Coventry light rail project

[Sandy Lane]

Will this happen? If its anything like Midland Metro will the roads have to dug up to lay the track?

https://coventryobserver.co.uk/news/coventrys-tram-style-people-mover-will-work-like-the-london-underground-with-people-hopping-on/

WILL Coventry's tram-style people mover be 'like the London Underground'?

Images have been released of how Coventry's tram-style light rail people mover will look when it hits the streets.

The 'affordable' battery-powered, lightweight, rail-based vehicle could be manufactured as early as next year.

The long term objective is that it will become autonomous, allowing more vehicles to operate intelligently and efficiently to meet passenger demand, designers say.

It would hold 50 passengers, and the longer term aim is that it will work like the London Underground system, where there is no timetable and people can hop on and off.

It would connect the train station and the high speed rail network at a new HS2 interchange station near the NEC.

The network could also potentially include routes to Warwick University, the Jaguar Land Rover plant in Whitley and the University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire in Walsgrave, Coventry.

Due to being battery-powered there will be no overhead power supply which is both costly and has a negative impact to the city-scape, designers say.

The first-of-a-kind design is available to view in 3D via WMG's visualisation suite and the first test vehicle will be manufactured by mid-2020.

A team of experts is also working to develop a new track system.

Engineers and researchers at WMG, University of Warwick, are working alongside Transport Design International (TDI), based in Stratford, are currently developing the system.

As we reported, Resident traffic expert, James Avery, criticised the vehicle as a 'folly trolley' and a waste of money.

Dr Darren Hughes, WMG, University of Warwick, said: "The Coventry light-rail system will be innovative in bringing together technologies from a number of sectors to deliver a low-cost environmentally-sustainable public transport solution for the City of Coventry.

"Seeing the 3D simulation and envisaging how it will look within Coventry makes us look forward to building the first vehicle that will be ready for testing at a test track facility during 2020."

Cabinet member for jobs and regeneration Councillor Jim O'Boyle added: "Very Light rail is a fantastic innovation and it has the potential to transform the way people travel.

"It will be much more affordable to install than traditional trams, take up far less road space, be able to run alongside traffic and our ultimate aim is that it doesn't require a driver so it can be a frequent service.

"Coventry has a rich tradition of vehicle manufacturing and now we are leading the way in future transport too."

The Government's Local Growth Fund through the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) has contributed £2.46million towards phase one of the research and design of the prototype and £12.2million has been secured from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Devolution Deal to undertake the research and development required to prove the VLR concept.

[mikestone]

If HS2 is only half the success its promoters claim (it won't be) the link between the new station and the airport needs a properly engineered people mover, not some cheapskate  academic fantasy.

[Sandy Lane]

What I strongly object to is the huge sums of LOCAL money already spent on research on an unproven concept. Just think how the existing bus routes could have benefitted with the £14 million cost so far.

I say let some other mug of a council develop it all. Coventry should only show an interest when it is commercially doable, perhaps in 10 years time? Wake up Councillors, time to get real.

And I guess the total cost will be well above £14m by a long shot.

[Stu]

the longer term aim is that it will work like the London Underground system, where there is no timetable and people can hop on and off.

They really said that? I've travelled around London before, and I can tell you there actually is a timetable for the Underground services.

Plus, anyone who has travelled on London Underground services, and had to travel up and down numerous escalators and staircases, as well as along numerous passageways, just to get to/from the platforms, will tell you that the London Underground is not really a 'hop on and off' service!

[Ian Hardy]

They really said that? I've travelled around London before, and I can tell you there actually is a timetable for the Underground services.

Plus, anyone who has travelled on London Underground services, and had to travel up and down numerous escalators and staircases, as well as along numerous passageways, just to get to/from the platforms, will tell you that the London Underground is not really a 'hop on and off' service!

To confirm that London Underground has timetables, their working timetables are available to download from the following page on the TfL website:

https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/working-timetables

[Kevin]

I like the concept of it, but really don't see Coventry as being somewhere that needs it. Something like this around Birmingham International though: with the Airport, rail station, NEC, HS2 Station... Perhaps

[The Real 4778]

Seems to me like a solution looking for a problem to solve.

Parry People Mover anyone? 

[Sandy Lane]

Found another scheme in Cambridge that wont need track.
http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/compelling-case-put-forward-for-4bn-metro-network-for-cambridgeshire

[ellspurs]

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventrys-new-trams-take-step-21708977

They've been displaying the tram tracks around Coventry Transport museum. There's a photo there which looks like a NX Platinum bus is looking at the tram in disgust.

[Westy]

If I'm reading this correctly, a link from Coventry to Birmingham Airport.

Now if the Midland Metro got their asses into gear & put a link from Brum to the Airport, then that would be an alternative 'backup' to the mainline service, the same way the existing line 'backups' Brum to Wolves.

[Stu]

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventrys-new-trams-take-step-21708977

They've been displaying the tram tracks around Coventry Transport museum. There's a photo there which looks like a NX Platinum bus is looking at the tram in disgust.

I guess the folks in Coventry can look forward to years of disruption caused by digging up roads in order to lay these new tracks down.

[ellspurs]

I guess the folks in Coventry can look forward to years of disruption caused by digging up roads in order to lay these new tracks down.

https://web.archive.org/web/20191107093252/https://www.cenex-lcv.co.uk/storage/seminar-programme/sessions/presentations/nick_mallinson_very_light_rail_vlr_as_a_means_of_delivering_low_cost_railways_1537363565.pdf (page 19 is where it talks about the track)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_Very_Light_Rail

It seems that there is a large difference in the rails that they are using compared to the Midland Metro. The ones proposed for Coventry essentially allow for them to be laid without having to move all the infrastructure underneath, according to the Wikipedia article I stole that above link from.

[Stu]

It seems that there is a large difference in the rails that they are using compared to the Midland Metro. The ones proposed for Coventry essentially allow for them to be laid without having to move all the infrastructure underneath, according to the Wikipedia article I stole that above link from.

Yes, that is correct, but roads will still need to be dug up in order to lay the tracks down.

[ellspurs]

Yes, that is correct, but roads will still need to be dug up in order to lay the tracks down.

But it'll be more akin to the normal road relaying sort of dug up, rather than whatever they've done on Broad Street right?