Very Light Rail (VLR) seems to be hyped up to be the “next big thing” in urban and suburban transport, so recent that there isn’t even a proper Wikipedia article for the technology, not even a section in the light rail page, but the article for the Coventry VLR network gives a pretty good rundown of the principles and what sets it apart from “light but not this light rail”.

Here’s another article promoting it: https://www.railengineer.co.uk/very-light-rail-a-revolution/

Basically, it’s a rail rapid transit system where the rail line is built close to the road surface so existing underground utilities aren’t affected, with prefab components that reduce cost, as well as the components being modular, so in theory the rail line can be torn up and reused somewhere else. I imagine it would also require less raw materials, but this doesn’t seem to be mentioned.

This is coupled to trains that are typically small one-car affairs that are literally very lightweight, made of materials like aluminum and carbon fiber. They’re also mostly battery powered with fast charging, so you don’t need overhead lines. They’re supposed to put much less wear on the rails making them last longer, and are also a good choice for projects to cost effectively restore old or disused rail lines in addition to running on purpose built tracks.

What do people here think of this? Is this a major direction urban and suburban service could be going in? Could it compete with existing low cost options like bus rapid transit (though, apparently there is an ongoing debate on whether BRT is actually cheaper than light rail in the long run)? What about environmental impact compared to other transit modes?

  • @OsrsNeedsF2P
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    52 years ago

    Extended protected Wikipedia contributor here -

    Having an article on Wikipedia (especially in touchy/controversal subjects) requires the topic to be notable. The definition of notable is very strict, but the gist of it means the topic must have been picked up and covered by reputable, mainstream media.

    So while anyone can create a page on anything, those pages will often find themselves deleted. “Very light rail” not having a Wiki page could mean it’s all marketing buzz that’s failing to stick.