Light Rail Transit Urban Insertion and Safety European Experience

This paper provides a rough design tool kit to improve the safety of light rail transit (LRT) urban insertion. This tool kit was prepared after the analysis of more than 130 examples of good and bad practices related to LRT urban insertions in 13 European countries, which took place during the first working phase of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology's Action TU1103, Operation and Safety of Tramways in Interaction with Public Space. The paper deals with the design of the following aspects: pedestrian pathways at stations and stops; platform design and station and stop location; pavement treatment on shared space; pavement treatment on segregated channels; LRT separators on segregated channels; intersections (e.g., left-turn intersections, roundabouts, pedestrian and cyclist crossings, innovative solutions at intersections); LRT channel differentiation and protection by means of pavement, marks, fences, and barriers; and overhead contact system pole location.