This article needs to be updated.(August 2022) |
Parry People Movers | |
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Specifications | |
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
Parry People Movers Ltd. (PPM) is a British company (founded by John Parry, who died 17 February 2023 [1] ) manufacturing lightweight trams and railcars that use flywheel energy storage (FES) to store energy for traction, allowing electric systems to operate without overhead wires or third rails, and railcars fuelled by small gas, diesel or hydrogen engines.
On 29 November 2022, The Registrar of Companies (UK) gave notice that Parry People Movers Ltd. would be struck off the Companies Register and dissolved unless "cause is shown to the contrary" though this was suspended on 7 December 2022. [2] The company has subsequently moved to voluntary liquidation 14 December 2023. [3]
Central Trains, then-owner of the West Midlands franchise, began operating a single PPM50 (Class 999) unit on the Stourbridge line on Sundays in 2006, with a Class 153 diesel multiple unit (DMU) providing a weekday service. In June 2009, under London Midland, the Class 153 was replaced by two PPM60 units, classified as Class 139 (with one as a spare), providing a 10-minute frequency service in both directions. Although the capacity of the unit (60 passengers) is less than the DMU, overall capacity is increased due to the greater frequency, up from four to six trains per hour. The trains were transferred to West Midlands Trains, operating under the West Midlands Railway brand, when the West Midlands franchise was refreshed in 2017.
From 24 January 2011, Go! Cooperative planned a trial service between Alton and Medstead and Four Marks on the Mid-Hants Railway using the Class 999 unit. [4] This was abandoned after a series of mechanical and electrical failures and due to the unit proving to be unsuitable for the long and steep gradients on the line. [5] The unit was being reconfigured to address the problems with a redesigned chassis and conversion from LPG to diesel power and the trial was planned to be repeated. [6] [7]
In January 2012, plans emerged for new bigger PPMs to be used on the South Staffordshire Line between Stourbridge Junction and Brierley Hill, providing passenger services on the line for the first time since the Beeching Axe. [8]
Prior to entry into commercial service, testing took place on the Severn Valley Railway in March and April 2002 with a PPM50 unit operating between Kidderminster and Bewdley. [9] The Parry flywheel storage technology was tested on the Stourbridge Town Branch Line in the West Midlands in 2006. Since Central Trains had no Sunday service on the branch, the initiative was brought to test a PPM50 model at that time, with a view to replacing the Class 153 single-car DMU that previously worked the Branch with a unit with much lower operating costs. The trial lasted for a year.
PPMs were demonstrated on narrow gauge railways (Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway, Ffestiniog Railway, and Welsh Highland Railway). [10]
PPMs utilise a rotating flywheel as a store of kinetic energy which is then used to power the vehicle. A typical PPM flywheel is made from steel laminates, approximately 1 m (39 in) in diameter and 500 kg (1,100 lb) in mass, designed to rotate at a maximum speed of 2,500 rpm. [11] The flywheel is mounted horizontally at the centre of the unit, beneath the seating area. The flywheel is driven by an internal combustion engine or an electric motor. The flywheel is connected to the rail wheels via a hydrostatic variable transmission system. [12] [13] The wheels are driven without conversion into electricity as many other railcars utilising flywheel energy storage do. [14]
The flywheel allows the direct capture of brake energy (when slowing down or descending gradients) and its reuse for acceleration (called regenerative braking). When the vehicle brakes, the hydrostatic transmission feeds the energy back into the flywheel. Since the short-term power demand for acceleration is provided by the energy stored in the flywheel, there is no need for a large engine. A variety of small engine types can be used including LPG, diesel or electric traction.
On a route with stations a short distance apart it is theoretically possible to use the unit as a tram without any engine or overhead electrification at all. Instead, the flywheel could be re-energised at each station, storing enough power to carry it on to the next.
Class | Operator | No. Built | Year Built | Cars per Set | Unit nos. | Carriage nos. | Length | Seated | Standing |
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Class 139 | Pre-Metro Operations on behalf of West Midlands Railway | 2 | 2008 | 1 | 139001 - 139002 | 39001 - 39002 | 9.6 m | 25 | 35 |
Class 999 | Pre-Metro Operations | 1 | 2002 | 1 | 999900 | 999900 | 8.7 m | 20 | 30 |
In April 2019, PPM announced plans to upgrade the original Class 999 PPM50 prototype with a diesel power unit and to seek approval for its entry into passenger service as 'No 139000'. [15] In February 2020, the refurbished vehicle was moved to the Severn Valley Railway for testing.
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also generally classed as DMUs. Diesel-powered units may be further classified by their transmission type: diesel–mechanical DMMU, diesel–hydraulic DHMU, or diesel–electric DEMU.
A railcar is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach, with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railway companies, such as the Great Western, termed such vehicles "railmotors".
