Modern Light Rail Systems nowadays are much more efficient and have a higher speed and capacity then monorails. Moreover it's easier to create a network to connect all parts of a City and it's easier to implement in excisting urban areas. And some technologies of Monorail doesn't help reduce fine dust compared to rail-bourne systems. The Monorail isn't very suitable for mass transit in most cities and that's the reason you see these systems mostly in theme parks.
1. Efficiency: the steel wheel will always be a bit more efficient than a rubber one, but if you look it more pragmatically as a system - most energy is wasted for accelerations/stops, so if a light rail have a level crossings and intersection stops - it will actually be less energy efficient. And while we talk about efficiency - monorails have far more efficient use of space, which cost a lot in city centers, and can be put in better use than laying tracks for light rail which are also an accident waiting to happen (which is not the point you mentioned: safety). 2. Speed: top speed doesn't mean much if stations near each other (which they should be for light rail and monorail), so the average speed will be similar, except if a light rail have an intersection stops, then the monorail will be faster. 3. Capacity: the capacity of the light rail and monorail should be the same and designed for the line they are serving, if a monorail can't handle the capacity, than a light rail can't, you will need a metro. 4. Ease/Cost: if only a small portion of the line is elevated or underground - light rail is a better and cheaper option, but if most of the line must be grade separated - that's where a monorail is a easier/cheaper/better option. And a rubber wheel monorail can climb a lot steeper grades, so they are easier/cheaper to implement in hilly/mountainous areas. 5. Pollution: didn't get the "fine dust" thing, are you talking about rubber wheels, or brake pads? Anyway, it would be minuscule compared to hundreds of thousands of cars driving in the city, but a more serious pollution which can be noticed is the noise pollution, and it's definitely more for the light rail. 6. The real reason why aren't more monorails is because people who make decisions are not knowledgeable enough about monorails.
Monorail might've worked in Sydney IF a) there were two tracks instead of one, to accommodate cars running in both directions; b) a larger network of tracks were installed to go south as far as Central Station and north as far as Circular Quay, in other words, to cover far more of Sydney than it did. The Monorail in Sydney was poorly envisaged and ended up being little more than a novelty joyride that hung around long after the novelty wore off.
After Sydney got rid of monorail, it rediscovered that it once had trams. And now has a small line for these. Whilst Melbourne (now slightly larger city than Syd) runs the largest tram network on Earth. - interesting.
It's funny that the arguments against monorail and it's rebuttals are the exact same one I keep seeing for Maglev... I'd like to see more intercity/international high speed maglev and definitely approve of monorail in urban areas especially where you can use the 3D nature of highrises.
@@paulbeard4218 the system that Japan is building to replace the bullet train is but they have a different one that is the running and more practical. This would have been a better option than HS2 but Britain is so behind in technology that we started. 😳🏴🇬🇧🤠
@@paulbeard4218 Take a look at these pages, they discuss it professionally. Also your statements, which are not correct. HSR and Maglev infrastructure cost the same to build. During operation, especially with the technology of the Transrapid, the maintenance costs are much lower. magnetbahn.org/vorteile www.maglevboard.net/en/facts
I came across this video quite a few years ago and first I wanted to say thank you for putting it together! While I’m not really a fan of regular commuter trains, I am a huge fan of monorails. They fuse trains with lots of neat modem tech plus they’re elevated. I’ve ridden both the Disney World and Disneyland monorails. My big dream has been to be a monorail pilot. I want to share some info I found out almost 30 years ago, I couldn’t share it at the time because of confidentiality. I’m in the Chicago Southland. Almost 30 years ago, the Southland was looking to make it a real tourist destination that families from the Midwest and all over the country could come to. I did a junior high project on careers and did mine on urban planning. I was able to get an interview with one of the urban planners who used to work for one of the Southland Suburbs. During that interview, he told me there was something really cool brewing that he could show me but I could NOT under any circumstances share it with anyone. Back then, it was kind of on your honor that you wouldn’t divulge info. I never signed an NDA but I did promise I wouldn’t discuss it with anyone. Because it was so long ago I can say what I was shown. There was....a very ambitious tourism plan for the Southland. One part of this project was a monorail running from a specific Southland suburb out to the casino area in Joliet! It was to have several stops, with each town maintaining their portion of beamway. The cost would have been taken care of by each town paying for their stations and each ones amount of beamway. Example town A pays for their station plus their quarter, half of a mile, however much beam way ran through their town. They’d been trying to decide on how to charge folks for usage. I saw concept art for the bigger, grand project and the monorail was in it. It would have used the same system Disney uses. While I can now discuss individual parts of the bigger plan I still can’t divulge who shared this info with me out of respect So, the Chicago Southland came really damn close to getting it’s own monorail System! If you’d like to talk about it further drop a comment and I’ll gladly answer questions!
I had a neighbor back in the 80s who worked for LA's MTA. He did the study of systems prior to the first LA subway, and was going to recommend Monorail. He was TOLD, to push a subway/light rail solution. The way he said it, made me believe the threat was not just about his job. Greed rules what gets built, and the public pays the bigger price.
I used to use the Sydney Monorail all the times. Although the single, one-way loop was very limited and didn't really go anywhere, it served my travel purpose nicely. I lived about 100 metres from either stations shown at 6.00 and 6.10. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you view it) the City got rid of the system and it went down in history.
