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SUSTRACO lodge an objection to the TWA Order for  Bristol City Rapid Transit

Our objection (to this BRT scheme) is based on the fact that ULR could effectively supply the same service for less investment, with fewer environmental consequences.  Click here to read the full submission.

Chairperson receives prestigious Award. 

James Skinner, our Chairperson and Founder of The Travel Foundation was presented with A Charity Award at the Grosvenor House Charity Awards Dinner (June 2010).

James is a founding member of this international charity that is engaged in supporting sustainability in tourism.

James stated that the work of SUSTRACO, The Travel Foundation and Aggrowgas could combine to allow local travel and energy production  allowing sustainable tourism.

ULTRA LIGHT RAIL - gains support from transport operators. The fight to bring the benefits of a modern ULR tram system to the city of Bristol gained ground when a letter supporting the project was received from ROTALA plc. They have committed to becoming the system operator.

In another twist a letter was received from the STAGECOACH GROUP " As one of the sponsors of the Industry Taskforce for Peak Oil and Energy Security (ITPOES) Stagecoach wishes to support the development of new, low-cost forms of public transport that are characterised by their independence from fossil fuels, zero net carbon emissions and high levels of energy efficiency. Stagecoach therefore supports Sustraco's aim of providing carbon neutral public transport by use of renewable biomethane as fuel and energy efficient hybrid motive power, employing brake energy recovery."  Click HERE to read the full text.

 

 BioRail EU Seventh Framework Program (FP7);  SUSTRACO Forms Consortium to bid for Research, Development and Demonstration funding.  Working with SME's and Universities from the UK, Belgium, Germany and Spain the project is called BioRail.

BioRail will be split into a number of work packages based on two main themes:

  • Producing transport grade Bio-methane at the most completive price.
  • The development of an energy efficient drive system for using the Bio-methane in trams and other rail vehicles, using on-board prime mover with energy storage to recover brake energy. 

We feel that this will produce a winning combination that will, help provide high quality public transport to meet the challenges of Climate Change and Energy supply. 

ULR gains second place at Energy Innovation Awards 2009.

Click HERE to view the whole item on the university website.  Use your back button to return to this page.

Zero-carbon light-rail project narrowly misses award

A revolutionary project, conceived jointly between Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce and Professor Frank Chambers, Head of the University of Gloucestershire’s Center for Environmental Change and Quaternary Research, has come second out of 26 university entrants in a national competition for innovation and reducing carbon emissions.

Shortlisted for the award at the Carbon Connections Conference, which was sponsored by The Co-operative Bank plc at London’s Natural History Museum, the project was voted by the conference audience into second place, beaten only by a project led by Imperial College London.

YET TWO MORE UK CITIES (BELFAST AND BRISTOL) OPTS FOR BUS RAPID TRANSIT (BRT).

Click HERE to view the whole article.  

British cities seem to have developed a love affair with BRT in recent years and the question is why? 

It seems that the primary reason is purely down to installation costs.  No consideration has been taken of long-term goals such as: Energy Security, Global Warming, Local Air Quality and Modal shift.

But what exactly is BRT?  Well BRT was developed in South America in order to move massive numbers of passengers at a perceived cost that is less than rail-based alternatives. So let’s take a look at some photos of overseas BRT systems...............

Energy requirements, trams vs. buses is the latest question answered on our FAQ page.

Trams use only around a third of the energy required by a bus (based on a like for like bases) click here to see a diagram.  Up hill, down hill or on the level the difference is always the same, a two thirds advantage for the tram.  Brake energy recovery reduces energy requirements by at least 20% thus with ULR you get two thirds more Km per unit of energy.

SUSTRACO has signed "The Copenhagen Communiqué" on Climate Change. Please click HERE to visit the website. The Copenhagen Communiqué on Climate Change is the definitive progressive statement from the international business community ahead of the United Nations (UN) climate change conference in Copenhagen this December.

