Very light rail: the lower cost alternative to traditional light rail

As the costs associated with traditional light rail schemes continue to rise, there’s renewed interest in smaller, cheaper alternatives. The Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre in Dudley was designed to help with research and development of such schemes. Peter Plisner reports.

In this article:

• Dudley’s Very Light Rail Innovation Centre uses a restored Victorian tunnel and test track to develop new light rail technologies.
• The centre supports SMEs and green transport innovation, helping trial hydrogen, battery, and autonomous systems.
• Despite slow uptake of Very Light Rail, the centre aims to drive future cost-effective, compact urban transport solutions.

There aren’t many facilities for testing trains that come with a test track that passes through a Victorian railway tunnel - but the Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre does!

Deep underneath Dudley town centre in the West Midlands, the old tunnel was formerly part of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway.

Opened in 1850, the tunnel laid idle for more than 30 years after the freight services that passed through it ceased.

But it’s now found a new use as part of a test track at the new Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre (VLRNIC), whose headquarters are housed in a new building sited on what used to be Dudley station.

It’s also home to the Black Country Innovative Manufacturing Organisation (BCIMO), a not-for-profit organisation founded to oversee the delivery, launch and operation of the VLRNIC.

In addition to a 2.2km-long (1.4-mile) test track, the centre houses an engineering hall, offices, meeting rooms, and a large exhibition space.

The building itself sits beside what will be the country’s newest light rail line, running from Wednesbury to Dudley as part of the West Midlands Metro. The line, due to open later this year, has a stop next to the entrance to the centre.

BCIMO Chief Executive Neil Fulton has a background in the automotive industry. He first worked with engine maker Cummins in Darlington, and later with the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire.

“Both Cummins and Millbrook were amazing places,” he recalls.

“Cummins were way ahead of their time - a big family-owned organisation, with a lot of foresight. And I joined Millbrook when it was owned by General Motors. And as I was leaving it was being sold, following several years of investment by GM.”

Later he joined the government’s ‘Catapult’ programme, helping with the development of autonomous automotive technology. And that automotive background made him an ideal candidate to lead on the development of Very Light Rail.

With hundreds of automotive companies based in the Black Country, much of the technology that will go into VLR vehicles will be broadly the same as cars and other vehicles. That will bring big economies of scale and help to keep costs down.

The original aim of the Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre was to provide a centre of excellence for development of the VLR concept.

And it has done much to promote the technology, helped by the fact that one of its biggest customers so far has been the City of Coventry - it has become one of the early adopters for VLR and is planning a network of VLR routes across the city. A special demonstration service i9s due to carry passengers this month.

BCIMO has taken the lead in the testing of a prototype vehicle, and it has trialled its revolutionary ‘slab track’ concept which goes a long way to helping to reduce costs by negating the need to divert utilities.

At the time the centre was set up, there was no real indication as to how fast VLR technology would develop.

The expectations were that Coventry’s system would be developed a lot faster than it has, and that it would become a showcase and a springboard for other cities around the world. But that has yet to happen.

Fulton explains: “The intention at the time was quite clearly about growing the business and recruiting people to enable the growth of the very light rail industry. But also, in the meantime, to get as many organisations based on site, developing different technologies and working on different products that support the broader rail industry.

“So, as much as it was focused on very light rail, until that market emerges there were also lots of other things we could be doing.”

The centre in Dudley has thus become a hive of activity, with several rail-related organisations carrying out vital research.

The centre works closely with different suppliers and with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) connected to the government-funded ‘Clean Futures Programme’, which is designed to support the West Midlands transport sector’s bid to be at the heart of the Green Industrial Revolution.

The plan is to drive forward regional plans for growth by accelerating innovation within businesses, so that they can produce cleaner technologies for the transport sector.

The broader programme has seen £100 million allocated to three UK regions - including the West Midlands, where BCIMO is working alongside the ‘Connected Places Catapult’ and Coventry University.

The resulting accelerator programme has involved 40 SMEs across automotive and rail, all working on environmentally beneficial product technology development.

Says Fulton: “In addition to getting £50,000 of funding each from the programme, they also get a load of commercial and technical support to help develop their products. They get access to the industry and potential investors. And they get access to our marketing capabilities.

“We produce videos with them to promote their products, and at the end of each year we run demo days where we invite around 150 people here. Each of those SMEs can then demonstrate their products to the market in a controlled but a real-world environment.”

Walking round the VLRNIC site, there’s plenty to remind you that this is a rail technology centre. The work with Coventry is clear to see.

In addition to a full-scale trial of the revolutionary slab track, there’s a proof-of-concept VLR tram stop, and an overhead charging point for topping up batteries while vehicles are stationary. And, of course, the VLR prototype vehicle has been at the site.

But there’s more. Through its relationship with UK Tram, a lobbying group that promotes light rail, the centre has acquired an old West Midlands Metro T69 tram which is being used as part of the Clean Futures programme to develop the next generation of light rail technologies.

In addition, the centre also has an old Great Western Railway carriage on site. So, where does a 30-year-old tram and an even older heavy rail carriage fit into the set-up?

Fulton explains: “I don’t think it’s really about the platform that’s being used to demonstrate the technology. It’s more about what it’s helping to develop.

“It’s an out-of-service West Midlands tram. But actually, it’s been used successfully for a handful of those SMEs developing their technologies.”

For example, it’s been used for an automated freight proposal, showing how you can get freight onto a vehicle.

“It all goes back to how you can use these vehicles differently in the future. If we don’t need seats in there, can we put some kind of pallet system in? It’s a perfect demonstrator site to be able to bring people along and show them what the technology can do.”

