It's a test/trial piece at the minute. It should eventually be extended to connect the train station to the university.'VLR' transport system 'a totally unnecessary project' with 'zero advantages'
The Department for Transport has released £12m for the project, with funding set to be used to expand the track from Coventry Railway Station to the Coventry University Technology Park on Puma Waywww.coventrytelegraph.net
£12m to go a few hundred yards? What is the actual point in this?
It'll all be on roadThat all seems great but is it going to go on the road, same as the buses and cars or will it be like the trams in Nottingham where they have bits where it's dedicated for them?
Why is it better to get that as opposed to the number 20 bus to the Arena if it's still going the same route or is it to replace buses?
So yeah, can just get a bus then.It'll all be on road
So that entire blue line is there just to stop at the Arena? Which already has a fucking train station next to it!It's a test/trial piece at the minute. It should eventually be extended to connect the train station to the university.
Eventually (probably 20 years time the way things are going) it should cover the below
View attachment 43500
Also the council owns the patent on it i think, So they can flog it to other towns/city's.
The theory is that in cities the size of Coventry there isn't the room for full sized trams and this is an alternative. The other big selling point is that because of the weight you can basically install the tracks into existing roads without having to re-route utilities thus saving a huge amount of money, time and avoiding having roads closed for months or years, plus you can easily lay track off road to cover routes buses can't take.
If it is successful the city owns the IP and can make money selling it to other cities, most likely via a private sector partner.
In terms of capacity it is claimed they will run so frequently that the total capacity will be well above conventional buses and be in line with traditional tram systems elsewhere.
People that know far more about this stuff than I do seem to think that when longer distances are involved this type of thing is a better option than buses and leads to more modal shift. Of course that very much depends on what system we end up with and how reliable it is. There does seem to be a fairly decent chance we've just reinvented the wheel and spent a lot of money on something nobody else is interested in.
There is, or at least was, another system being looked at for different routes in the city which from memory involved driverless buses but not heard anything about that in a while so that might have been quietly dropped. Think it was tied to Andy Street's travel plans than only seem to get any traction in Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
An arm and a legIf it's going on the road, why not just use the bus? I get that these are driverless but the main thing about getting the tram in Nottingham for example is that it goes "off road" and cuts the travel time.
If you are putting this on Ansty Road to get out to Walsgrave Hospital then what's the actual benefit?
£12m that they have quoted to get from the Station to Puma Way (which is literally a stones throw) is madness, how much will it cost to get out to the hospital?
But the "intellectual property" is owned by CCC, so if we all just used the bus, how are our council members going to get their back handers?So yeah, can just get a bus then.
Guess you can use the why not a bus for any tram system. If we ever get the full thing assume they will be dedicated tram lanes. The argument is they will have much greater frequency than you will get with a bus. Its designed to be a 'turn up and go' service where you don't need to check a time table because you know there will be one within a couple of minutes of you turning up at a stopIf it's going on the road, why not just use the bus? I get that these are driverless but the main thing about getting the tram in Nottingham for example is that it goes "off road" and cuts the travel time.
If you are putting this on Ansty Road to get out to Walsgrave Hospital then what's the actual benefit?
£12m that they have quoted to get from the Station to Puma Way (which is literally a stones throw) is madness, how much will it cost to get out to the hospital?
What are the odds we end up owning a system nobody else is interested in so the maintenance costs end up sky high because everything has to be bespoke?But the "intellectual property" is owned by CCC, so if we all just used the bus, how are our council members going to get their back handers?
Guess you can use the why not a bus for any tram system. If we ever get the full thing assume they will be dedicated tram lanes. The argument is they will have much greater frequency than you will get with a bus. Its designed to be a 'turn up and go' service where you don't need to check a time table because you know there will be one within a couple of minutes of you turning up at a stop
The price may seem high but its a fraction of the price of a tram system. Although with the Midlands tram system planned to extend to extend to HS2 at Acorn Cross is does seem that we're being left out of a system that covers Birmingham, Solihull and Wolverhampton. Although I've got issues with how that is routed as well. Why the fuck does it terminate near Five Ways rather than going to Edgbaston Stadium?
Personally I'd see more benefit in extending from Acorn Cross, take that on a route that goes Warwick Uni, Hospital, CBS, City Centre. But for some reason it seems Birmingham and Wolverhampton are getting money thrown at them and we aren't
The theory of it sounds good that something will turn up every 5 minutes and it will get you across the city, but when put into practice, it's not really going to work like that when it's stuck on the Ansty Road.
How much has the council paid to buy this intellectual property and if it was a moneyspinner why would the company that developed it sell?But the "intellectual property" is owned by CCC, so if we all just used the bus, how are our council members going to get their back handers?
Yeah seems strange, are they using council tax payers money on this, while cutting services at the same time? It would be interesting to know how this came about.How much has the council paid to buy this intellectual property and if it was a moneyspinner why would the company that developed it sell?
I am sensing that the council might just have made a bad deal here.
Do it and do it well and I think it'll work.The theory is that in cities the size of Coventry there isn't the room for full sized trams and this is an alternative. The other big selling point is that because of the weight you can basically install the tracks into existing roads without having to re-route utilities thus saving a huge amount of money, time and avoiding having roads closed for months or years, plus you can easily lay track off road to cover routes buses can't take.
If it is successful the city owns the IP and can make money selling it to other cities, most likely via a private sector partner.
In terms of capacity it is claimed they will run so frequently that the total capacity will be well above conventional buses and be in line with traditional tram systems elsewhere.
People that know far more about this stuff than I do seem to think that when longer distances are involved this type of thing is a better option than buses and leads to more modal shift. Of course that very much depends on what system we end up with and how reliable it is. There does seem to be a fairly decent chance we've just reinvented the wheel and spent a lot of money on something nobody else is interested in.
There is, or at least was, another system being looked at for different routes in the city which from memory involved driverless buses but not heard anything about that in a while so that might have been quietly dropped. Think it was tied to Andy Street's travel plans than only seem to get any traction in Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
Would you really be surprised if it all got built and then they announced it won't run on match daysI really like the idea of being able to get to and from the game on one off these things.
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