Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
million, now have light rail systems, which are
currently regarded as one of the most effective
means of upgrading urban public passenger
transport (Turton and Knowles 1998).
Growing concern for the urban environment
has stimulated attempts to reinstate and
encourage walking and cycling as acceptable
modes of transport. Both modes have been
largely displaced by the car in Western cities, but
urban transport planners believe that if safer
facilities, such as pedestrian walkways and defined
cycle tracks, can be provided then more trips can
be made by non-motorised transport. In the
United Kingdom, many of the 60 per cent of car
journeys that are less than 8 km in length could
be carried out by cycle, and walking could be
Box 34.4
Manchester: the introduction of light rail transit to a British conurbation
Greater Manchester, with a population of 2.58 million, has
adopted light rapid transit to help to solve problems of city
centre road congestion and upgrade the public transport
network in the city and surrounding towns and suburbs.
The conurbation has a suburban rail network of 262 km,
the largest of any English urban area outside London, but
until recently the northern and southern components were
unconnected, causing difficulties for passengers using
both local and long-distance rail services passing through
the city centre. Rail improvements have been made during
a period of change in road-based transport policy, with
rejection of the more ambitious highway schemes and the
replacement, after 1986, of the period of public transport
coordination by bus deregulation and privatisation.
During the 1980s, several city centre streets were
pedestrianised, and bus-only access routes were
introduced as part of the Central Manchester Traffic Plan.
The two separate sections of the conurbation rail network
were linked in 1988, and in 1992 the first part of the
Metrolink light rail network was completed, making use
of two existing suburban railways connecting Altrincham
and Bury with the central termini and a short section
along city centre streets and on reserved track (Figure 34.3).
At peak periods, the Metrolink has a capacity of 2500
persons per hour in each direction, and in contrast to the
BART system passenger flows on Metrolink have exceeded
forecast levels, with an estimated 2.6 million car journeys
having been captured. In particular, Metrolink has benefited
from the existence of major rail/bus/car interchanges at its
two outer termini of Altrincham and Bury. The network is to
be extended to other parts of Greater Manchester and can
be seen as one of the more successful transport initiatives
in the post-deregulation period (Knowles 1996).
Metrolink has been operating during a decade of
substantial change in bus transport, with the former PTA-
owned Greater Manchester Transport's share of bus-
kilometres declining from 97 per cent in 1985 to 66 per
cent in 1991. It is still the dominant operator, but many
private companies, including several with minibus fleets,
now offer strong competition in the city centre, the
suburbs and other towns such as Rochdale and
Stockport, although service quality has declined and the
number of bus passengers entering the city centre each
day has fallen with increased use of the car.
Figure 34.3
The Manchester
Metrolink light rail system.
