Coventry's light rail network could launch with a link to the investment zone at Coventry Airport, a councillor has said.

It comes after years of a connection with University Hospital in Walsgrave being proposed as 'line one' for the system. Cllr Jim O'Boyle said the business case for the Very Light Rail (VLR) route to the airport site "makes far more sense."

He said four routes for the city had always been planned and "it was always a toss-up between the two." The new priority route will go to the investment zone via a south-east loop route through Whitley. 

Other lines in the proposed network link the centre with the south-west at Warwick University, north via Coventry Arena and east via the hospital. These routes are still planned "over time," Cllr O'Boyle said.

Asked if the decision to move the first route is linked to trying to spur investment at the Baginton site, he said it is – but added that "as the facts change, we change with it." He pointed out the zone, which was launched last year with two others in the West Midlands, was not around back in 2017.

"We think it's prudent to factor that in and consider that as a better first route" he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS.) There are hopes for thousands of jobs in battery industries to be created at the site which also includes Coventry council joint venture 'Greenpower Park.'

But there's still a way to go before VLR is taking paying passengers. The futuristic transport system is a collaboration between groups in the region including the council and has been developed over the last eight years.

The system includes a battery powered vehicle and ultra thin track – but it has not yet been tested in a 'live' city environment. That's set to change later this year when a 220 metre test track is built near the station on Greyfriars and Queen Victoria roads.

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The short route is set to be built by spring and the vehicle will be in operation for four weeks, then go back to a centre for more innovation, he said. Data from the testing also has to be analysed and further milestones passed, though it's not clear how long this will take.

Cllr O'Boyle claimed he "can never be held to timescales on this" as these are "out of our control" and in the remit of the Department for Transport. "Everything they ask us to do we have done and the system's passing with flying colours," he claimed.

He confirmed the track will stay in place permanently as part of the first route. Asked if an originally planned much longer 1.5-2km demonstrator track is still happening, he said "not in this instance right now," and the shorter stretch is the length "at the moment."

He stressed the key point of the exercise is to show utilities companies their systems are protected and accessible. Avoiding diverting underground services is one of the ways VLR aims to save time and money, and tests of utilities under the track have been done at the University of Warwick.

"I think there's the evidence there, I think what they want to do is further understand the live environment. And there may be an occasion where because of where a junction box is it just needs to be moved slightly," said Cllr O'Boyle.

"But that's a very different scenario to where you have to up sticks and move sewers, move gas pipes, move all sorts of electricity cables, water pipes and all the rest of that. The whole idea of this is that we won't have to do that and that's where the cost savings come in[.]"

Cllr O'Boyle also confirmed regional chiefs have also taken note of VLR and are benchmarking it against plans to extend the Midlands Metro, meaning the tech could be used as a cheaper way of expanding that network.

Asked if there's a risk the first VLR route is built in Birmingham instead, he said that he personally wants to see it in Coventry and stressed the strength of the case for linking to the investment zone.

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"But if anybody wants to come forward and say that they want to utilise VLR in their city or town I will gladly shake their hand and take it with both hands," he added. "Because Coventry city council still has all of the intellectual property rights, all of the income rights. It's our system so the taxpayer here will definitely benefit going forward[.]"