Very Light Railway for Coventry?

[OwlMan]

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/could-light-railway-system-built-12021691

Extensive talks have already taken place about the ambitious project which could also connect the city's two universities
The Very Light Railway is being developed by WMG
A revolutionary light railway system designed and engineered in Coventry could be built to link the city to the proposed HS2 interchange by Birmingham Airport.
The idea has been put forward by Councillor Jim O’Boyle, Coventry’s cabinet member for jobs and regeneration, who believes ground-breaking technology being developed at WMG at the University of Warwick could be used to deliver the ambitious project.
Coun O’Boyle has already put the idea to a scrutiny board and had detailed discussions with experts at WMG, who have been working on developing a light railway system which he believes would be a perfect fit.
He also believes it would help Coventry take full advantage of the HS2 rail line linking Birmingham and London, which the Government recently reaffirmed would go ahead.
Although he admits it is at a very early stage, Coun O’Boyle told the Telegraph he is confident the project is achievable and that funding could be made available via the new West Midlands Combined Authority to help it become reality.
He said: “HS2 is coming in whether people like it or not and the Government is keen on pressing ahead with it.
“The interchange will be just down the A45 near Birmingham Airport and it is important we have proper linkage with it.
“With the combined authority the idea is there be money available for transportation and £370million has been set aside.”
Earlier this year the tram network in Birmingham was extended

Although a major project, Coun O’Boyle said a light railway would be cheaper, more environmentally friendly and far easier to construct than traditional heavy rail or tram systems.
WMG is currently partnering with Dudley Council on a £28million project called Very Light Rail, which is aims to reduce the weight and cost of a railcar by half.
“The benefits of light rail compared to trams and heavy rail are that it would be a lot cheaper, it’s half the weight of a normal train,” said Coun O’Boyle.
“Railway lines haven’t really changed much since the wild west but the tracks that can be used for this are almost like Lego in comparison and the civil engineering challenges involved are much easier to deal with.”
Coun Jim O'Boyle
Coun O’Boyle said the idea first came about after he discovered Centro’s plans to link Coventry with the proposed HS2 interchange at Birmingham Airport amounted to a bus service.
“I said at one of the first meetings I attended as a cabinet member that I didn’t think that was an appropriate way and officers agreed,” he said.
“The biggest question is what’s the alternative and this idea of a light railway came up.
“We have WMG right on our doorstep and it seems odd we wouldn’t kick into that.
“Why can’t Coventry have a brand new transport scheme like this - we have got two growing universities and got Jaguar Land Rover, who have already sent me a letter of support saying they are interested in this scheme as they are interested in alternative modes of transport.”
Could a carriage like this one day pick up passengers in Coventry?
As regards the scheme becoming reality - Coun O’Boyle remains realistic but optimistic too.
He said: “HS2 won’t be open until 2026 at the earliest but I think it is important to get the idea out there to see what we can do.
“Clearly there is a lot of work to be done but this is Coventry - why shouldn’t Coventry seek to be ambitious and create something no one else has got?
“We are very innovative, we have got two fantastic universities - we are a city that has manufactured and engineered over the years.
“If this goes ahead not only could it be designed and engineered in the city but we could build it too.”

 

[daikilo]

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/could-light-railway-system-built-12021691

I am all in favour of innovation, but would certainly want to know more about how this vehichle would be built and operate (along with the infrastructure) before I would want to be stirring up public interest and making the statements in the text that followed the link. Indeed, conventional wisdom is to identify the characteristics of the need before selecting the solution!

That said, rather like the Pacer or the DLR in London, if we don't think out of the box then an opportunity could be missed.

 

[Mag_seven]

That said, rather like the Pacer or the DLR in London, if we don't think out of the box then an opportunity could be missed.

In the case of the Pacer its a pity we did.

 

[edwin_m]

This would appear to be Warwick University's Very Light Rail system:

https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/hvmcatapult/research/rail/vlr/

The main objective of the project is to reduce the weight and cost of a railcar by half in order to facilitate low cost connectivity of suburban and rural areas. The Radical Train will demonstrate unique self-powered bogies (with integral hybrid propulsion and kinetic energy recovery system) combined with a modular, lightweight body-shell utilising advanced materials. WMG will be transferring expertise in lightweighting technology from the automotive sector into this project. Automotive lightweighting solutions are already employing advanced materials including ultra-high strength steels and fibre-reinforced polymer composites.

Best of luck to them ... but it won't be easy!

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I guess one risk is that by making the vehicles so light, they could also make them less attractive to travel in, with the result that fewer people use them than would've used a more conventional tram on the same route.

I notice on the description that diesel engines are specified - that doesn't bode well from the point of view of pollution, vibrations, or general attractiveness. (I assume a diesel engine is also going to add more weight, meaning more has to be skimped elsewhere to achieve the hoped for weight reduction).

I also wonder if a lighter vehicle is likely to offer a less comfortable ride?

I'm all for innovation, and if this can mean Coventry gets a light rail system that it might not otherwise have got, then that's great. But I hope 'very light rail' doesn't end up translating to 'basically a bus but with rails'.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
From the starting post:

Coun O’Boyle said the idea first came about after he discovered Centro’s plans to link Coventry with the proposed HS2 interchange at Birmingham Airport amounted to a bus service.

Isn't Coventry's link with HS2 the rail line from Coventry to Birmingham International, which already exists?

 

[rebmcr]

Sounds just like a Class 139.

 

[jopsuk]

Is there any link between the Warwick University lot and the people behind Parry People Movers? Because the vehicle looks VERY like the proposed bogie version of the PPM they've been touting for years

 

[daikilo]

Is there any link between the Warwick University lot and the people behind Parry People Movers? Because the vehicle looks VERY like the proposed bogie version of the PPM they've been touting for years

Given that the proposed car has at least one diesel engine and apparently an energy storage system using batteries, I'm not clear about the link to the PPM.

That said, they realy have set themselves an engineering challenge if they want to shoe-horn an engine and presumably some sort of drive into a 2.2m bogie. Presumably the energy storage will be off the bogie.

What concerns me more is that, although the vehichle is shown with both a coupler and some kind of buffing units, there is no mention of crash-worhiness, mixed-traffic operations or even multiple-unit operation. These could be big drivers to the end result, and the end use.