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels. The most common are diesel-electric locomotives and diesel-hydraulic.
The British Rail Class 108 diesel multiple units were built by BR Derby from 1958 to 1961, with a final production quantity of 333 vehicles.
The British Rail Class 153 Super Sprinter are single-coach railcars converted from two-coach Class 155 diesel multiple units in the early 1990s. The class was intended for service on rural branch lines, either where passenger numbers do not justify longer trains or to boost the capacity on services with high passenger volume.
The British Rail Class 121 is a single-car double-ended diesel multiple unit. 16 driving motor vehicles were built from 1960, numbered 55020–55035. These were supplemented by ten single-ended trailer vehicles, numbered 56280–56289. They have a top speed of 70 mph (113 km/h), with slam-doors, and vacuum brakes. The driving motor vehicles were nicknamed "Bubble Cars" by some enthusiasts.
The British Rail Class 116 diesel multiple units were built by BR Derby from 1957 to 1961. Introduced as part of the British Railways Modernisation Plan in the mid 1950s, as with other first generation DMUs the 116 was intended to replace steam trains and reduce costs across the rail network. Alongside Metro-Cammell, BR Derby had prior experience with DMUs, having developed a Lightweight Unit, and so was awarded a contract for a new design.
The British Rail Class 104 diesel multiple units were built by Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company from 1957 to 1959.
The British Rail Classes 101 and 102 diesel-mechanical multiple units were built by Metro-Cammell at Washwood Heath in Birmingham, England from 1956 to 1959, following construction of a series of prototype units. These classes proved to be some of the most successful and longest-lived of BR's First Generation DMUs, second in longevity only to the Class 121, with the final five units being withdrawn on 24 December 2003. The oldest set was, by then, just over 47 years old.
The British Rail Class 127 diesel multiple units were built by BR Derby in 1959. Thirty 4-car units were built, formed of two outer driving motor vehicles, sandwiching two intermediate trailers which were classified class 186. The technical description of such as 4-car unit was DMBS + TSL + TS + DMBS.
The British Rail Class 118 diesel multiple units were built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (BRCW) and introduced from 1960. It was a licence-built version of the British Rail Class 116.
The Stourbridge Town branch line is a 0.8-mile (1.3 km) railway branch line, in Stourbridge, West Midlands, England. It is the shortest railway line in Britain. It is widely believed to be the shortest line in Europe to host a daily service, although this is incorrect; it is notably beaten by the branch line to Friedrichshafen Hafen, in Germany.
Stourbridge Junction is one of two railway stations serving the town of Stourbridge, in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It lies on the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line and is the junction for the Stourbridge Town Branch Line, said to be the shortest operational branch line in Europe. The other station serving Stourbridge is Stourbridge Town at the end of the branch line.
A hybrid train is a locomotive, railcar or train that uses an onboard rechargeable energy storage system (RESS), placed between the power source and the traction transmission system connected to the wheels. Since most diesel locomotives are diesel-electric, they have all the components of a series hybrid transmission except the storage battery, making this a relatively simple prospect.
Stambermill Viaduct is a viaduct situated in Stourbridge, West Midlands, England. It was constructed in 1850 to carry the Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway across the River Stour, and it carried passenger trains until 1964. It is still in use for goods trains, as the railway continues on to the Round Oak Steel Terminal at Brierley Hill. Freight trains can still be seen passing over the viaduct.
Brierley Hill railway station was a station on the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line serving the town of Brierley Hill in England.
British Rail Class 139 is the TOPS classification for PPM60 model lightweight railcars built by Parry People Movers, for use on the British rail network. The class were originally built in 2008 for operation on the Stourbridge Town branch line following an extensive trial with a prototype registered as a Class 999 unit.
The Rolls-RoyceC range was a series of in-line 4, 6 and 8 cylinder diesel engines used in small locomotives, railcars,construction vehicles, and marine and similar applications. They were manufactured by the Rolls-Royce Oil Engine Division headed by William Arthur Robotham to 1963, initially at Derby and later at Shrewsbury, from the 1950s through to 1970s.
Diesel multiple units and railcars are trains, usually with passenger accommodation, that do not require a locomotive. Railcars can be single cars, while in multiple units cars are marshalled together with a driving position either end. As of December 2010, 23 percent of the rail passenger cars used on Network Rail are part of a diesel multiple unit.
West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a British train operating company. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trading names: within the West Midlands region as West Midlands Railway (WMR) and outside the region as London Northwestern Railway (LNR).
The rotating flywheel is a store of kinetic energy that is used to power the vehicle. A typical PPM flywheel is made from steel laminates, 1 m (39 in) in diameter and 500 kg (1,100 lb) mass, rotating at a maximum speed of 2,500rpm