Dos AussieThai but at lest another Australian city has the cars and is thinking about bilding a monorail (hobart city council bought 4 of the monorails but hasn't seid much after the got them)
Light Rail are meant to decongest the Cities by offering the mobility from Downtowns towards Suburbs. Monorail or SkyTrains are different where a length of Track needs to be laid by taking Population Density into Consideration.
Ill go for monorails. We need to add Monorails in new yourk city like all jokes aside it would be really dope to see Monorails in nyc for the first time
0:42 Also, when the subway passes under a city block, it makes vibration to building(s) and/or street(s). An example is the New York City Subway. Near Penn Station, I was in a big building, and every half-minute, I feel the building vibrate. I often think that there is a earthquake of a low magnitude, as there are faults under New York.
The proposed route staight down Wilshire Blvd to Santa Monica would have used stations over intersections, with access escalators in high rise buildings on diagonal corners. Simple and elegant - the pylon design would incorporate the street lighting. The artist drawing looked extremely elegant, and enhanced Wilshire Blvd without any negative impact I could see. Rubber tires are quiet, unlike subways and light rail. What a shame. San Francisco also blew it, and The Simpsons TV show, inexplicably had a show that gave a black eye to monorail. That was bizarre.
The Tampa 'monorail' goes about 300 yards from the Airport terminal to the airsides. It is great if you are at the airport. The Las Vegas monorail is great, though it is criminal that it does not go to the airport..
Can you show your brick build monorail in a video? I love to build monorails with bricks based on Masao Hidakas system 🤗 In a video on my channel I show how to build it (the video is only in german). Greetings from Switzerland Buttermaker
I like the monorail idea. In some cites they have elevated light rail and monorail is much less intrusive. I really like the suspended design. I would think it would make it easy to drop to street level to a station like a bus stop.
Also a german company now develops into monorail maglev systems, dedicated to urban and midrange transport at low and medium speeds. This is due to the fact that the highspeed maglev (transrapid) had too few supporters and got phased out in europe (for now..., because this kind of technology may once get developed further, because it is not old stuff, it is modern, just for its kind of contactless, wearless and fast transport possibilities).
Light or heavy rail is all about the amount of legislation governing the system. Light rail can rely on "line of sight" for separating trams etc... where as Heavy rail have fixed signals which keep the trains from crashing into them for example.
CRRC has built the only maglev monorail (line 2) in Chongqing,The monorail is a quite ,smooth running hill climbing train that uses magnetic levitation off the track and rubber wheel in the sides at 160 km/hr.CRRC has built two other maglev train lines,one in Changsha,the red line in Beijing and is building 9 more in other cities.
The Las Vegas monorail is only run behind the casinos and is owned by the casinos. I wish this city would put in a system. We do not even have a light rail. The freeways here are becoming more and more congested as the city grows.
Monorails should be the future of public transport because in the future there will be far more cars and far more traffic jams lightrails and buses are both stuck in traffic jams from where i live and monorails don't stuck in traffic
Long live street cars and light rail!! I do love monorails though. My only issue with monorails versus street cars is that street cars and light rail do something an elevated monorail never could, which is let you off at multiple at grade platforms/locations. A monorail could be capable of doing this, but it would have to consistently be at road level defeating it’s entire advantage, rendering it inferior to street cars. I believe monorail would be a good option for taking travelers from one popular location to another. Something that would justify and put to use the carrying capacity of monorail, like a monorail leading to tourist destinations/museums etc.
I live in Bangkok. The skytrain (and subway) network is fast expanding. This includes long monorail lines. Personally, I have a thing for heavy MRT conventional rail lines. But monorails are cheaper and faster to build. I also like skytrain a lot more than subway. I lived in DC for 7 years and used its subway metro everyday. Being in dimly-lit underground everyday is quite depressing after a while. I prefer traveling above ground.
To Kory Pedersen: I had a conversation with your dad listed below and I will admit I was a little put off by his reply, which seemed a little like a put down of my questions. I kept the monorail web site in my bookmarks folder and visited last night. I see now that your dad was fighting terminal cancer and no doubt was a little upset with me asking those questions. I looked at the date of his death, and birth and was surprised to see he was four days older than me. I was born Feb. 15, '52. I'm sorry about your loss. Perhaps some day people will look at his videos and read his book and decide he was ahead of his time. It looks like he had an interesting life, and you and your family were blessed to have him. Ric.
Thank you, Ric. I appreciate that you went out of your way to follow up and wish my family well. Despite his frequent visits to the hospital and suffering, his website and passion for monorails remained a huge priority for him. Regardless of his condition, I will be the first to admit he could be a little short with people, especially when his life work was on the line! Never hesitate to question anything, it's how we learn and work together to make improvements. However, I am monitoring my dad's page per his last wishes only to keep things civil. For the best monorail answers, his website and book are definitely the source, not me. :) Take care!
For everyone looking down on monorail, the ones that fail do so because of bad planning and execution. Having been to Japan their planning of public transport in general means it is amazing compared to where I'm from and their monorails reflect this too. You can make any form of transport work if you do it right.
The thing is, his statement only works for the US because our existing infrastructure is heavily road based and our cities very much spread out, so that it's either road or air being the most efficient methods the further West you go. Europe, South America, Asia, and the Middle East get far greater usage out of their mass transit services. Japan notably has relatively few cars due to its compact state and mountainous geography.
