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City unveils vision of tram system
This could be the answer to Preston's congestion nightmare.
City leaders are in talks about bringing a light rail network to Preston which would see three lines running from the city centre to outlying areas.
The vision is to have the tram-like vehicles running on disused rail lines to the north through Deepdale, Brookfield and Red Scar, to the south along the former Southport line across the River Ribble and the west along the existing line down to the city's docklands.
Mike Brogan, the assistant director of City Projects at Preston Council, said the authority is looking at vehicles smaller than those which operate on Blackpool seafront and through Manchester, including a "wind-up" tram.
He said: "What we want is something which is going to be green, clean and silent and one idea we are looking at is called 'fly wheel' technology, which stores energy when the vehicle brakes and uses that energy to power it when it starts up again.
"Hydrofuel cell technology is another idea we are looking at.
"We know our population is going to grow in the next 10 to 15 years and that the roads will not cope with a massive increase in the number of cars, so park-and-ride is the answer."
He said that Grosvenor and Lend Lease, the developers behind the 750m Tithebarn regeneration of the city centre and John Lewis, which will be the flagship trader, were backing the scheme.
Citybrand, a research group set up between the council and the city's University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), have drawn up artists' impressions of how a tram stop might look on the university campus and a tram running up Fishergate Hill past the train station.
Bryn Jones, from Citybrand, said it had developed a possible logo for the tram network in the shape of a T. These could be placed at each stop.
UCLan vice-chancellor Malcolm McVicar, chairman of the Preston Vision Board which is looking at the project, said the group had "good discussions" about the possibility of introducing a light rail network to the city.
He said: "The line which runs to the docks is used twice a week and the line which goes under the university and up towards Deepdale is regularly maintained, so a lot of the infrastructure is in place or could be quite quickly.
"It is early days yet but we need something big like this to happen if we are going to transform the city, we cannot afford to think small."
He said the board would be asking Lancashire County Council to carry out a feasibility study into how the system could link in with park-and-ride sites at Portway and Bluebell Way, Fulwood.
Caspar Lucas, projects manager of Midlands-based light rail train builders Parry People Movers (PPM), said he had visited Preston in February to talk to the Vision Board about its technology.
The board, which is made up of council officials and business leaders, has also spoken to its Dutch twin town Almelo which has a tram system.
Mr Lucas said: "Preston has a starting block because some of the infrastructure is there, you have these old rail lines."
PPM is currently installing its technology on a branch rail line in Stourbridge, near Birmingham, which will connect to the National Rail network.
In May, council chief executive Jim Carr said that a light railway running from the docklands – which is operated as a twice-weekly freight line and by local steam rail enthusiasts – would be connected to the city's railway station by the time Tithebarn opens in Spring 2014.
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Weather for Preston
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light sleet
Temperature: 3 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
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