Infrastructure and Energy Autumn 2025 report part 3

Image: Coventry Light Rail, courtesy Coventry City Council

Future Cities Forum's report part 3 from its 'Energy and Infrastructure Autumn 2025' discussion event looks at the funding new concepts of city transport such as very light rail, how investment around new infrastructure is creating the potential for new housing as well as jobs and the ongoing work to improve active travel.

It includes contributions from Coventry City Council's Head of Very Light Rail Programme, Nicola Small, Transport for London directors Head of Investment Planning Matthew Yates and Director Capital Delivery Scott Haxton, and civil engineering expert Mark Gordon, Partner at Price & Myers .

Coventry Very Light Rail is a new, affordable rail-based transportation system that can be delivered at less than half the cost and in half the time of conventional light rail systems. Coventry City Council is leading the project, which will provide a new urban transport system that could be replicated across the UK and the globe. CVLR is different to conventional tram systems thanks to its ground-breaking track system, which means it can be laid over most utilities. This makes it quicker and cheaper to lay.

The vehicle can navigate 15-metre radius turns, making it a new and innovative solution for smaller cities and towns. Battery-powered and featuring no unsightly overhead cables, the system, which can carry 60 passengers, will also be able to run autonomously, offering a hop-on-hop-off, environmentally friendly transport solution.

During the discussion, Nicola described the benefits of Coventry Very Light Rail system that she has been working on:

'The government has given us the money to prove a new concept of reducing cost of light rail in cities. Coventry has £40 million to do this. It has a shadow platform that can be installed on the highway on top of utilities, removing dig depth and speeding up delivery time. With current light rail systems you have to move all the utilities out of the way.

'We have funding to demonstrate the technology. We have completed a 220 metre section of track in the city centre. It's interesting to hear others talk about how costs escalate when delivering programmes ....my fear is that the technology is out there and we know what's under the ground. My team are constantly telling me there are new technologies and bits of kit to help speed design so we could be ready with new modes of transport, but it is regulation and process that hold us back.

'When the idea was conceived it was much more that a transport project - it was about how we might create an economic opportunity and a new industrial sector, while using the automotive skills that exist in the region. It also set out to use the connection with Warwick University's transport and auto industry expertise. The benefits of a smaller vehicle is that you don't need compulsory purchase orders and so on to take over and demolish buildings. It's all about driving a new manufacturing sector. Just because we are a small city it doesn't mean we can't provide high quality public transport for our people. They will make modal shifts if they know there are high quality options available.'

Coventry City Council adds:

'Beyond its transport potential, CVLR is also helping to drive the UK’s green industrial revolution. While most light rail systems in the UK rely on vehicles from overseas, CVLR is proudly designed and built in Coventry and the wider region, drawing on the existing manufacturing skills. It will continue to be built in the UK with a skills-based supply chain that will create jobs for local people.

'CVLR is being funded by a number of partners: the West Midlands Combined Authority, the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership the Council, and the project is part of Coventry's bid to the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement. 

'A recent milestone included the installation of a 220-metre track, which was laid in the city centre of Coventry in just eight weeks, a timeframe unmatched anywhere in the world. Over six weeks, the public was invited to experience the future of urban transport first-hand, booking test rides and providing feedback.'

One important issue for transport development is how new initiatives can create new housing and jobs. In June this year TfL announced that Pontoon Dock DLR station will undergo a major upgrade, improving capacity and accessibility, to meet the needs of growing customer numbers. The project, which has now secured funding, will include the installation of six new escalators, a larger mezzanine level, and improvements to the surrounding area, including improved public space, landscaping and the potential for new retail space.

The development of the station and its surrounding area is part of the wider Silvertown Quays development, which aims to create a vibrant urban neighbourhood with a variety of housing, including affordable housing, and over 100,000 sqm of new employment space. It is anticipated that the redevelopment of the area will mean an additional 4,500 customers will use the station during peak times, an increase of 415 per cent, so these improvements play a vital role in supporting this and the regeneration of the local area, helping unlock around 6,500 new homes and 10,000 jobs.

The upgrade of Pontoon Dock station is 75 per cent third-party funded, with contributions from Homes England (the government's housing and regeneration agency) and the Greater London Authority (GLA), developer contributions from Lendlease and funding from TfL's Sustainable Housing and Accessibility Fund. The investment will support sustainable development in one of London's growing communities. The detailed design and build contract for the upgrade has been awarded to Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, a leading UK construction and infrastructure company.

Above: CGI of Pontoon Dock DLR Station - courtesy Transport for London

TfL's Head of Investment Planning, Matthew Yates, says with any transport development it is important to involve key stakeholders in decisions:

'At TfL we are not doing transport for transport's sake, rather we are doing it to unlock jobs and new housing. .....in the past we haven't always considered the whole life-cycle and how it's built. we haven't involved boroughs and key stake-holders.

'Now we are doing things very differently. You mention the DLR extension to Thamesmead and to Beckton with two opportunity areas of 30,000 new homes. On these the project stakeholders - including Homes England, the DfT, the boroughs - meet very regularly. .We have done £25 billion of new projects over last four years including Northern Line extension.

'We don't have any funding for the DLR extension projects as we did not get money in the funding review but we did get warm words. We need to look at the funding upfront to show there is a viable package, but we need government, developers and the boroughs involved. We have money from government for our capital renewals programme which is helpful but we don't have money for our capital infrastructure programme. We do need the government to help. We have Mayoral CIL for the Elizabeth Line for instance but we have to be clear on our priorities.

