This year should see not one but two prototypes of very light rail vehicles being tested in the UK. Karol Zemek talks to Dr Nick Mallinson, Programme Manager at WMG Centre of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult at the University of Warwick, about the research taking place into this potentially disruptive technology.
Coventry-based autonomous pod manufacturer RDM is to build a Very Light Rail demonstrator vehicle in partnership with WMG, Cummins and Avid.
The UK should see its first examples of very light rail vehicles later this year, when two prototypes are to be rolled out. Although intended for different applications, they have the design target of a mass not exceeding 1 tonne per linear metre, which is the definition of VLR.
The first concept to be rolled out is likely to be Revolution, intended for use on heavy rail branch lines. This will be followed by a vehicle designed for street-running and urban applications. Both are being developed as part of a wider research programme that aims to introduce lightweight and low-cost rail vehicles and trackform.
Construction of the Revolution VLR prototype is due to begin shortly, with completion planned for early April 2020. This will be followed by a period of testing and demonstrations led by rolling stock company Eversholt Rail. Eversholt is part of the Revolution VLR consortium led by Transport Design International, Cummins, Prose, Transcal Engineering, RDM Group and WMG at the University of Warwick.
From radical to very light
The VLR research programme has its origins in the Radical Train programme, developing innovative approaches to R&D in the rail sector. The Rail Safety & Standards Board issued a funding call for this in 2014, and Stratford-upon-Avon based TDI led a proposal to develop a lightweight self-propelled rail car that eventually became the Revolution VLR project. This subsequently evolved into a full demonstrator vehicle, inspired by the Parry People Movers-built shuttle vehicle that operates on the branch line serving Stourbridge in the West Midlands. TDI had previously worked with Severn Lamb on the ULR Express railcar for employee transport on an industrial line at Konya in Turkey.