CHAPTER 10Light Rail

GUIDELINES FORPASSENGER TRANSPORT IN SOUTH AFRICA

A MULTI MODAL ANALYSIS

10.1 THE CONCEPT OF LIGHT RAIL

Light rail– Involves steel wheel vehicles operating on steel

rails and collecting electrical power from an overhead wire.

– not rigid – flexible mode that fits between the bus and

conventional railway

• Light Rail compared with buses on city streets:– more expensive to construct,– cheaper to operate for a given capacity, – lower whole-life costs, – Has higher commercial speed, – less pollution, – more successful in attracting motorists to public

transport

Light Rail compared with a metro or urban railway:– cheaper to build and operate, – lower commercial speed– will maintain a visible presence of surface public

transport, – offer better penetration of urban areas, – enjoy better security, and – generate less noise.

• Only system which can operate on both city streets and jointly with conventional rail services– steel rails can be grooved, so that they may lay

flush with a street surface, or ballasted like normal railway track

– possibility that regional rail services can be extended through to the city centre via transfer points from rail to street track

• Light rail demonstrates its flexibility by its ability to operate in a wide range of built environments. – Within the street environment it can be segregated

by white lines, low kerbs, and side or central reservation.

– Tracks can be laid in tarmac, mass concrete, ballast or grass according to operational and environmental needs.

– Light rail can be built on former railway formations, or indeed track share with railways.

• Light rail can cater economically and effectively for passenger flows between 2 000 and 20 000 passengers/hour, – will usually be found in cities with populations

between 200 000 and one million.• 350 systems worldwide confirms that this is

the most successful intermediate mode

10.5 Organisational Control

• Essential that light rail operates in close cooperation with other modes - accessability

10.6 The Development Potential of Light Rail

Parties that will benefit:i. Local authority benefits– boost for the economic development of the

community – enhancement of urban design – opportunity to manage and control urban

growth

ii. Property developer benefits– increased returns on investment – cost efficiencies in the construction of both

public and private facilities.

iii. Transport operator benefits – greater use of the transport system, – potential for partial recovery of capital costs– improved image for the system as a whole.

10.8 Comparison of Light Rail with Other Modes

(a) Light rail compared with heavy rail– heavy rail infrastructure costs are high because of

exclusive right-of-way– Rigid design standards impede the alignments in

urban areas and limit the service heavy rail can offer.– Frequency of heavy rail service tends to be lower,

particularly in off-peak hours.– Heavy rail “divides’ an area through which it runs,

while light rail draws an area together by operating closer to where people live and work.

(b) Light rail compared with buses• The following headings was/is used to make

buses inferior (lesser) to light rail:– bus capacity;– quality of ride and passenger attraction;– permanence and system image;– noise and air pollution;– punctuality.

10.9 Progress so far in South Africa

• The reasons for the lack of progress in introducing light rail:

a) Last 20 years of deregulation, – small entrepreneurs were given the opportunity

to establish themselves in business. – strong swing away from formal transport such as

trains and buses, to minibus-taxis and cars. – This undermined the passenger base which is

vital for successful light rail operations

b) government policy allowed the minibus-taxi mode to grow without significant restrictions.– economic evaluations of minibus-taxi operations

have shown that they are uneconomic under certain circumstances

– Any decision to commit hundreds of millions of rand towards creating a new transport system such as light rail - which would be a strong potential competitor with minibus-taxis - would have required a confidence on the part of government and planners which has been lacking.

• The long-term nature of the investment and the delays before the investment would be recouped would tend to dampen the enthusiasm of the authorities. – even if future growth and high traffic levels could

be guaranteed– “In a difficult financial situation the operator tends

to select the system which involves minimum cost in the short run”

• Although the light rail studies recognise the need for organisational control in their reports, insufficient progress has been made “on the ground” to set up the necessary controlling bodies to implement a light rail scheme. – no TAs have been introduced in any of the

metropolitan areas in South Africa yet