Manchester LRT. System
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TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1361 81 Manchester LRT. System J. ROGER HALL The light rail transit (LRT) ·ystem iTI greater Manchester, Met city center penetration and cross conurbation links. Attempts rolink, has employed pecific design features to lessen environ to solve the problem date back to the birth of the railways: mental impact within the city of Manchester and to facilitate full the first proposal for a Piccadilly to Victoria rail tunnel came accessibility for those with mobility impairments. An economic evaluation was undertaken for Metrolink to compare it with other in 1839. A succession of proposals over the past 150 years all transport options and funding options were weighed to reduce failed to materialize. the fin anci al burden n the public ector and to find a way to When the GMC Council initiated a joint study with Greater transfer risk to the private sector. The pecific fin ancial options Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) and British chosen to meet th ese requirements i kn own as " the complete Rail (BR) in 1982, it was to examine a wide range of options. concession approach. " The unique approach wa taken to de The options evaluated included BR-gauge central area tun veloping bidding and contrac1 documentation to encompas de sign, bu.ild , operate, and maintain requirements and to bid eval nels, light rail with tunnel or surface links, and busways and uation and project man agement. guided busways. The preferred option emerged as light rail with surface links across the regional center because this of fered a high level of benefits at modest cost and would there The conurbation of greater Manchester has a population of fore give the best rate of return. some 2.6 million people who generate approximately 350 mil As well as the technical and financial attractions of this lion passenger journeys per annum on public transport. Ap option , public consultation exercises indicated that it would proximately 25 million of these passenger journeys are on the be a popular solution. Final approval was given only after 16 rail radial commuter lines. examining similar systems overseas so that highway and traffic History was made in Manchester in 1830 when the world's engineers, town planners, and politicians could be satisfied first passenger railway station at Liverpool Road was opened. that such an approach would be practicable. Manchester achieved another first in early 1992 when a light It was clear that it would not be feasible to build the entire rail transit (LRT) system, Metrolink, which uses both existing 100-km LRT network as one project. Therefore a first-phase rail and new track within the city center, went into operation. system was defined, embracing the city center sections and The LRT project began in 1982. The Greater Manchester the two most heavily used local lines, those to Bury and Al County (GMC) Council initiated a rail strategy study with the trincham. Progress was delayed by two major changes, the Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) and British Rail (BR). abolition of GMC Council in March 1986 and deregulation By 1984 the rail study group had recommended a light rail of bus services in October 1986. The impact of abolition was solution. limited. The GMC had effectively completed the strategic The PTE, GMC Council, and BR accepted the recom development of the light rail and the new Passenger Transport mendation and in November 1984 the PTE deposited a private Authority was quick to affirm its unanimous support for LRT. bill in Parliament seeking powers to construct a light rail Deregulation was potentially more significant. It meant the system in Manchester. Royal assent for the bill was received end of integrated transport planning and a new, unpredictable in February 1988 by which time the secretary of state for operating environment. transport had indicated that a government grant would be However, market research indicated that rail services would available subject to private-sector capital involvement. be fairly robust in the face of bus competition, and this was A two-stage bidding process was embarked upon with the supported by actual experience after deregulation. Rail pa issue of documentation in October 1988 and the award of the tronage increased as bus patronage fell. contract to the GMA Consortium in October 1989. The first The development of light rail was given a major boost, not phase of the system, the Bury to Manchester Victoria section, just in Manchester but throughout the United Kingdom, in was opened for public use in March 1992. The remaining March 1987 by a unique demonstration of the rail industry's sections through the city and to Altrincham are programmed faith in British LRT proposals. A group of manufacturers set to open in April and May 1992. up a 3-week demonstration of a light rail vehicle (LRV) and associated equipment in Manchester. A Docklands Light Railway car was diverted on its way to London and fitted RAILWAY STRATEGY FOR temporarily with a pantograph for overhead operation. A GREATER MANCHESTER temporary timber station, part of a new low-cost station in the PTE's ongoing program, was erected, and a variety of The full potential of greater Manchester's extensive suburban static exhibits set out, including a section of typical sleeper rail network has never been reached because of the lack of and grooved rail track. More than 10,000 people visited the demonstration, in Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, P.O. Box 429 , 9 Portland Street, Picadilly Gardens, Manchester, M60 lHX, United cluding professionals and politicians from every conurbation Kingdom. in the United Kingdom as well as members of the public. 82 TRA NSPORTA TION R ESEARCH RECORD 1361 FINANCIAL FEASIB.ILITY OF METROLINK pense. DTp appears to have preferred a larger one-off grant being given to the private sector than leaving the PT A/E with Detailed comparisons and benefits of Metrolink against other the ongoing public-sector revenue cost of maintenance of the transport options were developed from the original 1982 study: infrastructure. Metrolink versus existing rail, full bus option, and a suboption (part only of system to be converted to light rail). The financial and economic appraisals looked first at capital, operating costs, Complete Concession Approach and revenues. From each option total project cost was then subtracted from the economic benefits, using the existing rail The complete concession approach means one contract to de figures as a basis. Although the total estimated cost of the sign, build, operate, and maintain Metrolink was awarded. network was seen as extremely modest it was evident that The private sector will design and construct the system with central government would have to have an extremely con all assets remaining in the ownership of PTE. The appointed vincing case put to them if they were to entertain a grant contractor will then operate and maintain the system for a application. The financial studies culminated in an application predetermined period of time. The contractor in essence will in July 1985 for a grant. There then followed an intensive assess two aspects of the bid for the contract: the cost to design period of meetings with the Department of Transport to clar and build the system, and the value the contractor will pay ify detailed workings and assumptions. Finally in January 1988 for the right to operate. the secretary of state for transport announced in the House By deducting the operating concession value from the cost of Commons that the case for an LRT system for Manchester to build the contractor will ask for an amount for a one-off had satisfied his department, but he asked for options to be grant for the contract. The grant will be funded from PTA investigated for private-sector contributions. (50 percent) and from the grant from the central government (50 percent). Because the contract is to design, build, operate, and maintain, this arrangement allows the contractor to be Private-Sector Options to some extent its own customer and also allows the contractor to make certain trade-offs between revenue and capital expen To satisfy the secretary of state's requirements, the Depart diture. It also transfers fully the design risk. ment of Transport (DTp) and the Greater Manchester Pas As part of evaluation of the bids these aspects played a senger Transport Executive briefed merchant bankers to in major part but the physical characteristics and maintenance vestigate the options for private-sector contribution for issues were also reviewed in much detail. What caused more Metrolink. Some 15 possible options emerged, and after dis concern, because of the need to safeguard the public sector's cussion on feasibility five options were developed: position, is the concession agreement itself, the document that transfers the operating rights to the private sector. • Rolling stock ownership and operation, •Complete system ownership and operation, • Rolling stock own~rship and operation plus infrastructure Concession Agreement Provisions maintenance, • Public-sector construction, system sold on completion, The PTE will grant the rights to operate the first phase of the and system, comprised of parts of the existing British Rail lines • Public-sector construction, system franchised on comple from Bury to Victoria and from Altrincham to Cornbrook tion. together with the city center link. For such rights to be granted, PTE will have vested in it some existing British Rail track, Each option was then evaluated against the stated objectives stations and buildings along the route, and will also be granted of risk transfer, private-sector contribution, and grants shar licences by British Rail in respect to other areas of track. In ing costs. It is noteworthy that cheaper than any of the above the future it may be feasible to have more than one operator options was full public-sector ownership and operation.