TramForward welcomes funding for West Midlands Very Light Rail schemes

TramForward welcomes the news that the West Midlands Combined Authority has obtained Government funding for two Very Light Rail projects

They are among eight ‘shovel ready’ projects in the West Midlands which will benefit from £66 million from the Government’s Getting Building Fund, aimed at projects which can be started quickly and completed within 18 months, creating jobs and driving investment to aid economic recovery following the Coronavirus lockdown.

The list was confirmed on Tuesday 4^th August by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, during a visit to the site of the planned National Brownfield Land Institute at the University of Wolverhampton.

The two VLR schemes are: the Very Light Rail Innovation Centre in Dudley (£12.4m), where new modes of transport which are both green and cheaper and quicker to deliver than traditional tram or rail are being developed; and Coventry’s Very Light Rail project (£1.8m).

Jim Harkins, Chair of the Light Rail Transit Association’s Campaigns Group, said “we welcome this support for these innovative schemes which have the potential to revolutionise public transport provision in our smaller and medium-sized towns and cities”.

Contact Jim Harkins