The tram has also been used to further develop hydrogen technologies.

The VLRNIC test track isn’t electrified, so the tram can’t move. But the next round of Clean Futures funding could allow for the development of battery technology - and that means that the static tram could be repowered and travel along the test track, perhaps autonomously.

Says Fulton: “We could generate an automated system and demonstrate on a site like this how that would work. And then, when it meets an obstacle, you could set up a pretend crossing system, so that it would automatically stop when it encounters a person or an animal on the track.

“We have a perfect testbed for it. Arguably, nothing like that exists anywhere else in the UK.”

The redundant GWR carriage isn’t actually owned by the centre. It’s been brought in by another SME to test toilet systems on board trains.

The site also features a fair few embankments beside the test track, and even they are being put to good use - another SME is using the site to refine its equipment which monitors movement on embankments.

The Dudley centre also provides a safe environment to show potential clients its new technology.

One firm is developing battery systems. And there’s even a rail training centre on site, run in conjunction with the City of Wolverhampton College and National Infrastructure Solutions.

Since the demise of the Birmingham-based National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure, the classrooms at BCIMO are providing much of the West Midlands rail training. Again, that’s not specifically light rail.

Fulton says: “Organisations can come and bring their vehicle, their technology, and their engineers have a base here on site for a month or six months, to develop their technology to the right point at which they need, when they can demonstrate it themselves.”

So, although not 100% dedicated to Very Light Rail, the centre is helping to develop valuable rail technologies for the future.

According to Fulton, part of the original plan was always to have different clients operating on the site - and not necessarily all related to VLR.

“We can bring Network Rail engineers along, and suppliers to the industry can demonstrate that it’s been done here. And the boxes that are required to be ticked, from a safety point of view or an efficiency point of view, can still be ticked.

“So, in my view it’s not just about Very Light Rail. Despite the building being called the Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre, this is about innovation across rail and bringing the right organisations here to develop those technologies that can speed up the amount of innovation that can be put into the rail industry.”

BCIMO is focused on contributing to economic growth.

“We were always intended to be a not-for-profit organisation, and that’s what we are,” says Fulton.

“We continue to operate like that, and I genuinely believe that it creates a different culture because you become an organisation that benefits those that you work with, not feeding your own shareholders and operating very much on behalf of your customer base. It’s a very different mentality.”

Despite some diversification to enhance viability, it all seems very relevant to light rail and VLR. A lot of advanced technologies that are being developed as part of the Clean Futures programme will be useful to all rail modes, big and small.

Fulton adds: “Obviously, the work that we’re doing with Coventry VLR, the facilities around the site, including our test track, are very suitable for what will be required for that market.

“Having the tunnel, for instance, is very relevant. Not all Very Light Rail is going to operate in the open. Some of it will be underground.”

And with his extensive knowledge of autonomous technology, Fulton also believes that further cost reductions for VLR will come via driverless trams.

“Automated vehicles have to be on the horizon for Very Light Rail. I would argue that it probably lends itself better to VLR than other uses. With the Coventry system, there will be huge advantages from taking drivers out. I know this is another contentious subject, but you think about how the vehicles could operate literally 24/7 if they didn’t have drivers.”

And with VLR vehicles traditionally smaller and more compact than conventional light rail, removing the need for driving cabs at either end allows much more valuable space for additional passengers. And there’s more!

“There would be no need for rest breaks or changes of drivers. The tram doesn’t have to go back to the depot,” notes Fulton.

“Vehicles could be used for freight applications at different times of the day in certain environments. Automation and connectivity, and the work that needs to be done to achieve that at a place like this, by overcoming all of the safety challenges. You could easily do that work here.”

The potential benefits of having Light and Very Light Rail systems are clear to see in certain cities in the UK.

Places such as Leeds, having struggled with funding in the past, is now looking again at rapid transit. And some kind of light rail system seems to be the favoured option.

Says Fulton: “I think that’s one thing that the cities that have deployed light rail systems have really benefited from. Look what Manchester has achieved. The Nottingham Trams appear to be a pretty successful scheme, too.

“The problem is that you can’t deploy those big light rail systems in all cities, whereas actually if you could put something lighter weight in places that can go around tighter corners, that reduces the cost and is potentially automated for the future, then there is a future for Very Light Rail.”

However, he acknowledges that VLR hasn’t taken off in the way many had expected in the past.

For many years, VLR pioneer John Parry, who ran the Black Country-based Parry People Movers, developed his vehicles and at times seemed to be on the brink of success. But it never actually happened.

The Very Light Rail Innovation Centre was meant to help further develop the concept and get it ready for market. But that hasn’t happened either.

Fulton says: “You’re right in saying we haven’t managed to generate the market that we had hoped within Very Light Rail. But I still think those opportunities exist.

“I guess if we look at John Parry and the Parry People Movers, they were very much about vehicles. It wasn’t about new infrastructure or about using existing infrastructure with a lightweight vehicle, so access to them was still from the same height platform and things like that.

“Whereas I think with Very Light Rail now, there’s a new requirement for the infrastructure providers to take something on. And we all know how difficult it is to get approvals for light rail systems.”

Clearly both VLRNIC and BCIMO are ideally placed to provide the missing piece in the jigsaw, which may mean that VLR becomes a natural choice for places that want to progress their rapid transport aspirations, but either can’t justify, afford, or fit a full light rail system into their environment.

It definitely seems to be a case now of ‘watch this space’. And that space to watch does seem to be the Black Country Innovative Manufacturing Organisation and the Very Light Rail Innovation Centre in Dudley.

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