The Problem

The Al Hoota Cave the first and only show cave in the Gulf area which is accessible to the general public needed a train to transport tourists. They needed the engine to be energy efficient and also quiet to run so it didn’t tarnish the visitor experience through the tranquil caves or disturb any one of the 100 species of animals whose home is in the cave.

Sentridge’s Solution

Severn Lamb, who won the contract with the Oman tourist attraction, called on the help of Coventry engineering firm Sentridge Control. Sentridge have been supplying electric drives and motors for over 25 years and are at the forefront of technology and design. Working closely with Severn Lamb, they were able to come up with the perfect solution to drive the electric train in the most efficient and peaceful way.

The Full Story

When the owners of the Al Hoota Cave in Oman decided to improve their visitor experience by introducing a train to transport tourists around the impressive 2 million year old natural wonder, where did they look? Did they approach the Chinese? Did they approach the Americans? No! They contacted a train building firm in the heart of the Midlands. Severn Lamb, based in Alcester have been designing and building light urban and leisure transport for over 60 years. They have supplied trains for leisure attractions around the world, including Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong, but this one for Al Hoota proved to be one of their biggest challenges.

The main hurdle they faced was that this was a train to run on Oman’s first railway! They needed the engine to be energy efficient and also quiet to run so it didn’t tarnish the visitor experience through the tranquil caves or disturb any one of the 100 species of animals whose home is the Al Hoota Cave.

Severn Lamb called on the help of Coventry engineering firm Sentridge Control. Sentridge have been supplying electric drives and motors for over 25 years and are at the forefront of technology and design. Working closely with Severn Lamb, they were able to come up with the perfect solution to drive the electric train in the most efficient and peaceful way.

Glen Hickman, Technical Director at Sentridge added, “We loved the challenge of this project. It would have been nice to have worked on site in the Middle East, but unfortunately the design and development took place in the sunny Midlands! This is a great achievement for the UK manufacturing industry and we and many other businesses are working hard to keep Britain on the map for engineering innovation and design”

The train has now been in use for a few months and is proving a worthwhile addition to the Oman tourist attraction.