vilnius lrt - line a

Owner’s
representative
LRT
vilnius lrt - line a
lithuania
transport planning
urban planning and development,
socio-economic studies
project management
The challenge
The idea of a mass mode of transport (a metro network) was
first explored by the Soviets in the 1980s. The project was then
postponed indefinitely as a result of the slowing of demographic
growth. The need for a heavy mode of transport was nevertheless
clear, and the idea of a modern system was relaunched in 1996
then confirmed in 2000 by the new City Council.
Vilnius’s structure is deeply marked by its various phases of urbanisation. After the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century districts built around the historic centre, the town
changed totally with the great period of functionalist urbanisation
from the 1950s to the 1980s, which saw the building of large
apartment blocks. Built on the outskirts, mainly to the West and
North of the conurbation, these apartment blocks now structure
the urban organization of the town, housing more than 60% of
the population.
Their remoteness from centres of employment (the town centre) has always raised the question of the mobility of the town’s
inhabitants. This difficulty is further accentuated by the natural
boundary constituted by the Neris. The river broadly separates
the inhabitants on the North bank from the jobs on the South
bank. This situation is also made more complicated by the relatively limited number of crossing points. Consequence: considerable traffic from one bank to the other, which leads to bottlenecks and congestion.
While 80% of this traffic was carried in public transport in 1980,
the growing use of private cars is now accelerating and leading
to traffic jams and a lack of parking spaces. Since 1995, the number of vehicles has increased by 63%.
The problem is therefore to cope with this accelerating use of cars
by Lithuanian families, which threatens in the long term to compromise the functioning of the town. Moreover, the City Council
forecasts a 40 to 50% increase in the number of cars over the
next 5 to 10 years.
In this context, the City Council has chosen to modernise and redynamise its public transport to make it more attractive and limit
the decline in traffic (down 20% in 4 years). The system for Vilnius was chosen on the basis of demand and traffic surveys. With
a maximum rush hour traffic of 5 to 7,000 passengers depending
www.systra.com
on the route, a tram network was seen as the most appropriate
solution. Moreover, Vilnius remains within the same 300,000 to
600,000 population bracket as other towns which have already
chosen this option.
The line A
The first line, line A, is a 10.4 km North-South line with 18 stations, 10 of which will be connected with the bus and trolleybus
networks, together with 4 park-and-ride facilities. It will link the
railway and coach stations to the Santariskès hospital centre in
27 minutes, a time saving of 30% on average compared to the
current situation. This route also passes alongside the old town,
goes through the ministry district at Gedimino, and serves the
new business district and the new City Council building on Konstitucijos street.
This line thus meets the city’s wish to set up a genuine multi-modal network, which is the only means of slowing down the
use of cars, particularly in the historic centre, and of facilitating
relations between the main residential areas in the North and the
working areas and public buildings in the South. This three-line
network will eventually serve 48% of the population, 59% of
workplaces and 67% of schools and university establishments.
New traffic and parking plans will be jointly implemented. They
will be based among other things on the building of three as yet
unbuilt or unfinished motorway bypasses and the building of several car parks in the city centre to considerably limit direct transit
through the centre and compensate for the reduction in parking
places in the streets.
the stations
The stations will have a platform for each direction of circulation
of the trams. The platforms will be 28 cm high, 41 m long and
at least 2.50 m wide.
vilnius lrt - line a
lithuania
Santariskes
Ligonine
Jeruzale
Seminarija
Pusynas
Baltupiai
Naujakiemio
the track bed
Built mainly on roads, 90% of the track bed is located in a dedicated site, with a few hundred metres in a non-specialised site,
particularly in the town centre because of the narrowness of the
streets. Two types of layout have been chosen: central and lateral. In the town centre, a track bed with anti-vibration surfacing
has been recommended to protect the nearby buildings and the
historic centre listed by Unesco.
Kuro Aparaturos G-Kla
Satrija
Zalgirio
Turgaviete
bridges
Ukmerges
Only the Green Bridge (Zaliasis tiltas) which will be used by lines
A and B will be reinforced. The routes have been chosen to avoid
the construction of bridges.
Opera
Gedimino
P.Cvirkos
the service garage
Traku
Located at the North end of the line, near the existing bus depot,
the service garage will occupy an area of 2.9 hectares and will
allow the storage of 24 tram sets. It comprises a maintenance
workshop and a site for servicing of fixed installations.
Ausra
Stotis
SYSTRA’s role
www.systra.com
at a glance
facts and figures
Length of line A: 10.4 km
Number of stations: 18
Type of rolling stock: 42 m tram
set for (recommended)
300 passengers with low floor
Number of tram sets: 19
Frequency: 3’45 in peak hours
Ridership: 177,000 per day
costs
TOTAL : € 169 M
Infrastructure & urban
developments: € 64 M
Rolling stock: € 43.45 M
Equipment : € 47.5 M
Engineering/works ownership:
€ 14 M
Average cost/km: € 16.2 M
key dates
2001/2002: prefeasibility study
2004: pre-project study
and financial arrangement
2009/2010: european financing
for 800 million Litas (€ 250 M)
2009/2010: preparation
for invitation to tender for
the construction of the 1st line
November 2013
In September 2001, and for a period of 12 months, SYSTRA was
chosen to carry out the prefeasibility study for a public transport
system in collaboration with the City Council’s departments,
particularly the Town Development department, the Vilnius Town
Planning Agency (Vilniaus planas) and Vilnius transport authorities (Susisiekimo Paslaugos, Vilniaus Autobusu parkas, Troleibusu parkas).
This study aimed in its first phase to identify the requirements,
construct a long-term Dedicated Site Public Transport scheme
and choose the system best suited to the conurbation. In the second phase, the aim was to carry out the technical studies for the
priority line, estimate its investment cost and usage level, and,
finally, define the appropriate institutional and financial set-up.
SYSTRA also provided its assistance in the conducting of a traffic
survey, in the definition of the project’s communication policy and
in public consultation concerning the strategic plan for Vilnius.