Keywords: very light Rail, safety policy, light rail, rolling stock design, vehicle safety, emerging technologies.

The Coventry Very Light Rail (CVLR) programme aims to generate a new rail-based transport system capable of eliciting significant modal shift from personal automotive vehicles, without the significant costs traditionally associated with street-running rail schemes. Led by Coventry City Council in collaboration with WMG and Transport for West Midlands, the programme aims to address the development and delivery of the first route within Coventry, including the necessary research and development into the requisite vehicle and trackform. This will result in an affordable steel-wheel-on-steel-rail system, with a target implementation cost of £10 m/km, capable of autonomous running on-street, and that offers zero-emissions at the point of use without overhead line equipment. Part of this programme, the CVLR vehicle project aims to develop a new class of rail vehicle that offers similar levels of safety to existing public transport schemes, is low-cost, lightweight, self-propelled using zero-emission at the point of use technologies, and an attractive alternative to personal cars. This paper addresses the safety strategy for the vehicle, although it should be noted that the process must consider the whole CVLR system.

As the vehicle will not operate on the mainline in the UK, it is exempt from the controlling measures of the Railway Interoperability Regulations (RIR). Instead, the Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations (2006) (as amended) (ROGS) defines the processes ensuring safety and requirements for non-mainline vehicles that are excluded from RIR; as such the CVLR vehicle, and indeed system, will need to comply with relevant sections of ROGS. This can be achieved by following the principles and processes outlined in the Common Safety Methods for Risk Evaluation and Assessment, (CSMREA) albeit with variations as required to accommodate on-street operations. The CSMREA calls for assessment against relevant standards. Whilst there is no health and safety legislation specifically for tramways, the Tramways Principles and Guidance describes the best practice and standards applicable to the light rail sector. It is not necessary for the CVLR vehicle to fully align with this, although this is the closest to an existing standard, and the base for which the application of ROGS can be determined.

Whilst specifically developed for CVLR, it is believed that adapting the CSMREA in this way complies with the ROGS regulations for any new vehicle designed for use in a light rail or tramway environment and provides a method of safely developing innovative new vehicles.

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