Taunton Metro Rail is a proposed light rail

Light rail

Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

 network using a combination of existing rail infrastructure and the construction of new infrastructure in the area of Taunton

Taunton

Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....

, Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

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Current Plans

In 2009, Project Taunton, the authority responsible for Taunton's major regeneration project, revealed plans for TMR, as part of their transport sustainability plan. A feasibility proposal is currently being drawn for Somerset County Council

Somerset County Council

Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county.-Area covered:...

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It is anticipated that TMR will be modelled against driverless systems such as London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

's Docklands Light Railway

Docklands Light Railway

The Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...

, providing an anticipated peak frequency of 5 trains per hour and an off-peak frequency of 3 trains per hour.

If implemented, the avoiding line in Taunton's Station Road will be used as a station, rather than integrating it to Taunton's National Rail Station. Also, this will mean that Wellington's rail station will be reopened, which has been already proposed by the Conservative Party.

The move to re-open Wellington's former rail station has gained widespread support from local businesses and residents.

The proposal was due to be submitted in Autumn 2009, however due to the current economic climate and a lack of funding, this has been delayed until further notice.

History

Somerset once had a much more extensive rail network than today, however the many routes were closed following the Reshaping of British Railways

Beeching Axe

The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...

report of 1963. A tram system opened in 1901 serving Taunton, but it closed in 1921 due to a dispute about electricity costs.