I was at a conference last night at the City Council with a group of people trying to sell us the concept of Ultra Light Rail.
This is a tramway system using lighter vehicles which results in the track being cheaper & easier to install (£3mill/km rather than £15mill/km).The basic option is also to have the vehicle powered by an alternative source (ie: not copper wires & electricity).
It is suitable for urban routes where the speeds are likely to be lower and also where passenger numbers would be lower than a normal tram system.
It has obvious cost benefits in being medium-term cheaper than Bus Rapid Transit, as well as efficiency costs (hybrid vehicles using steel wheels on steel rail use 30% less energy than hybrid buses with rubber wheels on tarmac); as well as encouraging modal shift - people don't like buses!
As well as this, Major Schemes Funding from the DfT for innovative projects like this can cover up to 90% of capital costs, and is totally separate from other bids (eg: Transport Innovation Fund).
Would it work? Who knows, but it is being looked at as an option for rapid transit for a number of cities, at least as a prototype.
This is a tramway system using lighter vehicles which results in the track being cheaper & easier to install (£3mill/km rather than £15mill/km).The basic option is also to have the vehicle powered by an alternative source (ie: not copper wires & electricity).
It is suitable for urban routes where the speeds are likely to be lower and also where passenger numbers would be lower than a normal tram system.
It has obvious cost benefits in being medium-term cheaper than Bus Rapid Transit, as well as efficiency costs (hybrid vehicles using steel wheels on steel rail use 30% less energy than hybrid buses with rubber wheels on tarmac); as well as encouraging modal shift - people don't like buses!
As well as this, Major Schemes Funding from the DfT for innovative projects like this can cover up to 90% of capital costs, and is totally separate from other bids (eg: Transport Innovation Fund).
Would it work? Who knows, but it is being looked at as an option for rapid transit for a number of cities, at least as a prototype.