Plan unveiled for 'driverless' light-rail people-mover in Coventry

[dutchman]

The new driverless Coventry light-rail People-mover system would be more modern and cheaper that the Midlands Metro modern tram-style system



PLANS to return a light rail people mover system to Coventry’s streets using pioneering modern technology -potentially without a driver – have moved a step forward.

As we exclusively revealed in October last year, the initial plan has been to move people around the city and connect Coventry city centre with the new HS2 high speed rail Birmingham interchange station near the NEC and Birmingham Airport planned for 2026.

Now the plan in development for a ‘unique rapid transit light rail’ system has been unveiled by researchers at Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick, alongside leading Coventry councillors.

They have unveiled today details of a £6m research and development project to ‘connect the city using state-of-the-art, lightweight, battery-operated, driverless rail vehicles on a low cost track, which will be designed and built in UK.’

The project’s leaders says old-style trams in the UK are imported and very costly – so the aim is to create a UK supply chain for manufacturing lightweight rail vehicles and tracks, to it more affordable for passengers.

The first demonstrator vehicle is estimated to be built and ready for testing by Spring 2019.

The idea has been explored since last year by the council’s cabinet member for jobs and regeneration, councillor Jim O’Boyle, and deputy cabinet member, councillor David Welsh.

It is the first time since the 1990s that proposals to return what some will regard as a ‘modern tram-style system’ to the city’s streets have been on the table.

The project will be funded by the government’s Local Growth Fund through the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership and West Midlands Combined Authority Devolution Deal (subject to approval of the business case).

The project team says: “These small rail vehicles will have the capability to operate autonomously without a driver, which will reduce the operational costs and enable more frequent services for passengers.

“The vehicles will be battery operated using rapid charging solutions and therefore will not require overhead cables.”

Another fantasy project!

[rebbonk]

Isn't it easy to spend other people's money?

[dutchman]

Contract awarded to design light-rail people mover on Coventry streets



A CONTRACT has been awarded to design a light-rail people mover on Coventry streets.

The tram-style electric railway system could be installed in the city and connect the train station and the high speed rail network at a new HS2 interchange station near the NEC.

Those behind the plan say the prototype vehicle will be capable of carrying 20 seated passengers and a maximum of 70 including standing passengers.

The Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) – based at the University of Warwick – has been granted more than £12million to develop the scheme.

The funds have come from government money allocated to the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP).

Transport Design International, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, will create the driverless, lightweight, battery-operated vehicle.

It will be tested at the Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre in Dudley before a permanent tracked route is created in Coventry.

They've been talking about this for DECADES and nothing has ever come of it!

[dutchman]

'Folly Trolley' claim about Coventry's light rail trams plan denied by council chief

A PLANNED tram-style light rail system for Coventry streets has been slammed by a public transport campaigner as a ‘folly trolley’.

Resident traffic expert, James Avery, has criticised plans for an electric people mover which 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.

Mr Avery said the network would need significant and secure right of way and is therefore incompatible with Coventry’s already busy streets.

He has also suggested it will cost much more than the £40million projected.

Mr Avery said: “It’s grossly over-optimistic. The council can’t be trusted to deliver it when it’s ripping out bus lanes, and unlike bus lanes, it’s totally incompatible with the rest of the transport system.

“This city can’t even run a bus in a bus lane, let’s please stop pretending it can deliver a £1billion scheme for less than 10 per cent of that.

“Edinburgh trams cost nearly £1billion to deliver half the line planned.

“A tram needs a secure right of way – the track itself and the wiring are much smaller parts of this cost.

“Coventry is removing mass transit rights of way, not delivering them.

“A tram can only operate on the tracks that are laid for it and in a city with so much traffic coming via our very near neighbours, that’s not very helpful.”

[dutchman]

Coventry tram plans 'great example of collaboration'



Coventry's plans for a tram system is a great example of collaboration", the West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has said.

City councillors have approved £3.2m extra funding for it and the local authority says when it's complete, the very light rail system could offer people a London-style transport service that's more reliable than buses.

Mr Street said: "Lots of people have come together to make this happen, the city council, the combined authority, also the University of Warwick have done a lot of the design work and now Coventry manufacturing companies have actually built the first prototype, so it's a great example of collaboration."

About £14m has already been spent on the project - with bids in for almost £100m of future funding.

[dutchman]

Note how "£40m" has now become "£100m"

[rebbonk]

The more I see and hear of Street, the more I become convinced that he's thicker than pig sh*t and twice as dense. He is totally out of touch with reality. I can't help but wonder how much of his previous 'success' was down to luck and a few good advisors.

[dutchman]

Very Light Rail plans face delays after early funding bid rejected



Work to build a cutting-edge tram system in Coventry has been delayed by years after a bid for government cash was rejected, the BBC has learned.

Coventry's Very Light Rail (VLR) has been billed as a cheaper and faster-to-build alternative to traditional trams.

The VLR team - led by the Labour-run Coventry City Council - asked the government for £36.8m in February 2023.

While the business case was rejected, the government said it had approved £15m so far to support testing of VLR.

It was hoped the first passenger route in the city centre would be ready by 2025.

The business plan estimated the project would cost £189m in total.

By throwing out the council's bid for cash, it meant access to funding was restricted, forcing delays in the work.

Coventry city councillor Jim O'Boyle has said he now does not expect VLR to be in public use until at least 2026.

He described the Department for Transport (DfT) as "dysfunctional" and said the government had "no problems in funding HS2 with billions of pounds".

In response, the DfT said: "It's essential that we consider and scrutinise business cases to ensure value for money for the taxpayer and ensure rigorous testing of the technology is carried out to deliver a service in the future."

In response to freedom of information requests, the BBC has been sent a copy of VLR's strategic outline business case and the minutes of a DfT meeting in which the project was discussed on 6 February 2023.

In the meeting, DfT civil servants questioned whether VLR represented good "value for money", and whether Coventry was the right place for it.

Stephen Fidler, co-director of local transport, said "political factors in Coventry" needed to be considered.

One senior council source interpreted that as meaning the government would prefer the first VLR route to be in Birmingham instead of Coventry. But the BBC has been told it was not a party political comment.

The DfT said the overall VLR programme included options on potential routes across the West Midlands.

Civil servants also raised "concerns" about the ability of "DfT staff to support on R&D projects, particularly one led by a council team".

And the VLR team "noted it was unclear whether this would deliver different benefits from a bus and this would be unknown until it was tried and tested live".

In an email, sent the day after the meeting, the department rejected the business plan and said VLR should progress as a research and development project instead.

Under a new funding process, the VLR project has to prove the system works in practice to access more government money from a pot worth £40m.

The next step is to test the vehicle on a demonstrator track, which the council plans to build in the city centre later this year.

Beyond the £15m in government funding VLR has accessed so far, it is seeking a further £11m to pay for the demonstrator.

The delays and the role of the government in approving funding has raised questions about the future of the project in Coventry.

Please note the test-track pictured is located in Staffordshire despite the "Coventry" destination board.

[rebbonk]

It's nothing more than another vanity project led by O'Boyle. It'll be neither use nor ornament, but will cost the local tax payers heavily.