'Absolute reliability' Why the UK is finally embracing the tram again

In a side street in central Coventry, a possible vehicle of the future has been making its first public foray: a 60-seat, battery-powered miniature tram.

- Gwyn Topham

In a side street in central Coventry, a possible vehicle of the future has been making its first public foray: a 60-seat, battery-powered miniature tram. On almost silent test runs, its pioneering wheel system allows it to round the corner without slowing – a small bend for this tram but a sharp turning point for tramkind.

The embryonic Coventry Very Light Rail (CVLR) is riding a bigger wave; suddenly, trams are go, again. British cities trail Europe but once led the way, before culling hundreds of horse and steam-powered street trams. Although the likes of Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham have re-established tram networks, the number of modern revivals have been almost matched by cancelled projects, with schemes for Liverpool, Bristol, central London and Leeds dropped.

Now, though, the dreams are back – and funded. In advance of next week's spending review, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has confirmed £15bn for cities to develop urban transport. That money will partly be spent on new tramlines in the West Midlands and Greater Manchester, as well as developing plans for a possible tramline from Bristol to Bath.

Notably, it includes £2.1bn for Leeds, the biggest city in Europe without a fixed transit system. For West Yorkshire's mayor, Tracy Brabin, who has long campaigned for trams in Leeds, the announcement was critical: "This gives us absolute certainty and security that we will have spades in the ground by 2028."