Light & Community Rail
Since the mid-1990s we have worked on a wide variety of light rail projects and gained a detailed understanding of assessment and evaluation procedures during the planning phase, particularly the management of risk in patronage and revenue forecasting.
We are very proud of our role in helping to deliver two of the UK’s most successful light rail systems, in Croydon and Nottingham.
In South London, the Croydon Tramlink (now known as London Trams carries over 28 million passengers a year. We provided advisory services from the bid stage to the system’s completion five years later.
In the East Midlands, the Nottingham Express Transit (NET) system carries over 18 million passengers a year. The scheme has won high praise for its fully integrated approach to its services, fares and ticketing. We provided advice and support through the bidding process, during construction and in the early operational phase.
In 2018, we were commissioned to undertake a study of the Tamar Valley Line (which runs between Gunnislake and Plymouth) to quantify the railway’s value to communities in Devon and Cornwall. We used an alternative, largely community-based approach to standard cost-benefit analysis to show the value to passengers, residents and businesses who use and benefit from the vitality of the line, setting out both the monetised and non-monetised wider value.
Our study showed that there was an overall value of £13m per year, calculated across numerous areas, from time and cost savings in using the line over other modes of transport to retail and leisure spending generated by passengers. Identified benefits included financial gains; environmental, health and wellbeing improvements and reduced traffic congestion.
Our customer said “This is a really interesting study, the first anywhere that has looked at a rural line and sought to estimate the railway’s contribution in pretty much all ways to the communities it serves and the economy. It very much underlines the importance of the Tamar Valley Line.”
If you would like to discuss this with us please contact our office on 01772 204988 or send us an email.
