Light Rail in Manchester City | Assignment

Light Rail in Manchester city 1
LIGHT RAIL IN MANCHESTER CITY
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Light Rail in Manchester city 2
Executive Summary
The need for state-of-the-art transport modes in developed and developing cities cannot be
overemphasized. Light rail transit (LRT) has been proven to be one of the most efficient, reliable
and modern transport modes. It is also expected to provide its numerous environmental,
economic and social benefits to the city of Manchester, which is experiencing rapid growth and
development. This report investigates preliminary design stage, detailed design and development
stages, and system test, evaluation, validation and optimization stages, and human factors of an
LRT project in the city of Manchester. These processes and factors play a major role when
implementing an LRT project and therefore it is important to analyze and understand what they
entail so as to help relevant stakeholders make more informed decisions.

Light Rail in Manchester city 3
Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................ 4
2. Preliminary design phase........................................................................................... 5
3. Detailed design and development phases.......................................................................6
4. System test, evaluation, validation and optimization........................................................8
5. Human factors....................................................................................................... 10
5.1. Anthropometric factors....................................................................................... 10
5.2. Sensory factors................................................................................................. 11
5.3. Physiological factors.......................................................................................... 11
6. Conclusion and recommendations.............................................................................11
References.................................................................................................................. 12

Light Rail in Manchester city 4
1. Introduction
The city of Manchester has continued to experience rapid growth over the years and is still
one of fastest growing cities in the UK. This has put immense pressure on existing transport
network. As a result of this, light rail transit (LRT) is a worthwhile project to implement in the
city. The decision to build an LRT network covering an area of 15 km around the city will play a
major role in reducing traffic congestion. Other benefits of LRT include: reduces pollution,
increases property values, improves air quality, improves safety, enhances comfort, has lower per
passenger operating costs, enhances development in the area, can run on different energy
sources, is more reliable, has higher passenger capacity, has greater aesthetic, can operate
effectively with other modes of transport, and improves health of passengers (Cervero &
Sullivan, 2011); (Hess & Almeida, 2007); (Higgins, et al., 2014) (Li, et al., 2012)
(MacDonald, et al., 2010); (Seo, et al., 2014) (Shang & Zhang, 2013) (Topalovic, et
al., 2012). In general, light rail system will bring a wide range of economic, social and
environmental benefits to the city of Manchester.
But for the benefits of LRT to be fully realized, it is very important to ensure that each stage
of the project is done effectually. This report aims at discussing preliminary design; detailed
design and testing, evaluation, validation and optimization phases of the project and critical
human factors to LRT network. These elements are very crucial considering that the LRT
network will be operating alongside existing modes of transportation and other land uses. When
designing an LRT network, it is very important to visualize how it will be constructed, operated
and maintained. This helps in ensuring that the final product created meets its objectives
adequately. Therefore information contained in this report is very useful when carrying out