Funding boost for Coventry Very Light Rail Project

It’s good news for the Coventry Very Light Rail project, as the city council secures £115.9 million in grant funding.

In an announcement of the funding the council said a large “chunk” will fund the rail city centre scheme.

The majority of the funding was secured following a successful bid to the Department for Transport’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS). Additional funding was also secured from the WMCA’s Active Travel Fund and Sustrans’ Paths for Everyone funding.

The funding will be discussed at the meeting of Cabinet on the 30 August then will go to Full Council on the 6 September. If approved, the money will be used to support a number of innovative transport schemes across the city.

The council says all of the schemes aim to make it easier to walk, cycle or use public transport in the city through the installation of a number of sustainable transport measures. These measures include things like targeted improvements to the road networks, the installation of new cycling and walking routes and improved connectivity across the transport system.

The hope is residents will feel they have an alternative to using their cars.

Cllr Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change said: “We know that in order to play our part in tackling the causes of climate change we need to make fundamental changes to our city’s transport network.

“We have to encourage people to choose alternatives to the private car for some journeys and to do that we have to make sure that walking, cycling and public transport are attractive and viable alternatives in our city.

“That’s why I’m really pleased that we’ve been able to secure such a significant amount of funding to help us do this.  This funding will help us to lead a number of projects that will  play a major role  in the green transformation of our city’s transport network.  Along with the all-electric bus fleet, fully segregated cycle routes and more on street charge points than anywhere else outside London our ambition is to enable local people to be able to make real choices about how they travel sustainably.

“As we’ve said before, in Coventry we don’t want to just talk about climate change. We want to actually tackle it. With this funding and the schemes that we get as a result of it, we’ll be doing just that.”

In addition to the funding secured from the CRSTS,WMCA’s Active Travel Fund and Sustrans Paths for Everyone, the schemes will also be supplemented by up to £26.8 million match funding which is a mix of private and public sector investment.

The funding will be discussed at the meeting of Cabinet on the 30 August before being voted on at Full Council on the 6 September.

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