UK politicians propose rubber wheels for trains

London - A submission to the opposition party leadership has proposed converting UK trains to rubber wheeled systems.

In a document titled "Freeing Britain to Compete" a right-wing think tank called Economic Competitiveness Policy Group has proposed that problems on commuter rail services might be eased by converting existing trains from steel wheels to rubber wheels.

The document says, "Currently, the [rail transportation] industry reckons it is only safe to run twenty-four trains per hour on a typical commuter track, because of the lack of grip that running steel wheels on steel tracks provides."

It continues, "However, the Paris Metro has overcome this very problem by introducing rubber wheels that give trains extra grip, enabling them to accelerate more smoothly and brake more quickly. The Montreal metro runs on rubber tyres, with the same advantages; and some metro vehicles can also be driven onto roads. It has been suggested that, if we introduced these to British commuter trains, the railway could run a much more effective service of forty trains per hour, an increase in capacity of about 65 percent."

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Download "Freeing Britain to Compete" from UK Conservative Party

website of UK Conservative Party