It has already secured the support of over 700 companies, from the US, EU, Japan, Australia and Canada, to Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa; ranging from the world’s largest companies and best known brands, to Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs).
 pteg and the All-Party Parliamentary Light Rail Group (APPLRG) announced a select committee style inquiry into the prospects for modern trams in the UK and how barriers to tram scheme development and implementation can be tackled. The Inquiry, titled ‘Light Rail and City Regions: a 21st Century Mode of Transport‘, and made up of a cross-party group of Parliamentarians, will consider evidence over the Autumn and produce a report early in the 2010.

SUSTRACO GIVES EVIDENCE to ALL PARTY INQUIRY along with other leading UK ultra Light Rail organisations'  such as Trampower and Parry Associates.

If you want to read the submissions then follow this link http://www.pteg.net/PolicyCentre/LRInquiry

The report from this enquiry is now available and calls for immediate action by Government to promote both innovation in the industry and a level playing field with other transport modes.

If you want to read the report then follow this link http://www.pteg.net/PolicyCentre/LRInquiry

Front page of HULTS report Bristol Electric Rail Bus (BER) - and other consortium partners in the Bristol  "Hybrid Ultra Light Tram System (HULTS)" proposals made a presentation to the West of England Partnership and Bristol City Council, Click HERE to view the presentation.

Bristol Electric Rail Bus (BER) - have published the Scott Wilson report "Hybrid Ultra Light Tram System (HULTS)" : An Alternative Proposal to Bus Rapid Transit from Bristol City Center to Long Ashton Park and Ride Site. 

Colin Jefferson SUSTRACO Technical Director said " this is a golden opportunity for Bristol and the surrounding area to develop a high quality public transport system of which all can be proud"

Do you want to read the report? Then click HERE. to be taken to our download site.  If you click on the "Download" link you should be presented with the options to view, download or save the file.

Opening up the bus industry's closed shop for innovation.

SUSTRACO ISSUE A PRESS RELEASE about how the DfT in the UK is unwittingly providing a closed shop on innovation.

It has been published on the UITP web site;  It has also been published in the recent CBT (Campaign for Better Transport) London Area News Letter.  You can View the whole document via this link.  http://www.uitp.org/mos/members_news/124-en.pdf

 

ULR Class 139 Railcars Reach 99% Reliability - whilst operating on UK mainline service.

Copyright @ Govia. All rights reserved worldwide.
Date: 14 May 2010

London Midland's Stourbridge Shuttle has achieved ever 99 per cent reliability in service and is carrying more passengers than ever, according to latest figures.

Each week, the Parry People Movers Class 139 railcars run over 1,300 trips in passenger service along the branch line between Stourbridge Town and Junction.

The Stourbridge Town branch is operated to an intensive timetable with just two minutes allowed between arrival and departure for most of the day on Mondays to Saturdays, making it an especially challenging environment for rail operations. The latest figures refer to the period from November 2009 to April 2010.

On April 30 over 1,900 passenger journeys were recorded in a single day for the first time since the lightweight railcars commenced operations. In the same week another first was achieved when over 10,000 passenger journeys were made on the line. In the six months from November to April, over 220,000 passenger journeys were made on board the railcars.

London Midland managing director, Mike Hodson, said: "After a period of bedding down and gathering experience with this new technology, this operation is becoming an integrated part of our busy network.

John Parry, chairman of Parry People Movers Ltd, added: "We are delighted to see our railcars providing the people of Stourbridge with this rail service, and doing it well."

MindsinMotion.net (MiM) is an international online community and learning network on sustainable mobility, supported by the Dutch Ministry of Transport and Platform Sustainable Mobility It is green and wants to conquer the Earth. Is Ultra-Light rail something out of a science fiction movie?  Clive Hinchcliffe our business development manager was interviewed by Minds in Motion, click on the link below to view the full interview.

http://www.mindsinmotion.net/index.php/mimv34/themes/diverse/features/ultra_light_rail

UNEP-UITP  The "voice of reason (aged 6)" video has been translated into 11 languages. It has won 2 awards: The European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA) award and The Green Award for best international sustainable campaign.  New tools based on the campaign are being developed such as educational packs for teachers and primary school children.

 

We are developing a new web site please tell us what you would like to see on the new site, by Filling in Our Feedback Form, Click Here

NEWS ITEM ARCHIVE  (Click on the link to read previous news items).

Frequently Asked Questions regarding ULR can be found here


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