Simon GilbertPolitical reporter, Coventry and Warwickshire
Coventry City Council
Councillor Jim O’Boyle said Coventry’s Very Light Rail tram technology would be a “game changer”.
Coventry’s bid to install a tram network across the city is set to take another step forward with the installation of a new track.
A new 800m route running from Coventry Railway Station to Coventry University Technology Park is due to be installed by March 2027.
The new route will be roughly four times the length of the previous demonstrator track installed in the city centre when testing started in May 2025.
Labour councillor Jim O’Boyle, cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change, said the tram network would be a “game changer”.
Unlike the previous testing, this new route will operate in “live traffic” conditions and will be connected to the city’s traffic light control system in a bid to prove the safety and viability of the Very Light Rail system. The hope is that a first fully functional commercial route will be operational by the end of 2027.
O’Boyle added: “It will be good for the environment, have no unsightly overhead cables and in the future it has the potential to be autonomous, offering a hop-on and hop-off service.”
Coventry City Council
The second demonstrator tram track is due to be installed in the city by Spring 2027. A wider commercial route could open before the end of the year.
The first full commercial route in the city could be between the railway station and the site of Coventry Airport – where there are plans to create a battery manufacturing centre.
The ultimate aim is for a tram network to span the city, linking other areas like Ansty Park and Pool Meadow Bus Station.
The new track will be delivered out of a £43.7m budget allocated to the project to date – with most of the provided by the Department for Transport via West Midlands Combined Authority and £3.2m from Coventry City Council.
The Conservative opposition leader in the city, Gary Ridley, has previously questioned whether the money might be “better off spent on bus services”.
Gary Ridley, the Conservative Opposition Leader on Coventry City Council, has questioned whether the tram is good value for money.
Coventry City Council owns the intellectual property rights to the Very Light Rail technology behind the tram system – technology it says could allow smaller and medium-sized cities like Coventry develop tram networks at a fraction of the cost of traditional trams.
The trams run on pre-fabricated slabs, meaning less groundwork is required and tracks can be installed more quickly without the need for overhead cables.
By comparison, the one-mile long Eastside Metro extension in Birmingham has a budget of £245m.
Coventry City Council aims to demonstrate that VLR can be delivered at a cost of around £16m per mile.
