PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT - 24th November, 2004
(immediate release)
Department for Transport announces plans for PPM-style local transport systems
The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that it will be inviting proposals for transport schemes featuring new forms of light rail, such as that offered by Parry People Movers Ltd (PPM).
At a hearing of the Committee of Public Accounts held on 10th November to assess improving public transport in England through light rail, David Rowlands, the DfT's Permanent Secretary, posed the questions "What about small areas which cannot sustain a quite expensive but conventional light rail system? What about something that is smaller and costs less?". He set out the DfT's response: "For the next generation of local transport plans which will run from April 2006 ... we are going to say specifically that we are prepared to talk to a local authority about a pilot or demonstration scheme". Submissions for the next round of local transport plans are due in July 2005.
The Department's decision that it now sees a role for what is sometimes referred to as "ultra light rail" opens the door for new technologies such as PPM's. The Company's rail vehicles range in size from 30 to over 100 passengers, but are considerably smaller and less expensive than the "supertrams" in Manchester, Sheffield, Croydon, the West Midlands and Nottingham. PPM vehicles do not need overhead electrification and have excellent environmental performance thanks to their flywheel energy storage drive system.
The door has now been opened for the high quality of modern trams to be introduced in smaller cities and towns where the level of investment required for conventional systems (for example, £180million for the Nottingham Express Transit) cannot be justified.
Somewhat surprisingly, Mr Rowlands admitted that it was the low cost of such technologies that had previously caused their exclusion, as earlier local transport plans could only accept projects with a value of over £5million.
PPM technology is highly flexible and can be adapted to serve both urban tramways and local rail lines, where PPM vehicles can operate the service much more efficiently, cleanly and cost-effectively than today's diesel trains. This approach was endorsed by the Strategic Rail Authority's Community Rail Development Strategy, published on 22nd November, which showed that the way forward for local railways is to find radical ways to reduce operating costs and increase their attractiveness to passengers.
A further option is to extend existing branch line services into town centres on tramways. One such application could be in the West Midlands town of Stourbridge, where the three-quarter mile long branch line could be extended into the shopping and business area, making the transport service far more attractive to local people and visitors. It has been calculated that PPM technology could achieve this for the same level of subsidy needed to support the current train service that only reaches the edge of the town centre, while increasing the levels of patronage at least four-fold outside peak hours, at times when trains now run with just a handful of passengers.
Notes:
- Parry People Movers Ltd (PPM) was founded in 1992 to develop rail transport based on a new innovation: the flywheel energy store. The company is owned by approximately 200 shareholders and is quoted on the OFEX market.
- 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.
- The vehicle technology used in PPM vehicles is licensed to the company by JPM Parry & Associates Ltd ( www.parryassociates.com ), a West Midlands engineering company specialising in overseas development, integrated transport, and energy/environmental issues.
- Pre Metro Operations Ltd, a company associated with PPM, is developing innovative operational methods for the provision of public transport by different modes, including the PPM operation at Stourbridge. Pre Metro Operations Ltd is a licensed train operating company.
For further information, please contact:
John Parry MBE
CHAIRMAN
Parry People Movers Ltd
Overend Road
Cradley Heath
West Midland
B64 7DD
UK
Telephone: +44 (0)1384 569553
Fax: +44 (0)1384 637753
E-mail: info@parrypeoplemovers.com
Website: www.parrypeoplemovers.com
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