NEW SYSTEMS STALL, BUT INVESTMENT IN CURRENT NETWORKS CONTINUES
LIGHT RAIL FOCUS
Soldiering on: Nexus is due to award a contract early next year to replace the ageing Tyne & Wear Metro fleet. Services cross at Fellgate on the Network Rail route to Sunderland shared by Metro services on 1 August 2018. TONY MILES
Light rail in the UK enjoyed a resurgence in the latter part of the 20th century.
However, from the once lengthy list of potential schemes at the turn of the millennium, the only new systems to open in the UK were those in Nottingham and Edinburgh. Nonetheless, once the barrier of initial opening is overcome authorities have been keen to invest in their networks, both through provision of new rolling stock and extensions. Thus, as this brief survey shows, all the UK’s current light rail systems have recent or planned activity of some description.
