TRANSPORT INNOVATORS PRESENT STRAIGHTFORWARD SOLUTION FOR BUILDING RAILWAY AND TRAMWAY STRUCTURES

Parry Associates' time-, cost- and material-saving construction makes quality transport easier to achieve

West Midlands engineering firm JPM Parry & Associates Ltd have achieved a new breakthrough in the search for simplification in rail transport.  Construction techniques based on the company's successful overseas building materials business have been adapted to provide a way to build platforms, maintenance sheds and other buildings quickly and at low cost.

Parry Associates' project management of the Parry People Movers venture has borne fruit with fare-paying passengers now being carried on Sundays by a lightweight, environmentally-friendly railcar on Network Rail's Stourbridge Town branch.  However, the rudimentary facilities available on site necessitated further innovation.

Faced with the need to provide convenient, safe staff access to the PPM 50 Light Railcar, a new design of platform was designed, based on two-storey construction already used for flood-resistant schools in Mozambique and other applications.  Principal construction activities were completed within a week with material costs of just a few hundred pounds.

Other techniques are now being adapted to provide covered maintenance accommodation for the railcar.  With this second innovation proved, a new and flexible range of platforms and covered buildings will have been introduced to the transport market.

The construction products complement Parry Associates' technical services to the transport industry.  Using the unparalleled experience it has gained in introducing lightweight rail technology into public service, the firm is able to assist interested parties (such as transport authorities, heritage railways and local action groups) in providing attractive rail-based passenger services for residents and visitors.

"In local public transport, the future is 'lightweighting'," said Caspar Lucas, Technical Services Director of Parry Associates.  "Lightweight railcars and trams mean lower costs and simpler maintenance, while lightweight infrastructure technology makes quality transport quicker and easier to put in place.  We know that people will leave their cars to travel on trains and trams - but not normally buses.  So the important thing is to support new kinds of rail services.  And that's what we can help with."

For further information, see www.parryassociates.com/transport

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

JPM Parry & Associates Ltd

BACKGROUND: JPM Parry & Associates Ltd was founded in 1974 by John Parry, one of the early team of directors of the Intermediate Technology Development Group and chair of its Building Materials Panel, to offer technical services to the construction industry in Britain and overseas.  Shortly afterwards, the company started to develop a range of intermediate technology machinery that could be used to produce quality building materials in developing countries using local resources.  These are now in service in over 80 countries.

TRANSPORT INNOVATION: Applied to transport, the Parry approach to technological development produced the flywheel energy storage system licensed to Parry People Movers Ltd (incorporated as a separate company in 1992).  JPM Parry & Associates Ltd has continued as the project managers for the PPM venture.  For further details, see www.parrypeoplemovers.com

EXPERTISE: The experience gained from project management of the PPM venture, including the approvals for public operation at Stourbridge, has given JPM Parry & Associates Ltd a unique background in the introduction of transport innovation.  This knowledge can now be transferred to numerous other applications where a new approach to would permit high-quality, attractive public transport to be implemented.

ILLUSTRATIONS: Drawings and photographs of structures using the Parry Associates techniques can be obtained by making contact as below.

FURTHER INFORMATION: Please contact -
Caspar Lucas MEng CEng MIMechE, Technical Services Director
JPM Parry & Associates Ltd
Overend Road, Cradley Heath, West Midlands, B64 7DD
Telephone: +44 (0)1384 569171
Fax: +44 (0)1384 637753
Email: caspar.lucas@parryassociates.com
Website: www.parryassociates.com/transport

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