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VLR: Establishing sustainable railway solutions for disconnected communities Mathew Taylor, Director at Pre Metro and UKTram, highlights the benefits of Very Light Rail and its essential role in connecting our communities
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he Government’s most recent ‘levelling up’ agenda and ‘Integrated Rail Plan’ promise greater transport investment and infrastructure upgrades, but the emphasis on large-scale, ‘top-down’ schemes like High-Speed Rail and major road enhancements risk generating economic inefficiency and increased emissions whilst ignoring the value of community railway projects. Unless these schemes are integrated into a wider regional and national strategy, there would not be much ‘levelling up’ at a local level. So, what alternative is available for towns and cities that still aren’t connected to the railway network? With awakening national interest in Very Light Rail (VLR) and its ability to form part of our advance towards carbonzero, the utilisation of VLR on heavy rail infrastructure has helped to enable Stourbridge to increase its annual passenger journeys year after year, acting as a short feeder route from the town into the wider UK rail network at Stourbridge Junction. The Stourbridge Shuttle has demonstrated that affordable and environmentally friendly very light rail vehicles can play a key role in re-establishing patronage and reinvigorating the railway with reliable, frequent services. The value of low-cost rail services cannot be overstated, particularly when access to transport funding is becoming increasingly limited. Local strategies need to be designed around local needs and opportunities, particularly with disused railways and mothballed track so readily available – as made evident with the oversubscribed Restoring Your Railway scheme. Local transport projects, in particular, need to be embedded in ‘placemaking’ strategies where cohesive multimodal connectivity can establish access to education, tourism, greater job prospects, support urban
development, and provide an improved environment. Tram or Light Rapid Transit (LRT) systems have been the leading edge of wider urban regeneration and play a key role in continental European strategies. VLR is a way of pioneering such services more quickly and at a lower cost than traditional LRT and by demonstrating commitment, influencing locational choices, and building ridership, VLR has the potential to create the conditions for future high-quality and higher capacity heavy rail systems. Many strategic
railway corridors have been identified for future use, but why leave them mothballed for another decade when we need to double railway patronage to even achieve the Rail Delivery Group’s 2050 carbon-neutral target. Through the utilisation of this form of transport, it is very much scalable and eminently suitable for other geographical locations in either tramway or rail operating modes. With developers and franchises looking to establish cost-effective and green solutions that can restore Britain’s rail connectivity, taking the initiative Rail Professional
