Transport for LondonAbout light rail
Vehicles
A standard light rail vehicle can carry up to 250 people - nearly three times the capacity of a typical bus.
The key benefits light rail vehicles include:
- Smooth and fast acceleration
- Quick and safe breaking
- Ability to handle tight turns and steep climbs with ease
- No traffic jams due to segregated tracks
- A safe and reliable service
- More stops than conventional trains - rarely more than 600 metres apart
Light rail vehicles are accessible to:
- Parents with prams and small children
- Shoppers with trolleys
- Older people
- Mobility impaired people
Environment
Light rail is one of the most environmentally friendly forms of transport. There are no fumes to damage the environment and the vehicles are quiet.
Light rail systems can be designed to match any urban surroundings, and town planners are increasingly turning to light rail to:
- Ease the problems of urban traffic congestion
- Move large numbers of passengers along busy routes
- Revitalise town centres and other urban areas
The stimulus for all this interest in light rail has been the success of London's Docklands Light Railway.
Light rail UK-wide
The year 2000 saw a big change in the way central government regarded light rail. It went from being an expensive option to becoming an essential part of the urban transport solution.
The Transport Act 2000 gave a new lease of life to a number of new light rail schemes in Leeds, Hampshire, Nottingham, Merseyside and Tyne and Wear.
It also led to extensions on existing light rail lines in Sheffield, Midland Metro, Croydon and Manchester.
Light rail world-wide
Light rail is used in Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and the USA. In Britain, the system is already running in Newcastle, Manchester, and Sheffield.
