Coventry Very Light Rail has completed construction on a test site for its new track at Coventry City Council’s Whitley Depot.
The Coventry Very Light Rail project will operate battery-powered vehicles on a new type of track that can be laid just 30 centimetres deep into the surface of the road.
This thinner track reduces the need to divert pipes and cable and enables the system to be installed more rapidly and at a lower cost.
By installing a short section of this track at Whitley Depot, the team plans to measure its performance under extreme conditions.
Vibration sensors have been installed along the track to take measurements 10 times a second. Meanwhile, weight-in-motion sensors will weigh vehicles as they move across the track.
This data will be collected over a year and integrated into a digital twin computer model. This will allow WMG at the University of Warwick to evaluate the track’s performance over time.
“The tracks we’ve installed here at Whitley Depot represent hundreds of hours of innovation that have taken place right here in Coventry. They were designed from day one to minimise disruption to people and businesses, and we’re excited to see their strength demonstrated in a real-world environment. Our own Council road team laid them too – which is great and supports our aim of ensuring CVLR creates and safeguards jobs in our city.
“Transport innovation has the opportunity to really support a zero-carbon economy and Coventry is leading the green industrial revolution.”
