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Class 139 (Parry People Mover)
Two small single-car railcars built by Parry People Movers of Cradley Heath, which have run the Stourbridge Town branch, one of Europe's shortest branch lines, since 2009. Pre Metro Operations runs and maintains them for West Midlands Railway. 139002 was named George the Station Cat in August 2025.
Scale
Class 139 (Parry People Mover) · indicative drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/139/ · CC BY 4.0
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Liveries 1
West Midlands Railway purple and goldColours sampled from a photograph of 139002 (gold brightened from the shaded side)Shown aboveFormer liveries 3
Parry People Mover prototype (999 900)Ran as Pre Metro Operations / London Midland trialFormer2006 to 2009Not drawn yet
London MidlandRan as London Midland / Pre Metro OperationsFormerJun 2009 to 2017Not drawn yet
Lightweight Community Transport (139012 rebuild)Former2010s to n/aNot drawn yet
- Type
- Lightweight railcar (flywheel hybrid)
- Builder
- Parry People Movers, Cradley Heath
- Built
- 2008
- In service
- since 2009
- Operators
- WMR
- Formation
- 1 car
- Trains in fleet
- 2
- Fleets
- West Midlands Railway: 2
- Power
- Flywheel hybrid: a small Ford 2.3-litre gas engine spins a 500 kg flywheel, which drives the wheels through a hydrostatic transmission; braking puts energy back into the flywheel
- Bogies
- two fixed axles on 2 ft 0 in (610 mm) wheels behind full-length skirts (Parry People Movers PPM60)
- Car height
- 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
- Car width
- 7 ft 10 in (2.40 m)
- Profile
- main-line
- Total capacity
- Parry People Movers gives a typical PPM60 capacity of 20 to 25 seated and 30 to 35 standing; the Stourbridge cars' own figures haven't been found
- Status
- In service: 139001 and 139002, on the Stourbridge Town branch.
unverified Some of these figures haven’t yet been checked against an official source or a published history. What’s in doubt ↓
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| PPM60 | PPM60 railcar, with a cab at each end | 31 ft 6 in9.60 m |
Sources
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Show the 10 sources from Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia, Parry People Movers and 2 more
- PPM 50 / PPM 60 specification (archived) Parry People Movers, 16 May 2007PPM60: 31 ft 6 in (9.6 m) long, 7 ft 10 in (2.4 m) wide, 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m) high (high floor); 20-25 seated and 30-35 standing; Ford DSG423 engine; 500 kg flywheel; hydrostatic transmission; regenerative braking into the flywheel; 65 km/h (40 mph) maximum; wheel diameter 2 ft 0 in (610 mm), rubber chevron suspension, a driven axle (twin-axle drive optional); floor 3 ft 0 in (0.915 m) above rail (high floor)
- West Midlands Railway names Stourbridge Shuttle after famous feline for International Cat Day (archived) West Midlands Railway, 7 August 2025Class 139 fleet in service since 2009, run and maintained by Pre Metro Operations; 139002 named George the Station Cat; one of Europe's shortest branch lines
- West Midlands Trains' new rolling stock and depots Rail Engineer, 19 August 2024the Stourbridge Town branch, run with the Parry People Movers
- British Rail Class 139 Wikipediabuild and service dates, LPG fuel, unit numbers, names (cross-check only)
- Class 139 Parry People Mover (139002, West Midlands Railway livery) Wikimedia Commons (Samson Ng, CC BY-SA 4.0)the drawing: layout (door, windows, cab, skirts) and the WMR livery, photograph only
- West Midlands Railway Class 139 002 at Stourbridge Junction Platform 1 Wikimedia Commons (davwheat, CC BY-SA 2.0)the drawing: the cab front and its skirt, no coupler standing proud
- Stourbridge Town railway station MMB 04 139001 (139001 head-on) Wikimedia Commons (mattbuck, CC BY-SA 3.0)the drawing: the front's heights (windscreen, yellow panel, lamp rows, destination box) and symmetry, square-on, photograph only
- Class 139 London Midland Diagram Wikimedia Commons (Unisouth, CC BY-SA 3.0)the drawing: cross-check of the cab end's shape (a diagram, not to scale)
- Lightweight Community Transport Class 139 Wikimedia Commons (Lightweight Community Transport Limited, CC BY-SA 3.0)the drawing: cross-check of the cab end's outline (near side-on picture)
- British Rail Class 139 Wikipedia, read 13 October 2026the livery's name, who ran it and its years (no colours taken)
unverified
- Dimensions are Parry People Movers' typical PPM60 figures (31 ft 6 in (9.6 m) long, 7 ft 10 in (2.4 m) wide, 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m) high for a high-floor car), not measured on the Stourbridge cars
- Top speed: Parry People Movers gives 65 km/h (40 mph) for the type on suitable track; Wikipedia gives 32 km/h (20 mph) for the Stourbridge cars, citing the DfT. Neither is shown
- Fuel: Parry People Movers says the Ford DSG423 runs on propane or diesel; LPG for the Stourbridge cars is Wikipedia's
- Built 2008 and first in passenger service in 2009, in full service from June 2009 (Wikipedia); West Midlands Railway says the fleet came into service in 2009
- Ownership: ordered by London Midland through Porterbrook (Wikipedia); not confirmed
- 139001's name, The Stourbridge Lion (October 2025, Wikipedia), not confirmed by West Midlands Railway
- The drawing: laid out from photographs taken out of perspective (about 0.2 m), at PPM's typical 31 ft 6 in (9.6 m) taken as the length over the noses; at that length the photographs give a roof 10 ft 10 in (3.30 m) high (a head-on one at PPM's 7 ft 10 in (2.4 m) width gives 11 ft 2 in (3.4 m)), against PPM's typical 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m); the wheels' 2 ft 0 in (610 mm) and the fixed axles are PPM's; the wheelbase (9 ft 10 in (3.0 m), centred) is an estimate from where the side photograph shows no wheel
- The years of the former liveries come from Wikipedia's class article and the other sources listed, and haven't been checked against a second source.
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