List of modern tramway and light rail systems in the United Kingdom explained

This is a list of extant tramway and light rail systems in the United Kingdom. For a full historical list of all tramway systems that have existed in the country, see List of town tramway systems in the United Kingdom.

Operating systems

Location	System	Annual ridership in 2023/24 (millions)	System length	Number of Stops	Lines	Traction type	Date opened	Notes
Blackpool	Blackpool Tramway	4.7	17 km (11 mi)	39	3	Electric	29 September 1885	[1] [2]
Edinburgh	Edinburgh Trams	10.1	18 km (11.5 mi)	23	1	Electric	31 May 2014	[3] Extension opened 7 June 2023
South London	Tramlink, formerly Croydon Tramlink	20	27 km (17 mi)	39	4	Electric	10 May 2000	[4] [5]
Greater Manchester	Metrolink	42	103 km (64 mi)	99	8	Electric	6 April 1992
Nottingham	Nottingham Express Transit	15.5	32 km (20 mi)	50	2	Electric	9 March 2004	[6]
Sheffield and Rotherham	South Yorkshire Supertram	8.7	34 km (21 mi)	50	4	Electric	21 March 1994	[7]
Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland	Tyne and Wear Metro	30.7	77 km (48 mi)	60	2	Electric	11 August 1980	Light rail
West Midlands (Birmingham–Wolverhampton)	West Midlands Metro	8.3	23 km (14 mi)	31	1	Electric	30 May 1999	2/3 lines under construction.[8]

Systems under construction

• South Wales Metro Four light rapid transit lines are opening in the Welsh Capital of Cardiff as part of the current "Metro" plan Phase 1 in 2025, which will reach as far out of the capital as Hirwaun, a town from Cardiff Bay, as well as three new lines planned to open by 2028. Included in phase 2 of the plan is a new light rail line partially running on the street connecting St Mellons to Radyr and Creigiau via the Senedd building, Cardiff Bay, and Cardiff City Centre.

Proposed systems

• KenEx Tram – Thames crossing between Kent and Essex^[9]
• Wirral Street Car
• Bristol underground metro
• HERT (Hertfordshire and Essex Rapid Transit)^[10]
• Coventry Very Light Rail
• West Yorkshire mass transit system (Leeds)

Cancelled systems

• Bristol Supertram
• CITI Belfast
• Leeds Supertram
• Merseytram
• Penistone Line Tram-Train
• South Hampshire Rapid Transit
• Tees Valley Metro
• London
  • Cross River Tram
  • East London Transit – built as bus rapid transit
  • Thames Gateway Transit
  • West London Tram

See also

• Light Rail Transit Association
• List of guided busways and BRT systems in the United Kingdom
• List of town tramway systems in the United Kingdom
• List of trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom
• Rapid transit in the United Kingdom
• Trams in England
• Urban rail in the United Kingdom

Notes and References

1. Web site: History of our Tramway. Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours. 28 April 2022.
2. Web site: Light rail and tram statistics, England: year ending March 2023 . 2024-07-26 . GOV.UK . en.
3. Web site: 2024-02-22 . Millions more tram trips following launch of new line Edinburgh Trams . 2024-07-26 . edinburghtrams.com . en.
4. Web site: Available Website. Railwaysofbritain.bravehost.com. 3 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140819102721/http://railwaysofbritain.bravehost.com/Croyearltram.html. 19 August 2014.
5. Web site: Available Website. Railwaysofbritain.bravehost.com. 3 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140819102852/http://railwaysofbritain.bravehost.com/Croydontramlink.html. 19 August 2014.
6. Book: Turner, Keith . 2009 . Directory of British Tramways. Volume 2 . Stroud . The History Press . 978-0-7524-4233-4 . 88–89.
7. Web site: Sheffield's Trams in c1960. Cyberpictures.net. 3 November 2014.
8. Web site: 2024-09-18 . Wednesbury To Brierley Hill Metro Extension. 2024-10-18 . metroalliance.co.uk/ . en.
9. Web site: KenEx Tram . Thames Gateway Tramlink Ltd . 21 January 2023.
10. Web site: 28 January 2022 . Improving passenger transport - Hertfordshire Essex Rapid Transit . www.hertfordshire.gov.uk.