December 2007

A new era of environmentally-friendly transport was ordered for train operator, London Midland in December 2007. The contract, worth over £700,000 was to supply a pair of revolutionary railcars to run passenger services on a West Midlands branch line.

The new vehicles (Class 139) from Parry People Movers Ltd, the first of its kind in the UK, feature lightweight construction and a hybrid system using flywheel energy storage, which dramatically reduces energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions compared to conventional trains. The light axle loads of the railcars will also cause less wear and tear to the railway track.

In addition to investing in Class 350 Desiro units for London Midland Porterbrook also agreed to invest in evolutionary technology. A contract was agreed in December 2007 with London Midland to provide 12 x 2 Car and 15 x 3 Car Class 172 Turbostars. While the Turbostar classification is not new the Class 172 fleet is significantly different from those which have gone before. The Bombardier “Green Trains” include lower weight, better fuel efficiency and lower emissions.

August 2007

Fleet performance is a key consideration within the business and in light of this Porterbrook was delighted to be in the position to purchase a fleet of 37 new 4 Car Class 350/2 Desiro Electric Multiple Units for London Midland. This is a new product range for Porterbrook but with the impressive performance of the existing Desiro fleet there is a great deal of confidence that the vehicles will be a success. The new vehicles were built by Siemens and the AC units are capable of 100mph.

May 2007

Porterbrook jointly worked with Hitachi, Network rail and Brush Traction to trial Europe's first hybrid high speed train. The test train included a new hybrid traction system (consisting of a battery-assisted diesel electric traction drive) which was installed into an existing High Speed Train with the equipment fitted into the front Power Car and a modified trailer car. On completion of testing the modified train ran in service on Network Rail's New Measurement Train to prove the benefits of the technology.

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