Scott Haxton was asked about the potential to progress the important Bakerloo Line extension, which could support much of Sooth London's creative clusters and communities. He said:

'The Bakerloo Line is a huge challenge for us but it does represent great opportunity as well. It is a monumental ask financially in the short term. We need to be realistic. The Bakerloo needs to replace rolling stock as it has the oldest fleet in use at 53 years old. Most of the parts are approaching obsolescence.

'We do have to consider the viability of the line if the stock cannot be replaced. The scheme could cost upwards of £2 billion and we are focused on this. We are spending time talking about feasibility of delivery.. Sometimes in the early stages of a project we can become too fixated on design. That element is critical but we need to understand the strategy for delivery and the sequencing of logistics. If you leave that too late there are then too many moving parts and you end with cost escalation and programme elongation. It's important to dedicate resource at an early part of the project. 'Early Contractor Involvement' (ECI) needs clearer definition too.

On 'Active Travel' programmes, and whether TfL has put enough money into this, Scott said:

'We have spent upwards of £150 million per year on this and the 'Healthy Streets'. We are focused on improving safety and investing and the Super Highway routes.....we work closely with the local boroughs. Priority of City Hall and the Walking and Cycling Commissioner Will Norman and it's hugely beneficial to London'

Matt added:

'We have issues around E-Scooters and where they are left. We are a business and we need to ensure we make money but we also have a social responsibility. If people are walking and cycling they are not using our network. We are seeing our bus patronage dropping following Covid-19 as people took to bikes and walking. We need to balance and integrate all transport uses but we are fortunate that we have control over all these modes which is really useful.

Above; bus and e-bikes in Lower Regent Street London

Engineering firm Price & Myers' Partner, Mark Gordon, who joined the discussion, commented on the brand of both infrastructure and also active travel projects:

'I'd like to expand the comments made on the brand of infrastructure projects, since as a civil engineer I know the struggle sometimes one has promoting an an infrastructure story when often buildings have an easier time. It does work however when you promote a flood mitigation scheme or even the old Victorian sewer network of London as people are very engaged and can see the benefits.

'When I started my career some years back we used to hide all our civil engineering infrastructure in, for example, tanks below ground, but now we work closely with landscape architects to create big ponds and rain gardens so people can see and enjoy these sustainable drainage systems, and the beauty and benefits of the design, especially the biodiversity they can bring.

'We worked on an active travel scheme with Hereford Council who wanted this put in on a two kilometre stretch of road . One of the businesses - a business park owner - really wanted to improve the journey for their staff and so got involved as they saw both the economic and social benefits. When we did the public consultation we had some people saying 'It's a disgrace that I am losing my on road parking' but groups of younger people and older people both wanted it saying I do not do active travel at the moment as I am worried for my safety. You can see the benefits of bringing in active travel in that it can increase the working lives of people. What I see are ripple effects for different parts of the communities.'

One active travel project that Price & Myers has been working on is the Cody Dock Bridge in east London, which the firm describes as part of an ambitious footpath and cycleway project along the length of the Lea River, the rolling bridge becoming an important landmark and symbol for the dynamic community growing there:

'Since London won the rights to host the 2012 Olympic Games, the delta of the once-neglected Lea River in East London has undergone seismic change. Cody Dock is something of a remnant from that process – a large ex-industrial basin on the banks of the river that is now home to a dynamic artistic community who are transforming it into an epicentre of creativity and production.

'Cody Dock Bridge is a hand-cranked, rolling steel bridge that spans the dock mouth, alternatively providing a crossing for pedestrians and a passage for boats. The bridge is carefully counter-weighted, so the centre of gravity is level, allowing the 13-ton deck and frame to be rolled along a threaded steel track using only a hand-cranked winch.

'Like its Victorian forbears, the bridge design is tied to its functionality and the environment in which it sits. Most of the structure is Corten steel, which requires minimal maintenance. Oak bearing-strips fixed to the hoops roll on the undulating Corten track, whilst precision cut Corten teeth interlock with Hardox steel pins. The rolling and guiding interfaces are kept separate, and the materials chosen such that the softer component can be easily replaced within each interface, facilitating maintenance over its lifetime.

'The footbridge is a simply supported structure with a monocoque steel deck, spanning 7metres over the dock mouth. Two 5.5m rounded square portals at each end allow it to roll along undulating concrete abutments which are cast into the existing masonry walls. The upper section of each portal is counterweighted such that the centre of gravity is raised to the midpoint of the frame.

'The path geometry ensures this point remains horizontal when in motion so that the bridge weight is never lifted vertically. The bridge is driven with a cable, by a pair of manually operated winches on one bank, creating a safe, haptic mode of operation. The handrails are constructed from a welded lattice of steel reinforcement bars and can fold down, via a torsional spring mechanism, for additional clearance height when the bridge is inverted.

'The geometry of the bridge track is loosely based on the ‘square-wheeled bicycle’ problem. Mathematicians Robison (1960), Wagon (1990), derived the path geometry that results from rolling various shapes along a horizontal trajectory. While the path geometry of a square has been demonstrated to be a set of inverted catenaries, a new solution had to be generated to derive the path of the bridge portals. This involved numerically integrating elliptic integrals to calculate the path shape around the rounded corners (as no analytical solution exists) and combining this result in 3D software to that of a square wheel. This gives a set of transformations that guide the movement from start to finish and generated the geometry of the teeth and track.'

Future Cities Forum is grateful to all contributors who took part in this infrastructure and transport discussion this autumn.

Image below: Cody Bridge Dock, courtesy of Price & Myers.