Slow short Monorail in the city is better then buses and cars as its faster, no traffic and moves more people then buses or cars do per trip as its larger. Cars can fill in the gaps to less popular areas. Buses are basically useless and just get in the way of cars! Long distance Maglev Monorail is far faster and safer then any form of groudn travel. Maglev monorail can reach speeds above 300mph and even above 400mph with modern technology. The hyper loop which is a maglev monorail in a vacuum tube for long range travel can reach speeds of 760 mph and even faster, literally Rand corporation studied vacuum tube maglev for connecting every major city in america and decided 5000mph hyper sonic speeds would be safe, which is why its called Hyperloop! Air travel actually is only better if it is 1000 + mile trips and it is done at super sonic speeds like concord did.
I have often wondered why we don't run monorails down the median of interstate highways. It seems like it would be relatively cheap to build as opposed to "light rail" which is very expensive and from what I can see (except in the old cities) they are usually near empty.
This video defines light rail in a certain way, but what you describe is not exclusive to monorails. The terms are often difficult to create a standard definition for. For example, Seattle's light rail runs at various levels including: at grade in a separated right of way lane, elevated (some sections next to the I-5 freeway corridor as you suggest), and underground (mostly in downtown). LA's light rail system also has many stations in the median of freeways as far as I understand. In terms of transit benefits, the difference between Monorail and light rail is not very significant technically speaking since their differences refer to only the track characteristics. Monorail is usually elevated, but light rail does not have to be at grade and can function just as monorail. Swapping out one for the other is probably not going to save ridership since the issues for ridership in this case are not related to modes. Think about how easy it is to access a freeway station when a freeway is often separated from major dense neighborhoods, and the built environment is not very inviting.
The video claims monorails are cheaper to operate in the long run. What studies or evidence are there to support that claim? How do maintenance cost of monorails compare to light rail systems in cold climates with significant snow fall?
The real reason transit planners do not like monorails is the difficulty of track maintenance. "If a section of track needs to be replaced, the entire system needs to be shut down resulting in no service rather than reduced service."
@spikedpsycho you are absolutely right the single most biggest disadvantage of monorails is they can't carry huge loads specially of heavy equipment and goods but they are best people carriers specially in urban areas.
Still to swap out one section of track is a lot quicker than building a new line and how often does a monorail need to change tracks compared to light rail ? It is a lot cheaper to maintain look at the Japan monorail there are videos with cab rides on it ..
Monorail is by far, the better choice, when it comes to solving the transportation problem, throughout the urban and suburban areas, of most major cities, and metropolitan areas... it not only looks (futuristic)ie;cooler, and more attractive, it can be implemented to supplement local Light Rail, and subways, to ease heavy car traffic congestion in these areas, and will also give commuters a better transportation experience, and easier ways to get to and from, wherever they need to go...It's the Monopoly of oil companies, and car manufacturers, that have consciously thwarted the implementation, of great ideas like the Monorail, in major urban areas, to the detriment of commuters, and working-class people...
I could not agree more with this video! I have always thought that monorails were the future of transportation and it's so nice to find somebody who agrees with me!!!
I think monorail systems could be beneficial for the country. For intercity transit Maglev systems would be the best. I have ridden the 19km maglev system in Shanghai. There is something to be said about traveling at 431kph (300kph evenings). Every 15 minutes for almost 14 years.
I totally can tell you, the Monorail Systems in Wuppertal and Dortmund are amazing. The technology was invented here and tested here.The Monorail in Dortmund even is working with a Computer. Nobody controlls it. So they expanded the Tracks and succeeded. Thats why also some airpots here in germany used the Monorail System like in Dortmund. As example Airport Düsseldorf. monorails are fascinating and I´ve seen a few in Themeparks here in germany. Im really wondering why there are not any of them built as public transportation. (except Wuppertal and Dortmund)
The Ruhr area, to which Dortmund and Wuppertal belonged, were very much industrialized and had a very dense interwoven tram and railway network, that even beat the average top density rail networks in Belgium, such as existed until around 1958. If the river Wupper in Wuppertal is actually a valley with two roads alongside, and both are occupied with streetcars in the streets of companies that don't want to share their space with a competitor... THEN: You must build your tracks OVER the river. And OVER the streets where your competitor runs. How ? Develop a suspended monorail....
One of the points not mentioned in the video is how monorails have a significant advantage over light and heavy rail when it comes to maintenance. Take the NYC subway. The tracks are constantly being warped by temperature changes and rail usage. Warped rails are a constant headache and complicated laser systems are needed to make sure they are aligned and safe. Heavy metro also frequently needs to take their lines offline for maintenance to realign and fix their tracks. This is the same for all major metros around the world like the Tokyo metro. Monorails are so much simpler...it's just a slab of concrete or steel...no need to worry about warping.
Anyone who says monorail construction is disruptive compared to light rail has never lived close to a light rail line being installed. Literally the worst of the modes.
All the trains shown are operating in summer weather. I'm in Wisconsin and wonder how these trains would deal with a foot of snow or better yet, two inches of ice on the rail? Especially going up an incline. Also, how do you fix a bad wheel under these things? Fixing a light rail that is at ground level is one thing, fixing a car that is 25 ft. in the air is another.
There are many Alweg-based monorails around the world that continue to operate in snow conditions. Some examples: Tokyo, Tama, Seattle. Some have shovels on the front of the train. I address this at length in my new book 'Monorails: Trains of the Future-Now Arriving.' Wheels are easily changed out at the maintenance/storage facility, and they require far less care than steel wheels. Consider the millions of miles these monorails and others have operated, many at 99.9% reliability.
