You are here  Light Rail Transit
One of the centrepieces of the integrated transport system for Mauritius is the implementation of a Light Rail Transit system (LRT) between Curepipe and Port Louis. Despite early doubts about the financial viability of such a project on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme, one and all now accept that an LRT system would be the right complementary system, along with our extensive bus network,to serve the mobility needs in our densely populated conurbation. Covering a distance of some 25km, the LRT would be have some 13 stations, many located in town centres along the route where existing transport terminals already exist. The end-to-end journey time would be approximately 32 minutes and carriages would be air-conditioned, to ensure maximum attraction of car users. Headways would vary by time of day, but are expected to be of the order of 5 minutes in peak periods. Access to stations would be by an integrated system of comfortable and reliable feeder buses. Operating characteristics of the LRT system: • Length of line 24.9 km • Running Speed 55 - 75 kph • Average time at stops 20 seconds • Number of stops (stations) 13 stations • Journey time, one way 32 minutes • Time round trip 70 minutes • Commercial speed 43 kph • Peak train frequency 12 per hour • Vehicle capacity 250 per unit (500 per train) • Vehicle length 30 m per unit (running two units) • Vehicle width 2.65 m • Seating % full 25 - 30% • Peak pax capacity 6000 per hour / direction • Predicted traffic 93,000 pax (year 2006 / working day) • Vehicle required 28 units, 14 trains • Total vehicle required 31 units Picture below: Work underway for designing best LRT system for Mauritius. Picture below: As experienced elsewhere, an LRT system is the perfect project for upgrading an urban environment: Work by government technicians have already begun and will be properly supported by a full feasibility study before a world wide tendering process is launched. The LRT will not solve traffic congestion on its own but will accompany a series of strong public transport policies and traffic restraint measures in the main urban centres. Here again, the integration between all the modes of transport and the LRT will be the key vision of this challenging project for the development of Mauritius. The project is planned to enter operations by 2006, with a ridership of 93,000 per day. Picture below: LRT system are quiet, clean and require little land intake as shown below: Picture below: The full integration of bus, rail, car, and pedestrian will be the key for the transport sector in the 21st century. | 
