Parry People Movers Tram-Train Creating a vehicle as attractive as an electrified super tram with much lower running costs using lightweighting and innovative super hybrid technologies

Parry People Movers Tram Train; creates an innovative low carbon transport alternative to
established heavy rail and electrified tram modes. JPM Parry and Associates have project
managed and created the 'Class 139' Parry People Mover Railcars, its precursors. A seven day
a week first adoption operation on the national rail network, established 2009, has seen these
innovative railcars increase service freqency whilst cutting carbon emissions by a third and
operating costs by half. Spearheading a new concept with a simple aim, to make local rail
services more affordable and more sustainable, PPM vehicles enable energy efficient rail
travel, with its many benefits, in parts of the country deemed not to warrant a rail service. The
technology can also enhance the sustainability of services already in operation, as proven at
Stourbridge in the West Midlands where the pilot service has achived reliability of 99.4%
throughout 2010 and continued to better this figure during early months of 2011, despite the
cold weather disabled many heavy rail vehicles all around the country.
The challenge now is to harness this proven innovative technology, whereby a small 2.3 litre
car engine coupled to a flywheel enables the carriage of up to 60 people, to power a larger
vehicle capable of carrying greater numbers of passengers at a higher speed. These criteria are
vital in order to respond to demands from the UK rail industry, as well as to create a service
that can re-open passenger services away from the existing franchised network.
Railways currently used only for freight are immediate candidates for a revived passenger
service. To be suitable for these circumstances, JPM Parry and Associates must enhance the
ride quality of the design to cope with less than perfect track conditions typical on these routes
while ensuring that the designs meet regulatory specifications for 'interoperability', the ability
for an innovative lightweight vehicles to run amongst conventional trains.