Urban rail transit: Costs and funding

The report addresses two quite separable topics: (1) the capital costs of urban rail with particular reference to light rail; and (2) methods of raising finance. For both topics, most of the experiences used are from Europe and North America as it is here that technology is most advanced and the experience most likely to be transferable to Britain. Examples from the cities of Lyons, Nantes, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Lille and Reims in France, Portland, Detroit, Miami in the United States, and Vancouver in Canada, are included. There are currently proposals for light rail in several of Britain's large cities and one of the purposes of this report is to provide guidance for these projects. This is not a cost-benefit study. Such studies could only address specific proposals. The costs taken into account in this report are much more partial and it is not the aim to come to a conclusion on whether or not urban rail can be justified on cost-benefit criteria. The aim of the report is to provide guidance on the implementation of urban rail: guidance on what costs might be reasonably expected and how these may be met. Methods of funding urban rail from taxes, recoupment of betterment and revenue are reviewed and compared. Some preliminary assessments are made against criteria which might be expected of a source of funding.