Years ago Eric Laithwaite suggested the linear induction motor as a way to propel trains. It would probably work well for a monorail since it requires a central rail. Laithwaite's linear induction motor does not depend upon the force of friction between the track and the wheels of the train, so snow and ice on the rail(s) do not affect the tractive effort.
Excellent video, Kim! I wish the region I live in (Waterloo, Ontario) had seen this before selecting light rail for our rapid transit system. They did list it in a selection matrix, but the fields were totally stacked against it/for LRT.
I think the real problem is "infrastructure". Roads and railway road beds are already there. Diesel power for the trains is conveniently available, and the technology is well known.
The newer ones can handle 60 mph on straight rail, and they accelerate and brake better than light rail trains. The rail beam widths range from 24" to about 27", but the wrap-around design of the car bodies makes fast riding on even a rail that thin very workable. They could also be set up for linear induction instead of motors on-board the trains (like Vancouver's Skytrain), and that would allow for speeds faster than 60 mph.
They can run at 80-100kmph on straight. They are more stable because sraddle the beam tightly through its wheels so derailments are not there. It's energy consumption however is a matter of further study.
The monorail in Las Vegas is very nice but expensive and only goes a short distance wish it had more distance it's what Vegas need for the tourists and the locals.
Monorails are a great idea, but in the USA, back in the late forties big car Companies got rid of very good electric transit systems in Los Angeles.Even in the Fifties, GM really did not approve of Disney's televised introduction of Disneyland's Monorail because cars were the bread and butter of profits together with petroleium consumption. What!!! an Electric Transit System!!! This is just not acceptable!!! GM, Ford and Chrysler. Just my Opinion.
Gustavo Reyes. The people of Los Angeles got rid of the Red Car by a vote. The SP Railway wanted a bunch of money from the city after letting the Red Car decline badly over thirty years. The SP was known as The Octopus due to its monopoly deals, corruption, scandal and greed. The Red Car CREATED LA sprawl in the early 1900s not cars (they weren't there yet). The car line existed to sell empty land the Red Car, the SP and the line owner was pitching. By 1950 the streetcars were not able to handle the population growth into these areas and the operator staff was notoriously surley. Cars and freeways solved the problem for a decade or so, then the sheer bulk of people moving into those old sprawl townships overwhelmed it again. You're gut feeling is more the plot to Roget Rabbit and is a popular conspiracy theory, except that in 1950-70 GM made more money building locomotives than cars. GM-EMD still builds most locomotives and commuter rail in the US and much abroad. Rail helps GM.
America's transport authorities are NOT INTERESTED in convenience for the public(end-users). They are interested ONY in making piles and piles, and yet more piles of MONEY, at the very expense of the public!
Hong Kong is not as smart as Shanghai maglevs are safer than electric trains Tokyo has monorails all over Japan we need to impeach Trump and move into the future
I wish that the politicians here in Stockholm would allow monorails because slot of people here would like to get a monorail and it is really needed here in Stockholm
0:35 Buses are stuck in traffic because there aren't any dedicated bus lanes for them to take in most cities. 0:38-0:48 They are expensive but far more efficient to build.
Also, it produces no pollutants and is VERY reliable. It uses magnets to make the train move and they can go insanely fast. I've heard of test prototypes easily cracking the 300 mph barrier! They unfortunately run at reduced speeds to prevent excessive wear/tear on the tracks when going through a sharp corner. I don't understand why big open states like Montana and Texas have no monorails.
Wow so the first monorail intoduce from japan!! I'm from Malaysia capital is Kuala Lumpur (KL monorail) 2003 with okinawa which country?? I thinks Singapore first use monorail but Malaysia first at south east asia :3 very proud!!!
The Sydney Monorail (Australia) was removed and a "Light Rail System" was put into the city. Says quite a bit in regard to the forward thinking and intelligence of the city councils...
RUclips suggestions brought me from gaming videos to Monorails :P I guess yeah I do agree that for traveling within cities and steep areas monorails do seem like a cleaner, cheaper and tidier solution. Traditional rail's more suited for long travel.
They never seem to travel very fast though (Shaghai Transrapid Maglev excepted). The Shonan suspended monorail seems to be a really good system with their bogies (and pantograph) running in an enclosed guideway. It even has tunnels!
Cliff Leigh >... with their bogies (and pantograph) running in an enclosed guideway. This would be a very good decisions for north cities with heavy snow storms in winter All ground transport blocked by snow and MonoRail works
Well the SC maglev from Japan isn't but basically every other Maglev is and honestly I would say Maglev is one of the best choices for an express city service. Like let's say you build a Maglev from the southern tip of Manhattan to the northern tip of Manhattan with a stop about every 1-3 miles. I mean IMO that's a pretty good solution to get people around quickly in a metropolis.
No, it's not. The Japan Maglev is not on a monorail, but in a tube like environment, with a flat bottom for the rubber tires, which speed up the trains until they reach 160 km/h, then the maglev begins to levitate on its own :D
Greetings again! Any plans to do an updated video reflecting the latest systems in place (including Chongqing, Daegu, and Sao Paulo) along with the advance technologies available including complete automation, radio-based CBTC (Communication-Based Train Control), and Linear Motors?
