Britain’s first battery powered trackless tram could be coming to Cambridge.

byTrevor Hames

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It has been proposed that the tram costing around £4 billion could be used to help cut congestion in our city and reduce the reliability on personal vehicles. The battery powered tram would eventually be completely autonomous and would link to surrounding towns and suburbs on a segregated route. Two underground stations are also proposed in the city centre and the tram would be charged overnight at the end of the line.

The vehicles would be 18m long and run on wheels rather than tracks, it is said that the trams would be far longer than any busses currently in operation and carry more passengers.

An outline business case for the project, which is led by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough combined authority, says that it will generate up to £4 in economic benefits for every £1 invested, not to mention the environmental benefits of reducing private vehicles on the road.

It is hoped that work will begin in just over two years with a completion date of 2029.