Driverless trams on the cards in Coventry
New route could see autonomous vehicles travelling between technology park and station
Driverless trams could soon be running on Coventry’s roads after councillors backed plans for an 800-metre twin track which will see the city’s Very Light Rail (VLR) demonstrator operate between the railway station and the Coventry University Technology Park on Mile Lane.
And according to the council’s innovation chief, autonomous trams would mean the service could run much more frequently, making it more attractive to the public.
Members of the council’s cabinet voted to move ahead with the plans following the success of the first test track along Greyfriars Road earlier this year.
Cllr Jim O’Boyle, the cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change, said: “This is the next stage that was always planned and it takes it one step further with it being two-way and operating in a live traffic environment. We would also like to include the potential for the vehicle to be autonomous which was always the plan going forward. It will all help to show that this is a viable transport system.”
He added that the company who put in the original track had been handed the contract for the new line and the vehicle will again be built by a local firm, creating extra jobs.
Cllr O’Boyle went on: “The company laying the track is called Colas, the same company doing the extensions to the Midland Metro over in Birmingham and the Black Country at the moment. The reason why that is important is that they keep saying to us that ours is such a good scheme that they are not sure why it isn’t being done elsewhere in the country – they can recognise the benefits.
“The vehicle which is being built by NP Aerospace in Coventry and they were the organisation that built the last one. It was designed here in Coventry and built here in Coventry and that is in direct contrast to Midland Metro which is built in Spain. So this is also a jobs opportunity.”
Colin Knight, director of innovation at the city council, added: “What we have here is a system that is capable of being delivered at a fraction of the cost and in a fraction of the time and with a lot less disruption. We will be looking at a new control system that will be autonomous enabled. It will also have the latest technology for talking to the city’s traffic control system meaning we can use the latest developments to optimise the traffic flow and give as much priority to the tram as we wish.
“Also, being autonomous will allow you to operate at a much higher frequency because the operational costs will be brought down. Higher frequency in turn will then help attract people onto the tram because if there is one along every three minutes like the London Underground then it is a far more attractive proposition than something that comes along every 10 or 15 minutes.”