+ostkkfmhtsh012345678 No plans for new videos immediately, I've spent the last 20 years concentrating on publishing my book. That finally happened and it's now available: www.monorails.org/tMspages/book.html All my time now is devoted to promoting monorails through the book. I may get back to producing more monorail videos at some point however, I have ideas! That said, there are a lot of videos of newer monorails made by monorails, most of which are linked through our Monorail Society facebook page. Thanks.
There is no reason, why traditional railways can't be elevated. What the narrator says, has nothing to do with monorail or bi-rail. In Berlin they experimented with a train system, moved by magnets and not touching the tracks, this wasn't monorail, but similar design.
There are many examples of elevated railways around the world past and present, New York and Liverpool both have or had famous elevated railways. But due the nature of convential elevated railways they take up more airspace and make street below dark. Becasue of the silm nature of the monorail track the street below gets much more light.
Elevated railways are loud, big, WAAAAYYYY too expensive, useless, ugly, and personally the majority, normal person just hates the look, speed, reliability, expenses, and noise pollution it creates around their home town. Monorail is *QUIET,* cheap (it makes a profit a lot of times), good-looking and faster.
You can't beat a good metro system but I can see monorails are good for tourist areas. I think the columns and rails of a monorail can look a bit ugly sometimes.
Don't quote Sydney's Monorail as a good example. It went nowhere, and was too expensive for what it was. There is a reason why we're removing it. Also, there is no "downtown" Sydney. Otherwise a good idea
One thing you missed out was that with the application of maglev technology - monorails can outperform traditional intercity rail. More expensive to build, but as it is contactless technology, a lot quieter and far lower energy consumption. Not to mention how fast they can go...
Thanks for your comment. Note the video is quite dated at this point (produced in 2000). Personally speaking, I see maglevs as better suited for longer distance travel, where the speed advantages can be taken advantage of. Currently urban maglevs have what I perceive as gigantic guideways, especially compared to monorails. Gigantic guideways aren't exactly environment friendly, for both aesthetic reasons (folks don't like elevated track to begin with, even worse the bigger they are) and materials useage (far more resources/materials used to make gigantic guideways). Hopefully future maglev technology for urban applications will feature smaller guideways, such as the proposed SkyTran system.
Thanks for the vid a bit out dated but still interesting. It is a shame about the ones in Sydney and the Gold coast but they are long gone now. It seems people weren't using them much as they were quite slow I think. I can only see one solution to our transport urban and inter city, it is a monorail of sorts but not like these heavy lumbering old beasts. Perhaps you have heard of it it is called Skytran also was called Unimodal at some point in the past. If they can get it off the ground it will negate the need for 90% of cars on the road,,,, ok I just made that statistic up but it would be totally revolutionary. Please check it out and tell me what you think. www.google.co.uk/search?q=skytran&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&ei=OeQXWOPTN4Hc8AftwqKwDg
Problem with PRT systems is with no human operators to monitor passengers they are highly vulnerable to vandalism. This would seriously increase cost in the areas where mass transit is most needed.
You sure about that definition of light and heavy rail? XD A D 2class tram in melbourne weighs 35.3 metric tonnes for the entire 4 section Tram. The older, Comeng 3 car EMU's used by the Melbourne rail network weigh 141 metric tonnes each for the 3 car unit as a whole. Similarly, most 'heavy rail' trains I've ever found information on are in the region of 30-40 tons per carriage, and anything from 80-150 for a locomotive. (powered carriages being somewhere in the middle.) An entire tram is comparable in weight to a a single passenger carriage in my experience. Not to mention that officially, the designation of 'light rail' vs 'heavy rail', as far as I recall is related to the weight of the rails themselves, with heavier, stronger rails in use on 'heavy rail' installations... Ah well. Whatever.
because there is no international standard for track. There are really only proprietary systems that don't separate proprietary guideways from proprietary rolling stock. Also, monorail tracks are a nightmare for switching, unless the monorail is SAFEGE type, but SAFEGE type guideways pose complication for support pylons and station design. Just build conventional rail.. or a téléferico :D. Monorails make sense for high-capacity transit with easy construction through/over existing infrastructure without need worry of connecting with conventional rail or using existing rolling stock, and easy slope tackling: Chongqing monorail; São Paulo;
Miami's Metrorail (elevated light rail) was and is a massive white elephant costing way too much $$, taking up too much room, is loud and fugly. Miami should have built a Disney-style mono that masses of people would actually use . . .
I should have thought 'Follow the money' each time I asked myself the question over the past half century whilst I was stuck in any kind of traffic, why monorail hadn't taken over world transportation. I've used monorail in Disney-world and it seemed an obvious solution to me. As is often the case... less $ - more $. Meanwhile, we all suffer. Sad!
I've sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook, and by gum, it put them on the map
Mono = One, Rail = Rail
We honestly need more monorails in the world
100%
YES
Modern Light Rail Systems nowadays are much more efficient and have a higher speed and capacity then monorails. Moreover it's easier to create a network to connect all parts of a City and it's easier to implement in excisting urban areas. And some technologies of Monorail doesn't help reduce fine dust compared to rail-bourne systems. The Monorail isn't very suitable for mass transit in most cities and that's the reason you see these systems mostly in theme parks.
1. Efficiency: the steel wheel will always be a bit more efficient than a rubber one, but if you look it more pragmatically as a system - most energy is wasted for accelerations/stops, so if a light rail have a level crossings and intersection stops - it will actually be less energy efficient.
And while we talk about efficiency - monorails have far more efficient use of space, which cost a lot in city centers, and can be put in better use than laying tracks for light rail which are also an accident waiting to happen (which is not the point you mentioned: safety).
