Coventry VLR carries its first passengers

 

Two days later than planned, the Very Light Rail tram in the English city of Coventry carried its first passengers on demonstration runs on 30 May, using 220m of newly-laid modular slab track in Greyfriars Rd and Queen Victoria Rd in the city centre. The demonstration track includes a 3.5% gradient and a 30m radius curve and was laid in a shallow 300mm excavation by Colas Rail UK The two-axle vehicle that can accommodate 56 passengers (20 seated) was manufactured in Coventry by NP Aerospace and has been tested on a 2.2km track at the Very Light Rail Innovation Centre in Dudley. The 11t vehicle is battery powered with a theoretical range of 50-70km, but this varies with temperature and vehicle load. Rail Adventure UK is providing operations during the May/June demonstration period (for which all passenger trips are sold out). After this the track will be left in place to test its reliance under continuous normal traffic. Its construction cost is put at £7M per km. The costs of development and trials are around £14.6M, with £2.4M coming from the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership and the remainder from the West Midlands Combined Authority. Subject to the outcome of the trials, and finance, there are tentative plans for a line from Coventry Station to the University Hospital. The project is led by Coventry City Council.