GUIDELINES FOR
PASSENGER TRANSPORT IN SOUTH AFRICA
A MULTI MODAL ANALYSIS
[Transportation 3B – CBTL302]
CHAPTER 10
10. LIGHT RAIL
10.1 THE CONCEPT OF LIGHT RAIL
Light rail usually involves steel wheel vehicles operating on steel rails and collecting electrical power from an overhead wire.
Light rail is not a rigid concept, but a flexible mode that fits between the bus and the heavy metro or conventional railway, and can behave like either of them as well. In comparison with a system of buses on city streets, it is more expensive to construct, but may be cheaper to operate for a given capacity, will have lower whole-life costs, a higher commercial speed, reduce pollution, and be more successful in attracting motorists to public transport. In comparison with a metro or urban railway, light rail will be cheaper to build and operate, but operate at a lower commercial speed. However it will maintain a visible presence of surface public transport, offer better penetration of urban areas, enjoy better security, and generate less noise.
The steel rails can be grooved, so that they may lay flush with a street surface, or ballasted like normal railway track, making light rail the only system which can operate on both city streets and jointly with conventional rail services. It offers the possibility that regional rail services can be extended through to the city centre via transfer points from rail to street track, a concept that has been introduced with success in some cities, using dual voltage light rail vehicles.
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, which will usually be found in cities with populations between 200 000 and one million.
Trams and light rail can cover the whole spectrum of public transport provision, and international experience of 350 systems worldwide confirms that this is the most successful intermediate mode, with over 100 years of development behind it, yet incorporating the latest technology for the future.
10.5 Organisational Control
As in the case of heavy rail, and “high-speed” rail, it is essential that light rail operates in close cooperation with other modes.
The establishment of Transport Authorities and the introduction of co-ordinated passenger transport networks (particularly with fixed schedules and through-ticketing) can facilitate the introduction of light rail to South Africa.
10.6 The Development Potential of Light Rail
The benefits of “joint development’ accrue to all parties concerned - the local authority, the property developer and the transport operator. They include:
- Local authority benefits - a boost for the economic development of the community as a whole, enhancement of urban design and the opportunity to manage and control urban growth. Where informal (squatter) settlements exist, the significance of ordering the potential resettlement of this mobile component of the population by means of transport improvements should not be overlooked.
- Property developer benefits - increased returns on investment and cost efficiencies in the construction of both public and private facilities.
- Transport operator benefits - greater use of the transport system, a potential for partial recovery of capital costs and an improved image for the system as a whole.
10.8 Comparison of Light Rail with Other Modes
The studies into light rail compared the mode with heavy rail on the one hand and buses on the other. This is understandable, since all three modes, - heavy rail, light rail and buses - lie alongside each other in the hierarchy of transport modes and it follows that they would, to an extent “compete” with each other for certain types of traffic.
(a) Light rail compared with heavy rail
- Because of its operation on an exclusive right-of-way, heavy rail infrastructure costs are high.
- 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.
The above points are undoubtedly valid. Heavy rail operates on a much larger scale (in terms of passengers to crew) and has a less ‘personal” image than light rail, which can operate in the street. Heavy rail tends to be associated with high fences, forbidding walls, bridges, subways and turnstiles.
(b) Light rail compared with buses
The investigations into light rail commented disparagingly on bus services, presumably in attempts to place the bus in an inferior position in comparison with light rail. These negative comments can be grouped under the following headings:
- bus capacity;
- quality of ride and passenger attraction;
- permanence and system image;
- noise and air pollution;
- punctuality.
(i) Bus capacity
“Buses only would over the long term not have adequate capacity to provide an acceptable level of service. As volumes increase, buses become overloaded”. (3:12)
“The upgraded bus system would be operating at or in excess of capacity virtually from the outset” (2:88).
“Buses can only render a certain level of service” (1:155).
(ii) Quality of ride and passenger attraction
“The quality and comfort of a ride on a rail vehicle ... is without doubt superior to that of a conventional diesel powered bus. Experience throughout the world has shown that rail-based transport systems are more attractive to the community than (the) conventional diesel bus which is viewed as a second class mode of transport. The decline in the use of diesel bus commuter services has been observed in many major cities” (2:89).
(iii) Permanence and system image
“In general rail modes have stronger system images, and, therefore, passenger attraction capabilities than bus” (6:88).
“A rail facility has an inherent degree of permanence ... as opposed to a bus system which can be more readily re-routed or withdrawn” (2:85).
(iv) Noise and air pollution
“As far as noise and air pollution are concerned, the LRT and South African Transport Services rail systems are superior to the bus system” (6:88)
“Electrically powered rail systems are clean, quiet and pollution- free. It would seem to make sense to make use of electricity which is abundantly available and in real terms is costing less to produce with the passage of time’ (2:90).
(v) Punctuality
“Providing that exclusive bus lanes and busways are provided, there is no reason why the diesel bus could also not be scheduled on a reliable basis. However, the propensity of breakdowns on a diesel - based system would, without doubt, be significantly higher than those using electric technology” (2.- Para 10.3.1).
It is significant that the above comments refer specifically to diesel buses, and that no mention is made of electric trolley buses or their more modern development, the duo-trolley.
10.9 Progress so far in South Africa
What then, are the reasons for the lack of progress in introducing light rail so far?
a)The most likely reason is that the last twenty years have been the years of deregulation, in terms of which small entrepreneurs were given the opportunity to establish themselves in business. One notable field in which deregulation has been encouraged has been the public transport industry which experienced a 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)Even though economic evaluations of minibus-taxi operations have shown that they are uneconomic under certain circumstances (this was confirmed in the early stages of the PE study), government policy allowed the minibus-taxi mode to grow without significant restrictions. 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.
c)Furthermore, even if future growth and high traffic levels could be guaranteed, 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. As the BTH light rail study puts it “In a difficult financial situation the operator tends to select the system which involves minimum cost in the short run”
d)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. Chapter 7 of this guide - no TAs have been introduced in any of the metropolitan areas in South Africa