What a lovely day to ride a Gadgetbahn
For many, “gadgetbahn” is an insult, but I adore all the transport designed to fit in very specific niches, and the term is definitely one of endearment. Which is why I find myself in Coventry, a place so car-centric that it overwhelms all other modes and makes them miserable. Especially walking, if your hotel is just on the other side of the Ringway from the city centre.
But despite the best efforts of the Luftwaffe and property developers, the centre has a lot of historic interest and you can’t just dig it up and string wires everywhere. And while it seems prosperous compared to every other English city I’ve been to recently, there’s still not enough money to do what Nice has done and have conventional trams with batteries for wires-free operation in the historic bits. I also suspect the concrete bridges over the Ringway won’t take the weight of a proper tram.
And so we get Coventry Very Light Rail, designed to be extremely cheap to install. They’re doing public test runs this month on a short track that they have built in the city centre. The track looks proper, it’s not just laid on top of the road, but apparently they only need to dig down 30cm (1 foot for oldies and Americans) to install it. I had my ride today, and brought my Very Heavy Powerbank so I could take all the photos and video I desired.
#2020s #coventry #coventryVeryLightRail #england #tram
