INTRODUCTION
Light rail or light rail transit (LRT) is a form of urban rail transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail or metro-type systems. The term is used to refer to modern tram or streetcar systems with rapid transit-style features that usually use electric rails operating mostly in private rights-of-way separated from other traffic but sometimes mixed with other traffic in towns and cities.
The Light Rail Transit Association describes light rail as offering:
- Frequent services that rival convenience of car
- "Seamless journey" interchange from/to feeder services and to and from train services
- Level boarding with easy access for everyone, including wheel-chair users
- Park & Ride so outer commuters need not drive to city centres
- Through ticketing for day and regular users
Guided bus systems provide a lower cost alternative to light rail while having the advantages of dedicated rights of way. Totally separate rights of way can be provided and most current proposals envisage providing guideways solely where buses need to bypass congestion. This can be achieved with minimal space requirements; the guideway need only be 3m wide, and is only needed in the direction in which congestion is experienced. Specially equipped buses can then operate normally on the rest of their routes, hence providing much more extensive suburban coverage than light rail (Read, Allport and Buchanan, 1990). They have a number of objectives, including to increase the reliability, speed and accessibility of bus services, to reduce road congestion through the diversion of car journeys to bus and to generate increased revenue through increased bus-use.
Bus Rapid Transit or BRT is a term given to a variety of transportation systems with improvements to infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling, attempt to use buses to provide a service that is of a higher quality than an ordinary bus line. Each BRT system uses different improvements, although many improvements are shared by many BRT systems. The aim of these systems is to at least approach the service quality of rail transit while still enjoying the cost savings of bus transit. The expression BRT is North American in origin but in Europe it is gaining favour where systems are often called busway, or quality bus or simply bus service while raising the quality.
We introduce this section as the former Leigh Salford Manchester Guided Busway proposal, now know as the Leigh Salford Manchester Bus Rapid Transit, still forms part of the proposed infrastructure changes for Ellenbrook Boothstown and Worsley.
Whilst our Greater Manchester Metro system, Metrolink, is very heavy rail in concept we are placing it within this catagory.
Follow the link to our LIGHT RAIL INDEX