Continuing Developments in Light Rail Transit in Western Europe United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy

摘要

The primary focus of this paper was to provide a brief but informative survey of new light rail transit applications in Western Europe, concentrating on developments and trends in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Since the author's last update in November 2000 for the 8th National Light Rail Conference, a spirited amount of activity has been observed in the countries cited above. The trend toward constructing new light rail systems, which had its genesis in France, and which has continued at a high level in that country, has generally spread throughout Western Europe and the British Isles. Light rail also continues to be implemented in progressively smaller cities than previously noted with cities having populations as low as 150,000 choosing to make significant long-term capital investments in fixed rail facilities (and willing to tax themselves to do so). The goals of all new cities implementing light rail projects in the countries examined in this paper have proven to be astonishingly similar to those of cities previously implementing light rail projects. The influence of the largely successful trailblazer systems in France cannot be underestimated [Nantes (1985) and Grenoble (1987)]. All cities expressed the urgent need to provide a viable, affordable alternative to the automobile, improve the quality of life, enhance mobility, address environmental concerns, and promote land use trends that produce energy efficient, traffic reducing development, and enhance the overall competitiveness of the city as a desirable place to live and work. Cities continually cited the flexibility of light rail in being able to meet such a diverse set of goals.