ROLLING STOCK
The next steps for ultra-light rail T
he 10-ton Class 139 Parry People Movers (PPMs) that have been serving the Stourbridge Town branch line for nearly fi ve years have eye-catching reliability statistics: 99.6% in the year to January 2014, and 100% for the fi rst months of 2014.
They are a quarter of the weight of the Class 153 Sprinter that used to do the journey.
Passenger growth during 2013 compared to the previous year was an enviable 5.1%, with a ridership of more than 540,000 passengers on the three-minute link between Stourbridge Town and Junction stations, operated by Pre Metro Operations Ltd (PMOL) on behalf of London Midland.
The vehicles are famous for their fl ywheel energy storage system, which means energy is not wasted during decelerating and idling – instead it can be used for acceleration, allowing the engine to tick over at a constant rate and cutting emissions massively. It can therefore provide the energy required for the return journey on the 1 in 67 branch line incline to Stourbridge Junction station.
‘A very reliable service’
Philip Evans leads PMOL, a licensed TOC, alongside a board of directors. He was the former fi nance director at Centro, and has spent over 30 years in the public transport sector.
He told RTM: “Despite one or two hiccups at the very start, we’ve been providing a very reliable service to London Midland for the last fi ve years. We’ve chugged along ‘in the background’, doing what we’re contracted to do: operating 214 trips a day, based in our little depot at Stourbridge, providing local people with a local service.”
The infrastructure is part of the main network, maintained by Network Rail, and London Midland meet any track access charges that arise. RTM asked Evans whether the light
68 | rail technology magazine Apr/May 14
weight of the LPG-powered vehicles, and thus their reduced impact on the infrastructure, is refl ected in lower track access charges.
He explained: “It is and it isn’t! We would expect that, and we certainly know that there’s less wear on the rails. But we are operating over a traditional railway branch line, which is short sections of bullhead rail.
“It does give a rough ride at times, because the maintenance that Network Rail provides is basically to maintain it as a Network Rail branch line, not a tramway. I know Network Rail will claim that they spend a fair amount of money maintaining the line, but in our position, we think that dealing with dropped joints between sections of rail, it’s much better than, say, replacing wooden sleepers like-for- like. The emphasis changes.”
Engineering support
The vehicles themselves, owned by Porterbrook Leading and provided to PMOL via London Midland, have “held up very well indeed”, he said, since their original manufacture by PPMs based in Cradley Heath in the West Midlands. “The vehicles have been tweaked once or twice; we’ve improved the performance over the years by improving the hydrostatic system, and one or two changes to the electronics and the settings.”
Engineering support used to come from JPM Parry and Associates, which was put into receivership in July 2013 following a winding- up order in the High Court. That company’s director, John Parry, the inventor behind the PPMs, is also a director at PMOL, which was unaffected by the fi nancial problems at the other company.
Evans said: “We’ve employed our own
engineers since that date. Everything’s in-house now, apart from one or two bits of specialist advice we may buy in from Linde Hydraulics or Power Torque Engineering etc. But the
“A lot of the savings come from the operational practice, because we’re operating as a tramway would hopefully operate on the network. We’ve got lower overheads, and we estimate that the cost of operation is only 50% of the previous service with a Class 153 unit.”
Timetable changes
The standalone nature of the service was evidenced earlier this year, when changes to the Snow Hill line timetable prompted complaints about missed connections at Stourbridge Junction.
Evans said: “We had a bit of a local outcry about missed connections – although, when you analyse the fi gures, an equal number of passengers gained as were disadvantaged by the change. One of our crew came up with a revised timetable, we talked it through with London Midland and they basically agreed with 99% of it. Because we’re a little standalone operation, we managed to get it implemented within a fortnight of it fi rst being raised, which is unusual.”
Cutting traditional costs of operation
Evans added: “The advantages of this rolling stock arise from the low power consumption, and that derives from using LPG gas, which is environmentally friendly in the sense that its emissions are lower than diesel.
“Because of the fl ywheel technology, we’re saving on energy, and the vehicles themselves are less expensive than traditional rolling stock. There are a large number of derogations from RSSB on the vehicle itself.
The Stourbridge Shuttle is a unique sight on the UK rail network, with 214 services a day delivered by two Parry People Movers. RTM caught up with its operator’s managing director, Philip Evans.
vehicles themselves have stood up to the service very well indeed.
“The intensity of the service, six round trips an hour, does put a strain on them. Most of the wear is when they stop, change ends and go back up the 1 in 67 incline to the Junction.”
© Kevin Boyd
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