2. Speed: top speed doesn't mean much if stations near each other (which they should be for light rail and monorail), so the average speed will be similar, except if a light rail have an intersection stops, then the monorail will be faster.
3. Capacity: the capacity of the light rail and monorail should be the same and designed for the line they are serving, if a monorail can't handle the capacity, than a light rail can't, you will need a metro.
4. Ease/Cost: if only a small portion of the line is elevated or underground - light rail is a better and cheaper option, but if most of the line must be grade separated - that's where a monorail is a easier/cheaper/better option. And a rubber wheel monorail can climb a lot steeper grades, so they are easier/cheaper to implement in hilly/mountainous areas.
5. Pollution: didn't get the "fine dust" thing, are you talking about rubber wheels, or brake pads? Anyway, it would be minuscule compared to hundreds of thousands of cars driving in the city, but a more serious pollution which can be noticed is the noise pollution, and it's definitely more for the light rail.
6. The real reason why aren't more monorails is because people who make decisions are not knowledgeable enough about monorails.
Monorail is a gadgetbahn. Light rail is better. As a New York Citizen, I would love to see light rail as part of the interborough express.
I have used 5 different monorail systems over the years, and have enjoyed all of them.
Lmao did you really enjoy them 😂
Monorail might've worked in Sydney IF a) there were two tracks instead of one, to accommodate cars running in both directions; b) a larger network of tracks were installed to go south as far as Central Station and north as far as Circular Quay, in other words, to cover far more of Sydney than it did. The Monorail in Sydney was poorly envisaged and ended up being little more than a novelty joyride that hung around long after the novelty wore off.
After Sydney got rid of monorail, it rediscovered that it once had trams. And now has a small line for these. Whilst Melbourne (now slightly larger city than Syd) runs the largest tram network on Earth. - interesting.
It's really more of a Shelbyville idea...
It's funny that the arguments against monorail and it's rebuttals are the exact same one I keep seeing for Maglev... I'd like to see more intercity/international high speed maglev and definitely approve of monorail in urban areas especially where you can use the 3D nature of highrises.
Maglev is impractical and costly .
@@paulbeard4218 the system that Japan is building to replace the bullet train is but they have a different one that is the running and more practical. This would have been a better option than HS2 but Britain is so behind in technology that we started. 😳🏴🇬🇧🤠
@@paulbeard4218
Take a look at these pages, they discuss it professionally. Also your statements, which are not correct. HSR and Maglev infrastructure cost the same to build. During operation, especially with the technology of the Transrapid, the maintenance costs are much lower.
magnetbahn.org/vorteile
www.maglevboard.net/en/facts
Vegas could have done SO MUCH MORE with its monorail.
I came across this video quite a few years ago and first I wanted to say thank you for putting it together! While I’m not really a fan of regular commuter trains, I am a huge fan of monorails. They fuse trains with lots of neat modem tech plus they’re elevated. I’ve ridden both the Disney World and Disneyland monorails. My big dream has been to be a monorail pilot. I want to share some info I found out almost 30 years ago, I couldn’t share it at the time because of confidentiality. I’m in the Chicago Southland. Almost 30 years ago, the Southland was looking to make it a real tourist destination that families from the Midwest and all over the country could come to. I did a junior high project on careers and did mine on urban planning. I was able to get an interview with one of the urban planners who used to work for one of the Southland Suburbs. During that interview, he told me there was something really cool brewing that he could show me but I could NOT under any circumstances share it with anyone. Back then, it was kind of on your honor that you wouldn’t divulge info. I never signed an NDA but I did promise I wouldn’t discuss it with anyone. Because it was so long ago I can say what I was shown. There was....a very ambitious tourism plan for the Southland. One part of this project was a monorail running from a specific Southland suburb out to the casino area in Joliet! It was to have several stops, with each town maintaining their portion of beamway. The cost would have been taken care of by each town paying for their stations and each ones amount of beamway. Example town A pays for their station plus their quarter, half of a mile, however much beam way ran through their town. They’d been trying to decide on how to charge folks for usage. I saw concept art for the bigger, grand project and the monorail was in it. It would have used the same system Disney uses. While I can now discuss individual parts of the bigger plan I still can’t divulge who shared this info with me out of respect So, the Chicago Southland came really damn close to getting it’s own monorail System! If you’d like to talk about it further drop a comment and I’ll gladly answer questions!
I had a neighbor back in the 80s who worked for LA's MTA. He did the study of systems prior to the first LA subway, and was going to recommend Monorail. He was TOLD, to push a subway/light rail solution. The way he said it, made me believe the threat was not just about his job. Greed rules what gets built, and the public pays the bigger price.
I used to use the Sydney Monorail all the times. Although the single, one-way loop was very limited and didn't really go anywhere, it served my travel purpose nicely. I lived about 100 metres from either stations shown at 6.00 and 6.10.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you view it) the City got rid of the system and it went down in history.
Dos AussieThai but at lest another Australian city has the cars and is thinking about bilding a monorail (hobart city council bought 4 of the monorails but hasn't seid much after the got them)
Dos AussieThai Really?? Bloody hell, I rid on one of those on my tenth birthday, sucks man.
Dos AussieThai Why did they demolish it?
Was there any sort of replacement transit system?
I also live in Sydney and I think the same thing. Why are we building a light rail instead of a monorail
After seeing this, I want to build a monorail inside my room.
