Light Rails to Sustainable Mobility?

Taking its point of departure in the mobilities paradigm, this paper applies a theoretical framework of narratives and storytelling to analyse and describe the rationales behind implementation of light rail in the case of Bergen light rail in Norway. Through the analysis it is demonstrated that there is not one overall rationale for implementing light rail, many arguments are evident in various contexts. Furthermore, findings in this paper show that planners, policy makers and other stakeholders shape stories for or against the implementation of light rail through the use of narratives that are linked to global discourses of light rail. By looking into the narratives and stories around light rail, generated in the policy and planning phase, the process of creating visionary concepts for light rails can be unfolded. The central claim of this paper is, that the formation of a clear concept for a light rail project is crucial when forming the basis for the decisions for the political process and the decisions made later in the implementation and operation stages of the light rail project. Furthermore, a clear concept is necessary to identify the criteria for a successful system and evaluate the outcome and more importantly to institutionalise this concept among all actors involved in the process to ensure that there is agreement around the concept. Through findings from the Bergen Light rail case, the concepts and arguments for implementing light rail in this local setting will be presented to exemplify how concepts for the light rail can be shaped in the policy and planning phase and show how the lack of a clear concept can extend and complicate decision making processes. The paper moreover provides a more general perspective on the effectiveness of creating clear concepts in order to steer new infrastructure projects and urban interventions through the political process and secure the outcome of these projects are recognisable in proportion to the visionary concept.