Frustration over Coventry's Very Light Rail funding

A senior city councillor says the process is 'frustrating' and will drive up costs.

Author: Ellie Brown, Local Democracy ReporterPublished 7th Jun 2023

£36.8 million is needed to help fund a 2 kilometre ‘demonstrator track’ through Coventry city centre to prove the council-led scheme is feasible.

The money was agreed by the West Midlands Combined Authority Board and went to the Department for Transport for “final sign-off” in mid-January.

But only a small amount of this has been released so far and the council is still going through so-called staging posts to get it.

The VLR project was launched seven years ago and aims to develop a cheaper and easier to install tram system for Coventry and potentially other cities.

A light vehicle and ultra-thin track have already been produced from research and development which cost just under £15 million – mostly using money from the former Coventry Local Enterprise Project.

Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change Cllr Jim O’Boyle put forward the idea for the project in 2016.

He believes it will ultimately save taxpayers millions of pounds as the track will be a tenth of the cost to install compared to similar city centre systems.

Asked about government funding, Cllr O’Boyle said he is confident all the money will be granted but is frustrated at how long it is taking – and suggested the delay will impact on the scheme.

Cllr O’Boyle said he hopes the demonstrator track will start going down next year but said it’s subject to government funding and couldn’t give a timescale.

Last month, he hit out on a “lack of clarity” over funding for the scheme and called on the government to “trust us to deliver.”

Speaking to MPs at the Transport Select Committee, he said: “We applied to the Department of Transport and the combined authority for funds to build a trailblazing city demonstrator in Coventry, but, like many projects, a lack of clarity over the final allocation of funding creates delays and disruption.

“Innovation requires ambition. Now we need the Government to trust us to deliver.”

Overall, £54 million from a wider pot of government funding has been earmarked for Very Light Rail.

All of this will be needed for the demonstrator track, Cllr O’Boyle confirmed, but phase one of the money – £36 million – will be enough to get it off the ground.

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Jackie Brambles

Greatest Hits Radio (Coventry & Warwickshire)