core network.
The guideway is normally situated in the middle of the road, between the two traffic lanes with a limited number of bus stops reached by pedestrian crossings. At these stops the pavements are raised so that there is a level boarding platform for wheelchairs and prams.
During the 1997 General Election the Conservative Candidate suggested either a tramway or guided busway from the out-lying communities of Taverham and Drayton to Norwich City Centre. In the urban areas it would have either been a street tram or a normal bus and between Taverham and Drayton and from Drayton to the Norwich inner ring road it would have used the disused trackbed of the Midland Great Northern Railway. Experts had advised the location and disused railway were idea for this plan. However, the Labour controlled County Council decided that the disused railway was to be a cycleway. While very laudable, it will not removed the huge number of cars on the medieval road from Drayton to Norwich which cannot be widened and is choked with traffic every day.
Berkshire Conservatives have recently proposed a tramway system with two routes for Reading.
The South Hampshire Rapid Transit proposal is for a tram system running on and off-street to provide a fast, efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly public transport service between Fareham, Gosport and Portsmouth. With 16 stops along the 14km route, the aim of the system is to relieve traffic congestion and improve quality of life in the area.
The Area is ideally suited for a tramway or light rail system with a population of South East Hampshire approximately 500,000 and a car ownership which is below national average.
The scheme is being promoted by Hampshire County Council and Portsmouth City Council.
Powers have been applied for and a Public Inquiry was held in February and March 1999. Glenda Jackson, the then Transport Minister, made some discouraging comments about the likelihood of this scheme receiving Government financial support. However, following her departure from the DETR the scheme obtained John Prescott's approval under the Transport & Works Act.
However, if the scheme progresses as planned, work could begin in late 2000. Most of the construction will take only a few weeks or months although construction in the harbour area will take about two and a half years. Followed by a testing/commissioning period, this means the scheme could open late 2003.
The Project involves a 14km route with 16 stops and a 1km cross-harbour immersed tube tunnel linking Portsmouth Dockyard and Gosport Esplanade. This will mean a total journey time 28 minutes. Over two-thirds of the route uses a former rail corridor while only one-third of the route uses street running.
To serve the centre of Fareham a loop will run from the Railway Station along West Street to the Bus Station and back on a combination of reserved and on-street running following Western Way. Tunnelling under existing lines from Fareham Station to Lees Lane will make use of former rail routes which currently are used as cycle ways which will be moved to the side of the light rail system. On this section a control centre and depot are planned to the north of Fort Rowner.
Beyond Lees Lane the route leaves the former railway and proceeds on street along Forton Road through the Town Centre to the Esplanade where it will enter the cross harbour tunnel near the ferry terminal.
The line will emerge from the tunnel immediately north of Portsmouth Harbour Station and proceed along the streets to its terminus by Portsmouth & Southsea Station.
On the reserved sections the trams will run at speeds of up to 80kph but only 50kph on the street sections. A Portsmouth to Fareham journey should take 28 minutes. A fleet of 11 modern low floor, light weight LRVs (Light Rail Vehicles) (35 tonnes) powered by an overhead electrical supply is envisaged. The trams will be similar to the vehicles used in Sheffield, being 28 metre longs and will carry 80 seated and 100 standing passengers and will operate at between 7½ and 10 minute intervals.
Included in the plans are innovative cycle measures, including unique cycle shuttle vehicles (also possibly conveying mopeds and motorcycles, with key direct links with two Millennium National Cycle Routes.
The anticipated capital cost will be £147 million at 1998 prices with annual operating costs, at 1998 prices, of £4.2 million giving a forecast revenue £9.4 million (1998 prices). Public funding would be in the order of £70 million with the consortium which wins the phase 1 contract providing the remainder.
The system will have an estimated 17,000 trips each day, which will relieve congestion and improve the quality of life in the area. It links very effectively with the Renaissance of Portsmouth Harbour Millennium Project bringing benefit in economic terms particularly to the Gosport peninsula.
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