APPENDIX A PLANNING SPECIFICATION OF PROPOSED LIGHT RAIL VEHICLE
Introduction
A.1
A.2
A.3
The principal investment in the first phase of the development of the Light Rail System in the Island Corridor is the purchase of a totally new fleet of Light Rail Vehicles (LRV's). If the
suggested timescale is to be met, the development of a vehicle specification and a call for tenders must take a high priority, yet it is essential that the vehicle's parameters should be
carefully chosen if the flexibility that is the keynote of
the proposed strategy is to be maintained.
This Appendix does not attempt to set out a full technical
specification of the required vehicles. Rather, it outlines
the requirements in terms of performance, capacity, dimensions and so on, based on the proposed system characteristics in its
various possible phases.
Table A.1 sets out the principal features of the required
vehicle and compares the specification with three existing vehicles that are reasonably similar to the proposed vehicle. The remainder of this Appendix sets out the reasoning behind
the key features of the specification.
Vehicle Type
A.4
The design of vehicle most suitable for the proposed Light Rail System in the Island Corridor is a high capacity articulated single-deck car. The cars should be capable of being operated in multiple, initially as two-car trains, but with potential for operation in four-car trains to provide for the possible eventual upgrading to Metro-style operation. To achieve high capacity, an eight-axle double-articulated car between 26 and 28 metres
long is recommended.
78
1