Pro trick : watch series at Flixzone. I've been using it for watching loads of movies lately.
What a gem this video is! Thanks for sharing!
Don't worry
Philippines is building or planning a new monorail in many parts of the country
Sydney had a monorail for about 25 years, but they took it down a few years ago, shame, I loved it
Light Rail are meant to decongest the Cities by offering the mobility from Downtowns towards Suburbs. Monorail or SkyTrains are different where a length of Track needs to be laid by taking Population Density into Consideration.
Ill go for monorails. We need to add Monorails in new yourk city like all jokes aside it would be really dope to see Monorails in nyc for the first time
0:42 Also, when the subway passes under a city block, it makes vibration to building(s) and/or street(s). An example is the New York City Subway. Near Penn Station, I was in a big building, and every half-minute, I feel the building vibrate. I often think that there is a earthquake of a low magnitude, as there are faults under New York.
The proposed route staight down Wilshire Blvd to Santa Monica would have used stations over intersections, with access escalators in high rise buildings on diagonal corners. Simple and elegant - the pylon design would incorporate the street lighting. The artist drawing looked extremely elegant, and enhanced Wilshire Blvd without any negative impact I could see. Rubber tires are quiet, unlike subways and light rail. What a shame. San Francisco also blew it, and The Simpsons TV show, inexplicably had a show that gave a black eye to monorail. That was bizarre.
The Tampa 'monorail' goes about 300 yards from the Airport terminal to the airsides. It is great if you are at the airport. The Las Vegas monorail is great, though it is criminal that it does not go to the airport..
Fantastic video. I actually learned something about monorails that I did not know. Thank for the upload, I appreciate it!
I once build freight monorail from lego, because when I was kid I was so amazed by it.
Can you show your brick build monorail in a video? I love to build monorails with bricks based on Masao Hidakas system 🤗 In a video on my channel I show how to build it (the video is only in german).
Greetings from Switzerland
Buttermaker
in conclusion, mono means 'one', and rail means 'rail'.
Ttrucker me
I like the monorail idea. In some cites they have elevated light rail and monorail is much less intrusive. I really like the suspended design. I would think it would make it easy to drop to street level to a station like a bus stop.
Also a german company now develops into monorail maglev systems, dedicated to urban and midrange transport at low and medium speeds. This is due to the fact that the highspeed maglev (transrapid) had too few supporters and got phased out in europe (for now..., because this kind of technology may once get developed further, because it is not old stuff, it is modern, just for its kind of contactless, wearless and fast transport possibilities).
Light or heavy rail is all about the amount of legislation governing the system. Light rail can rely on "line of sight" for separating trams etc... where as Heavy rail have fixed signals which keep the trains from crashing into them for example.
CRRC has built the only maglev monorail (line 2) in Chongqing,The monorail is a quite ,smooth running hill climbing train that uses magnetic levitation off the track and rubber wheel in the sides at 160 km/hr.CRRC has built two other maglev train lines,one in Changsha,the red line in Beijing and is building 9 more in other cities.
The Las Vegas monorail is only run behind the casinos and is owned by the casinos. I wish this city would put in a system. We do not even have a light rail. The freeways here are becoming more and more congested as the city grows.
I think the biggest reason Monorail isn't considered very seriously is thanks to an episode of The Simpsons. That said, I realy like monorails.
Monorails should be the future of public transport because in the future there will be far more cars and far more traffic jams lightrails and buses are both stuck in traffic jams from where i live and monorails don't stuck in traffic
Monorail.. Monorail MONORAIL
Long live street cars and light rail!! I do love monorails though. My only issue with monorails versus street cars is that street cars and light rail do something an elevated monorail never could, which is let you off at multiple at grade platforms/locations. A monorail could be capable of doing this, but it would have to consistently be at road level defeating it’s entire advantage, rendering it inferior to street cars. I believe monorail would be a good option for taking travelers from one popular location to another. Something that would justify and put to use the carrying capacity of monorail, like a monorail leading to tourist destinations/museums etc.
or you could just drop at any pylon and use elevator to get down
I live in Bangkok. The skytrain (and subway) network is fast expanding. This includes long monorail lines. Personally, I have a thing for heavy MRT conventional rail lines. But monorails are cheaper and faster to build. I also like skytrain a lot more than subway. I lived in DC for 7 years and used its subway metro everyday. Being in dimly-lit underground everyday is quite depressing after a while. I prefer traveling above ground.
Uses very little ground space, therefore, allowing things under the tracks.
To Kory Pedersen: I had a conversation with your dad listed below and I will admit I was a little put off by his reply, which seemed a little like a put down of my questions. I kept the monorail web site in my bookmarks folder and visited last night. I see now that your dad was fighting terminal cancer and no doubt was a little upset with me asking those questions. I looked at the date of his death, and birth and was surprised to see he was four days older than me. I was born Feb. 15, '52. I'm sorry about your loss. Perhaps some day people will look at his videos and read his book and decide he was ahead of his time. It looks like he had an interesting life, and you and your family were blessed to have him. Ric.
Thank you, Ric. I appreciate that you went out of your way to follow up and wish my family well. Despite his frequent visits to the hospital and suffering, his website and passion for monorails remained a huge priority for him. Regardless of his condition, I will be the first to admit he could be a little short with people, especially when his life work was on the line!
Never hesitate to question anything, it's how we learn and work together to make improvements. However, I am monitoring my dad's page per his last wishes only to keep things civil. For the best monorail answers, his website and book are definitely the source, not me. :)
Take care!
