Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Thales recently scooped awards at the recent Light Rail Awards for the Manchester Metrolink extension, where the Metrolink was awarded UK Light Rail Project of the Year, and the Metrolink operator RATP won Operator of the Year. In addition, the M-Pact Thales (MPT) consortium was named European Supplier of the Year.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) selected the Thales tram management system for what is said to be the largest over ground light rail system in operation in the UK, with four new lines tripling the size of the original network. Thales provides a fully-integrated tramway management, control and communication system that enables operational staff to manage all aspects of the tramway safely, efficiently and quickly.
The extension was delivered several months ahead of schedule, extending the Metrolink network to 76.8 kilometres, serving 73 stops.
The Metrolink project is expected to take five million car journeys off local roads every year and to increase the number of passenger trips passengers on the network each day from 55,000 to over 90,000.
