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PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT - 18th February, 2003
(immediate release)


FUEL CELLS AND FLYWHEEL TO POWER TRAMS

Parry Associates, of Cradley Heath, West Midlands, have prepared the next evolutionary stage of their flywheel powered tramway system by filing a patent application for a tramway powered by combination of flywheel and fuel cells. The specification has just been published by the UK Patent Office.

Parry Associates is the licensor of the light tramway system developed and now offered by Parry People Movers Ltd. PPM vehicles store energy in a flywheel which is charged by electrical contact at routine service stops (thus obviating the need for overhead wires). Longer range vehicles employ a small LPG motor to maintain flywheel charge, the flywheel being used to provide surge power and to collect brake energy.

Abstract Title:
A tram incorporating flywheel energy storage and a prime mover

UK Patent Application GB 2 377 680 A

Fuel cell and flywheel are regarded by Parry as natural companions in automotive applications, marrying as they do the steady output of the fuel cell and the highly variable demands of vehicle traction. Current (mostly experimental) applications of fuel cells for automotive purposes use conventional batteries as an intermediate energy bank. Flywheels, by comparison, have indefinite life and are much more effective than batteries in collecting reverse surges of brake energy.

In a separate move, Parry People Movers Ltd has built up its project delivery capability by forming alliances with Brush Traction and Mowlem. Brush Traction Ltd, a member of the FKI Group, are long established builders of rail vehicles and locomotives based in Loughborough, while Mowlem plc is a construction services company with broad experience of railway construction. Both companies have assisted PPM in recent projects.


For further information please contact:

John Parry, Chairman (also Chairman of Parry People Movers Ltd)
+44 (0) 1384 569171, mobile 07711 623003 or e-mail


Page last updated: 13 August, 2008
Copyright © 2008 Parry People Movers Ltd

Company no: 2652429 Registered in England
Registered office: Overend Road, Cradley Heath, West Midlands B64 7DD