Friday April 14 2006 – Second Joint Press Release from
PARRY PEOPLE MOVERS TECHNOLOGY - "THE TECHNICAL BREAKTHROUGH WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR"
Rail industry leader Chris Green praises West Midlands transport innovation
One of Britain's most senior and respected railwaymen has given his verdict on the lightweight suburban railway concepts that are now carrying passengers thanks to the work of Black Country companies - and has said he is fully behind them.
Chris Green is Chairman of the Railway Forum and a member of the Network Rail board. His career has included the Chief Executive post at Virgin Trains, as well as top jobs in British Rail at ScotRail, Network SouthEast and InterCity. On April 7 he paid a visit to Stourbridge and had a demonstration ride on the environmentally-friendly Parry People Movers (PPM) railcar that carries passengers between Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town on Sundays.
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"The Parry People Mover is the technical breakthrough that we have been waiting for," said Mr Green after the visit. "It offers Community Railways the chance to dramatically reduce both their train and infrastructure costs on the most lightly used lines. We ignore this opportunity at our peril."
<--- Mr Green (left) with PPM Chairman John Parry at Stourbridge Junction |
He was also impressed by work by JPM Parry & Associates Ltd to develop methods of building platforms and railway buildings that save time, cost and material in construction.
---> Mr Green and Mr Parry viewing construction work on a railcar maintenance shelter |
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Sunday passenger services on the Stourbridge Town branch using the PPM 50 Light Railcar started on 11th December 2005, operated by licensed train operator Pre Metro Operations Ltd. This is the first time that lightweight rail technology has been used on the Network Rail system.
The PPM concept of clean, green, modern railcars and trams was developed by Cradley Heath-based JPM Parry & Associates Ltd. A separate company - Parry People Movers Ltd - was set up in the early 1990s and is now quoted on the OFEX market, with Parry Associates providing the venture's project management and engineering services.
Caspar Lucas, Parry Associates' Technical Services Director, led the work to gain approval for the Stourbridge operation. "The reaction the service is getting has just been fantastic," he said. "Passengers love it and the transport industry has seen that there is a new way to fill gaps in public transport."
With the experience gained from operations at Stourbridge and elsewhere, JPM Parry & Associates Ltd is offering its technical services to transport interest groups and authorities who want to introduce quality public transport using the new technology.
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
Parry People Movers Ltd information
COMPANY: Parry People Movers Ltd (PPM) was founded in 1992 to develop rail transport based on a new innovation: the "Kinergetic" flywheel energy store, which allows vehicles to run extremely efficiently and to recapture their braking energy for reuse when accelerating. The company is owned by approximately 200 shareholders and is quoted on the OFEX market.
ADVANTAGES: PPM rail vehicles offer the quality of modern light rail transport without the need for electrical power supply, giving excellent environmental performance and energy efficiency at lower cost than conventional technology. The same technology can be used on railways or urban tramways. PPM vehicles are fully compliant with accessibility regulations.
ACHIEVEMENTS: Twelve PPM vehicles have been built, ranging in capacity from 2 to 50 passengers. Between them they have carried over 100,000 passengers. Previous PPM vehicles have operated in Bristol, Brighton, Barking, Swansea, Birmingham, Oswestry and elsewhere. PPM 50 Light Railcar No. 999 900 has run on the Chasewater Railway, the Great Central Railway, the Severn Valley Railway and the Wensleydale Railway since it was built in 2001. The railcar is now in passenger service between Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town stations on Sundays, run by licensed train operator Pre Metro Operations Ltd.
TECHNOLOGY: The "Kinergetic" technology used in PPM vehicles is licensed to the company by JPM Parry & Associates Ltd, a West Midlands engineering company specialising in overseas development, integrated transport, and energy/environmental issues.
PHOTOGRAPHS: A wide range of pictures of PPM vehicles can be obtained from Parry People Movers Ltd (contact details below).
FURTHER INFORMATION: Please contact -
John Parry MBE, Chairman, Parry People Movers Ltd
Overend Road, Cradley Heath, West Midlands, B64 7DD
Telephone: +44 (0)1384 569553
Fax: +44 (0)1384 637753
Email: info@parrypeoplemovers.com
Website: www.parrypeoplemovers.com
JPM Parry & Associates Ltd information
BACKGROUND: JPM Parry & Associates Ltd was founded in 1974 by John Parry, one of the early team of directors of the Intermediate Technology Development Group and chair of its Building Materials Panel, to offer technical services to the construction industry in Britain and overseas. Shortly afterwards, the company started to develop a range of intermediate technology machinery that could be used to produce quality building materials in developing countries using local resources. These are now in service in over 80 countries.
TRANSPORT INNOVATION: Applied to transport, the Parry approach to technological development produced the flywheel energy storage system licensed to Parry People Movers Ltd.
EXPERTISE: The experience gained from project management of the PPM venture, including the approvals for public operation at Stourbridge, has given JPM Parry & Associates Ltd a unique background in the introduction of transport innovation. This knowledge can now be transferred to numerous other applications where a new approach to would permit high-quality, attractive public transport to be implemented.
FURTHER INFORMATION: Please contact -
Caspar Lucas, Technical Services Director, JPM Parry & Associates Ltd
Overend Road, Cradley Heath, West Midlands, B64 7DD
Telephone: +44 (0)1384 569171
Fax: +44 (0)1384 637753
Email: info@parryassociates.com
Website: www.parryassociates.com/transport
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