|
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, T he
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
|
 |
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.
|
