Pictured (left to right): Anthony Browne MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport; Beverley Nielsen, Chair, Ultra Light Rail Partners Ltd (ULRP); James Skinner, Entrepreneur and Director, ULRP.
Beverley Nielsen, Chair, and James Skinner, Director of Malvern Hills-based, Ultra Light Rail Partners Ltd and long-term entrepreneur, were delighted to have the opportunity to meet with Anthony Browne MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport at the Department of Transport, on 9th April 2024.
The Minister was pleased to emphasise that greater amounts of transport funding were being devolved to regional and local administrations. Most recently this was demonstrated by City Region Transport Settlements (familiarly known as ‘CRuSTS’) with £16bn of this funding quoted as already devolved. Another major move by the Government had been through the redistribution of HS2 phase 2(b) funds with £4.7bn funding to Northern and Midlands local authorities – often to smaller authorities to determine how they wish to invest this. Worcestershire County Council had already received £3.4 million pounds and is due to receive £209 million pounds over the coming 7 years.
Key to the discussions was the Department’s acceptance of all available renewable energy options when it comes to rail-based transport, including trams, given the importance of Net Zero goals, noting that they are ‘very positive about low carbon fuels including BioCNG’. Decision-making concerning any particular choice of fuel was one for local transport authorities to make. However, where they might opt for biomethane, for example, the Department would support this option.
Beverley Nielsen said:
“We were so pleased that the Minister, Anthony Browne, made space in his diary to meet with us as, despite all our considerable experience in ultra light rail, we are still technically a startup. We recognise the Minister has many demands on his time and we are grateful for his advice and insights.
“It was particularly encouraging to hear the DfT is ‘technology agnostic’ when it comes to renewable, low and zero carbon fuels used in the powertrains that propel our trains and trams as we push to meet Net Zero targets.
“This was especially important for our company, Ultra Light Rail Partners (ULRP) which proposes the use of Ultra Light Rail (ULR) solutions, as we have been developing hybrid powertrains in our BioUltra railcars which use biomethane fuel with flywheels to deliver kinetic energy recovery systems delivering far greater range than is possible for pure battery electric options.
“For example, our railcars can travel over 1,000km before requiring a short ten minute out-of-service stop for refuelling, compared with battery electric railcars which tend to have ranges of between 50-100km before losing operational time for recharging. In addition to these savings, ULR also offers capital savings as there is no requirement for overhead wires and gantries or expensive grid connections and complicated charging equipment. Fuel is generated from local wastes as part of the circular economy, ensuring energy security and control of costs.”