14.01.11
‘Ultra light rail’ trial
‘Ultra light rail’ services are to be trialled in Hampshire.
The Mid Hants Link rail trial will begin on January 24 for four weeks, serving passengers from Medstead and Four Marks to Alton, connecting to South West Trains’ services into London Waterloo.
It is being run by GO! Co-operative Limited, trading as GOCO, which claims to be the first co-operative to run a UK rail service.
It is hoped many of the London commuters among the 7,000 population will take the new trains rather than drive to Alton station.
The lightweight railcars have a flywheel to store energy, allowing the use of a smaller engine to minimise emissions, the company said.
Chris Phillimore, Business Development Director at GOCO, commented: “These lightweight railcars are capable of serving locations that would normally be considered too small for a rail service. The pilot service is an example of the strengths of our co-operative business model, ‘big society’ in action and of the benefits of sustainable travel. Based on the success of the demonstration, we will be aiming to move to a permanent service during 2011.”
(Image: GOCO)
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