Leisure and light urban transport specialist Severn-Lamb, based in the UK, has delivered a new electric train to one of Oman’s premier tourist attractions.
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The Al Hoota Cave, at the foot of the Hajar Mountains, will begin operating the new train for visitors in September following the attraction’s annual closure during the months of July and August for an environmental rest.
The brilliant white, custom designed train, built in its entirety at Severn-Lamb’s UK manufacturing plant in Warwickshire, carries up to 48 passengers in air conditioned comfort and will provide a world-class transportation system for visitors to the Al Hoota Cave, in addition to design, operational and environmental advantages over the existing train.
The new train uses electricity on demand, which eliminates the need for batteries and the down time for recharging, improvements which will increase the potential number of daily visitors from 760 to 2, 000. The driver is accommodated in one of two control cabins at either end of the train, separated from the main cabins by a glass partition, and passengers board and disembark through sliding doors on either side of the two carriages. Wheelchair access is also incorporated into the cabin design, while passenger information is provided via audio and flat screen systems throughout the train.
“We were very happy to win the contract to supply a new train to the Al Hoota Cave attraction for Oman’s Ministry of Tourism, ” commented Severn-Lamb Managing Director Patrick Lamb. “The team here at Severn Lamb has done a great job and the end result is a stunning modern, environmentally friendly, new generation train that will enhance the visitor experience enormously.”
Speaking on a visit to Warwickshire to view the train just prior to shipping, Mohammed Al Zajali, Oman Tourism’s Director General of Tourism Development, said: “The Ministry is responding to calls for an expanded train service at Al Hoota Cave. The new train will deliver greater operational time, far better visitor comfort and interpretation as it travels between the Al Hoota Visitors’ Centre and the cave.
“We wanted a new generation, low impact, light electric train to deliver better operational outcomes in a sustainable way, especially given the fluctuation in visitor demand between low and high seasons. In summary, our objective is to attract more people to regional areas, spread the benefits of tourism more widely and create more jobs. The Al Hoota Cave project has an important part to play in this regard.”
For further information please contact:
Severn-Lamb UK Limited
Tything Road
Alcester
B49 6ET
UK
Tel: +44(0)1789 400140
Email: Patrick.Lamb@severn-lamb.com
About Severn-Lamb
Severn-Lamb has been involved in designing, building and maintaining leisure and light urban transport systems since 1947. Based near Stratford-upon-Avon, England, (Shakespeare’s birthplace) the business continues to be family run and has built up an enviable reputation for exceptional quality and innovation in its chosen field.
The company’s core strengths are in the development and customisation of light urban and leisure transport systems. Severn-Lamb has developed, built and supported applications which include rail and road trains, light urban monorails, themed monorails, custom electric vehicles, replica vintage vehicles, themed buses and street transport and river and lake passenger boats.
The company’s customer base is worldwide and includes theme parks, amusement attractions, heritage sites, shopping malls, festivals, museums, family entertainment centres, tourist resorts and hotels, municipalities and governments
Severn-Lamb’s products can be found operating in more than 50 countries, many for more than 40 years.
