Railways: Light Rail Vehicles Debate
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Lord Roberts of Llandudno
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Railways: Light Rail Vehicles
Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts(13 years, 2 months ago)
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Earl Attlee
The noble Lord is quite right, but I have to say that the Parry People Mover is not a perfect vehicle. It has some technical issues, particularly with ride quality. However, I know that Mr Parry is working on those issues.
Lord Roberts of Llandudno
Will the Minister give us an assurance that, in considering passenger travel, the strength of the rails will not be reduced so that they cannot take freight as well? We are trying to remove as much freight as possible from the roads on to rail. I am thinking especially of routes such as the Conwy Valley line where it is essential that the rail link is sufficiently strong to carry freight.
Earl Attlee
My noble friend has made an important and interesting point. However, one of the advantages of a light rail scheme is that the maintenance load on the track is considerably reduced because of the lower axle loads of the light rail vehicles.