Innovative BWB light rail project shortlisted in competition

BWB Consulting, as part of EMTrack Alliance, has been shortlisted in a £3m competition that aims to find ways of reducing the cost and impact of Light Rail.

We are part of the team behind the innovative “Ultra-lite Shallow Trackform Concept” which was entered in UK Tram’s Low Impact Light Rail research programme.

The Ultralite trackform scheme has successfully progressed to the second stage and will now receive funding to be trialed at a test track in Warwickshire.

The alliance we’re working with on this exciting project, and that goes under banner of EMTrack, includes Integ, Rail Alliance and Nottingham University. EMtrack’s Ultralite trackform design aims to reduce the impact on utilities, enables a higher frequency service when used for both bus and light rail traffic and reduces construction and maintenance costs.

As a shortlisted project it will receive funding for a 56-week trial starting in September that will see a test track installed at the Rail Alliance facility at Long Marston. BWB’s main involvement on the project, which is scheduled for completion in Autumn 2016, will be through project management and design for the Long Marston installation.

The Light Rail competition was launched by UK Tram to find new ideas within the industry that will make new and extended light rail schemes a more attractive proposition. More than 40 expressions of interest were initially received, from which 15 entries were then awarded funding to look at the feasibility of their designs. This has then been narrowed down to seven schemes with other ideas varying from track welding solutions to the design of overhead line equipment.

Geoff Inskip, Chair of UKTram, said “This is a really exciting time for light rail in the UK. We are seeing the expansion of several of our light rail systems and light rail is now carrying nearly a quarter of a billion passengers in the UK each year. These innovation projects will each improve the cost effectiveness of light rail and will assist in bringing it to more of our towns and cities. I look forward to seeing their development taken forward.”