UK LIGHT RAIL RENAISSANCE

Next year is the 25th birthday of Manchester Metrolink, the pioneer street-running light rail system, which opened in 1992. It ended a thirty year period when, after the Glasgow closure in 1962, an everyday working tramway had only survived in the UK in Blackpool. Metrolink has thrived and grown but elsewhere in Britain new tram schemes have been slow to develop, with more cancellations than completions. Only five entirely new projects have opened in Sheffield, the West Midlands, Croydon, Nottingham and finally Edinburgh in 2014, all of which have had a roller coaster ride. There are no further start-up projects on the horizon. Elsewhere, both in Europe and beyond, light rail is booming. France alone has opened 20 urban systems since 1990 and more are planned. Where are we going wrong and is our apparent tram renaissance more like a finale?
Oliver Green’s talk will look at all the modern UK systems and consider future possibilities. His new book Rails in the Road: A history of tramways in Britain and Ireland will be published by Pen & Sword Books in July and available to Friends at a special discounted rate at the next Covent Garden meeting on 3 October. Details in the next Friends News.

Cubic Theatre. London Transport Museum, Covent Garden.
Monday 6th June. 1815 hours.
 

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