The “brilliant tram-style service” connecting Stourbridge Town and Stourbridge Junction won praise last week from Transport Secretary Lord Adonis.
 
During a pre-election political visit to Stourbridge on 13 April 2010, Lord Adonis undertook a personal inspection of the new light-weight railcar service which operates under the London Midland rail franchise.  He also visited the maintenance depot. 

He was full of praise for what had been achieved by the local engineers who had designed and built the railcars, JPM Parry & Associates of Cradley Heath.
 
Lord Adonis told reporters that the Parry People Movers railcars – which have been running since May 2009 – could offer new opportunities for the UK transport authorities and also had good export potential.
 
He took a return trip on the branch line on board one of the railcars and was given evidence of the operation’s environmental, engineering and service achievements.
 
The Parry People Movers railcars use less than one-third of the fuel required by the former heavy railcars and give similar reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

They are providing Stourbridge Town with its best-ever rail service – a 50 per cent increase in frequency on weekdays and Saturdays with a regular 10-minute interval service in each direction, where previously it ran at irregular intervals around four times per hour.

They give a journey time two to three times quicker than the bus using local roads.

They have reduced the cost of the branch line operation to less than half that incurred running conventional heavy rolling stock.

The railcars are low noise, low emission and provide good access for passengers in wheelchairs, or with luggage and buggies, by having a floor height level with the station platform.

They have equalled the highest performance elsewhere on the rail network, operating over 99.5 per cent of scheduled services in intense shuttle operation.
 
Lord Adonis was told similar light-weight railcars had potential for expanding the railway – introducing new services on lines not currently open to passengers.
 
John Parry, chairman of the company which makes the railcars, said: “We are delighted that the Secretary of State has shown such interest in our light-weight railcars in their first full-service operation. 

“We hope that he and his opposite numbers in other parties will see how the combined economic and environmental benefits of this technology could bring about a new era for local rail services, bringing attractive transport links to many more communities and providing them with easy access to mainline trains so more people can move from road to rail transport.”
 
Parry People Movers Ltd was founded in 1991 to develop rail transport based on the flywheel energy store, which allows vehicles to run extremely efficiently and to recapture their braking energy for re-use when accelerating. 

PPML's 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 costs than conventional technology. 

PPML technology can be used on both railways and on urban tramways. 

Information from Parry People Movers Limited, Overend Road, Cradley Heath, West Midlands B64 7DD. Telephone: +44 (0)1384 569553, Fax: +44 (0)1384 637753, Email: info at parrypeoplemovers.com
Website: www.parrypeoplemovers.com