Light rail

The public transport sector is living through a special time for light rail and tram systems (LRT), as new developments in infrastructure bring ridership levels to new heights. LRT, at the global level, has experienced a ‘remarkable renaissance’ in recent years, as the international landscape shows growth and expansion on the agenda.

With a promising outlook for LRT around the world, the Light Rail Committee within UITP works alongside our relevant members to produce content on the evolution of the sector.

Light rail and tram systems hold an important position in the future of our cities and much attention and resources will go into the maintenance, modernisation and replacement of assets to keep ageing systems attractive and fit for operational purpose in the years to come, The Light Rail Committee works to make sure expectations are met, as interest grows and knowledge is required.

The small railways certainly do not play a small role in the sustainability of European cities.

As of January 2023, UITP is proud to partner in R2DATO: a new European project seeking to advance automation in railways and leverage digitalisation to make our mobility smarter, more efficient, and greener. Coordinated by SNCF, R2DATO will propose the implementation of ongoing and future innovations in digital and automation technologies for (urban) rail operation, developed in such a way that will allow operators to deploy them in a timely and cost-effective way.

More information about the project can be found on our website hereor by contacting Daria Kuzmina (daria.kuzmina@uitp.org)

The Light Rail Committee celebrated its 75th meeting in the city of Luxembourg, 10-12 October 2022, on the invitaiton of Luxtram and the Ministry of Mobility and Public Works. More history and facts about the Committee including where the previous committees were held can be found in the Digizine.

The history of the Committee began in 1977, when UITP decided to create a group dedicated to the tramways and light rail. Since then the group has been meeting to work on the quickly evolving world begining with the definition of what light rail really means now to working on automation!

Click here to go to our Digizine created for the anniversary