Leightend Light Rail

The Leightend Light Railway (LLR) is an automated light rail network, operated by Leightend Transport (LT).

## Leightend Light Rail

LLR Map

Leightend Airport Station

## Operations

### Operators

LT

The LLR opened in 1983 to ease congestion on bus lines in the Leightend area. It currently runs from Derham in the North and Lyons Manor in the East, to Wickton in the West and to Wyldton and Wallgate in the South.

## History

In the 1960s, an automated railway to connect commuters to the main station from suburbs was proposed. On 27th September 1971, the initial plans were confirmed and construction began on what would be called the Leightend Light Railway. Finally, after tons of issues (including a fire), the first section of the LLR from Wickton to Brunswick Wharf opened in 1983 to the public.

### First Extension

In 1987, after an overwhelming response with people flocking to the railway, the network was already nearing capacity, so more trains were ordered along with an extension to Dayend (on the current day Derham Branch). This branch went under the line to Brunswick Wharf and the main railway line.

### Lyons Extension

In 1990, the suburbs of Lyons' population was at an all time high, so, to deal with demand on local bus routes, the LLR was extended to Lyons Manor with one intermediate station at Brunton before going underground for the first time, other than the tunnel between Willow Village and Rutton. So far, the stations on the LLR had fairly basic facilities. The only thing that they all had in common were the lifts, providing step free access to all stations. However, with the extension to Lyons Manor, all stations got new train departure boards, New signage and a lick of paint.

### Derham Extension

Because of developments, the need of cheaper housing in the Leightend general area was rising, so people moved further out from the central area. To cater to demand, an extension was proposed from Dayend to the developing area of Derham. This added 3 new stations, one of which (Wickley) was underground. The line to Derham first opened on the 9th of November 1997. Derham Station had a unique design, with only one platform and a balloon loop which took trains back round towards Wickton.

### Wyldton Extension

One of the longest extensions was proposed on the 30th March 1999. It included building 2 new tracks at Central Station and building 7 new stations to Wyldton. This would also connect Leightend Airport to the actual city. Works began on 1st January 2001 after heavy consultation. The first section from Central to Lightford opened on September 22nd 2003, with the whole branch being completed on August 12th 2005.

### Wallgate Extension

After the opening of the branch to Wyldton, there were many plans to extend the LLR West of the airport to the under developed areas of Wallgate. This was aproved in 2018 and opened in 2020 with two additional stations. The tunnels pass under the airport's runway and are the deepest parts of the LLR before climbing up to the open.

### Derham Center

With the Wyldton Extension, the single platform at Derham wouldn't be able to cope with increased demand. As new platforms had to be built somewhere to turn trains faster, a single station extension was built as the geography near Derham Station was less favourable, Derham was also renewed with this extension. The new Derham Station opened on the 23rd of October 2019 and the extension opened shortly after, however LT have stated that this is just a temporary solution and that they plan to extend the line further.

## Current Network

The current system has 27 stations. There are 5 branches. Wickton in the West, Derham Center in the North East, Lyons Manor in the South East and Wyldton in the Southeast and Wallgate in the Southwest. In total there are 49 lifts across the network.

### Rolling Stock

All trains are formed of 3 carriages. 8 units were built for the original 1983 line, with a further 6 being built for the Dayend Extension. In 1995, an order of 12 brand new type L2 trains were ordered, and in 2018 the first of the brand new L3 stock arrived.

### Stations

*Main Article: List of Leightend Light Railway Stations*

The LLR serves 27 stations as of 2020. Most stations North of Lightford are elevated while most stations south of Lightford are at street level. A total of four are located underground. All stations were designed to be step free accessible

### Signalling

The LLR uses a moving block signalling system. When first opened it used a fixed block signalling system, the signal blocks were initially about 30 meters apart. However, this caused a lot of delays. So in 1999, the signal blocks were redone between Derham and Wickton to make the signal blocks 10m apart. The Lyons Manor Line was upgraded in 2002 but there were still quite a few sections with 30m signal blocks. The whole system was converted to moving block signalling over a two week period in 2015.

## Services

### Current

There are 3 main lines in operation, however, the layout of the LLR allows for flexibility between them.

#### Line 1

Line 1 starts in Lyons Manor, East of Central Leightend, heading West to Central Station before heading South via Lightford before splitting away from line 3 at Leightend Airport. Line 1 then circles Wyldton Park before arriving at Wyldton in the South East.

#### Line 2

Line 2 has two branches, both of which start at Wickton in the West before heading to Central Station. One branch joins line 1 and continues East towards Lyons Manor via Brunnswick Wharf, while the other joins line 3 and heads North towards Derham via Dayend and Wickley.

#### Line 3

Line 3 starts in Derham and heads South West towards Central Station where it joins line 1 and proceeds South to Leightend Airport where line 3 splits to head West towards Wallgate, the newest part of the LLR.

#### Extra Trains

There is one 'line' that provides extra services. Trains start at Lyons Manor and terminates at Lightford. It then goes to Derham where it uses the original loop and proceeds to the Leightend Airport central bay platform, before returning to Lyons Manor. These trains run around every 15 minutes.

### Historical

When the LLR opened in 1983, there was a single line (which did not have a number) from Wickton to Brunnswick Wharf. Trains ran every 8 minutes off peak and every 5 minutes during peak hours. It was coloured blue on LLR maps.

When the branch to Dayend opened in 1987, another line was created. The orignal (red) line was numbered 1, and the new line numbered line 2, coloured blue. Trains ran on each branch every 10 minutes, giving trains every 5 minutes on the central section to Wickton.

When the extension to Wyldton was opened in 2005, both lines had a branch down there.

When the Wallgate branch opened, all the lines were renumbered to what exists today.

## Future Developments

There is a proposal to extend the line from Wallgate further east, and to extend the line from Derham Center further south.

## Accidents and Incidents

* On 14 March 1978, an L1 series LLR train approaching Mill Hill Station in Leightend hit electrical equipment causing a short circuit and starting a fire which caused 1 death and injured 6 construction workers.
* On 5 June 2014, a major fire occoured in a building between Tilton and Derham. Train services were suspended between Derham and Dayend until the 6th June.
* (*Main article*) On 15 August 1992, five hijackers pulled the emergency brake on a train near Brunton station, they held the passengers hostage, The northland army attacked 3 days later and released the hostages. 2 people were killed in the drama