Thanks, Kory for all that you do here. :)
How does speed compare when covering long distances? Many light rail systems cover more than 20 miles.
Germany built the 1st monorail in the world back in 1900 and it's still running today
All the history listed in The book of monorails www.monorails.org/tMspages/book.html
p caetano We need a monorail in France
If there already is an existing light railway system, it's easier to just expand it.
For everyone looking down on monorail, the ones that fail do so because of bad planning and execution. Having been to Japan their planning of public transport in general means it is amazing compared to where I'm from and their monorails reflect this too. You can make any form of transport work if you do it right.
Spot on. Many of these success stories are in Kim's book "Monorails - Trains of the future - now arriving" www.monorails.org/tMspages/book.html
The thing is, his statement only works for the US because our existing infrastructure is heavily road based and our cities very much spread out, so that it's either road or air being the most efficient methods the further West you go.
Europe, South America, Asia, and the Middle East get far greater usage out of their mass transit services.
Japan notably has relatively few cars due to its compact state and mountainous geography.
Slow short Monorail in the city is better then buses and cars as its faster, no traffic and moves more people then buses or cars do per trip as its larger. Cars can fill in the gaps to less popular areas. Buses are basically useless and just get in the way of cars! Long distance Maglev Monorail is far faster and safer then any form of groudn travel. Maglev monorail can reach speeds above 300mph and even above 400mph with modern technology. The hyper loop which is a maglev monorail in a vacuum tube for long range travel can reach speeds of 760 mph and even faster, literally Rand corporation studied vacuum tube maglev for connecting every major city in america and decided 5000mph hyper sonic speeds would be safe, which is why its called Hyperloop! Air travel actually is only better if it is 1000 + mile trips and it is done at super sonic speeds like concord did.
what about elevated light rails? Wouldn't steel wheels be more efficient?
I have often wondered why we don't run monorails down the median of interstate highways. It seems like it would be relatively cheap to build as opposed to "light rail" which is very expensive and from what I can see (except in the old cities) they are usually near empty.
This video defines light rail in a certain way, but what you describe is not exclusive to monorails. The terms are often difficult to create a standard definition for. For example, Seattle's light rail runs at various levels including: at grade in a separated right of way lane, elevated (some sections next to the I-5 freeway corridor as you suggest), and underground (mostly in downtown). LA's light rail system also has many stations in the median of freeways as far as I understand.
In terms of transit benefits, the difference between Monorail and light rail is not very significant technically speaking since their differences refer to only the track characteristics. Monorail is usually elevated, but light rail does not have to be at grade and can function just as monorail.
Swapping out one for the other is probably not going to save ridership since the issues for ridership in this case are not related to modes. Think about how easy it is to access a freeway station when a freeway is often separated from major dense neighborhoods, and the built environment is not very inviting.
@@matiasgrioni292 yep
Doesnt the Chicago L have that on the Dan Ryan?
The video claims monorails are cheaper to operate in the long run. What studies or evidence are there to support that claim? How do maintenance cost of monorails compare to light rail systems in cold climates with significant snow fall?
The real reason transit planners do not like monorails is the difficulty of track maintenance. "If a section of track needs to be replaced, the entire system needs to be shut down resulting in no service rather than reduced service."
@spikedpsycho you are absolutely right the single most biggest disadvantage of monorails is they can't carry huge loads specially of heavy equipment and goods but they are best people carriers specially in urban areas.
Still to swap out one section of track is a lot quicker than building a new line and how often does a monorail need to change tracks compared to light rail ? It is a lot cheaper to maintain look at the Japan monorail there are videos with cab rides on it ..
Monorail is by far, the better choice, when it comes to solving the transportation problem, throughout the urban and suburban areas, of most major cities, and metropolitan areas... it not only looks (futuristic)ie;cooler, and more attractive, it can be implemented to supplement local Light Rail, and subways, to ease heavy car traffic congestion in these areas, and will also give commuters a better transportation experience, and easier ways to get to and from, wherever they need to go...It's the Monopoly of oil companies, and car manufacturers, that have consciously thwarted the implementation, of great ideas like the Monorail, in major urban areas, to the detriment of commuters, and working-class people...
Old WDW Mark IV monorails sold to Las Vegas in 1991 2:14 4:48 10:48 11:19 11:24 (I am a former WDW Mark VI and IV monorail pilot.)
I could not agree more with this video! I have always thought that monorails were the future of transportation and it's so nice to find somebody who agrees with me!!!
They finally ripped up the Monorail in Sydney. It never really went anywhere. When it was built it should have been planned properly
Rapid KL should extend the line of Kuala Lumpur Monorail as well
agree salute from Malaysia
their condition is terrible
I think monorail systems could be beneficial for the country. For intercity transit Maglev systems would be the best. I have ridden the 19km maglev system in Shanghai. There is something to be said about traveling at 431kph (300kph evenings). Every 15 minutes for almost 14 years.
I totally can tell you, the Monorail Systems in Wuppertal and Dortmund are amazing. The technology was invented here and tested here.The Monorail in Dortmund even is working with a Computer. Nobody controlls it. So they expanded the Tracks and succeeded. Thats why also some airpots here in germany used the Monorail System like in Dortmund. As example Airport Düsseldorf.
monorails are fascinating and I´ve seen a few in Themeparks here in germany. Im really wondering why there are not any of them built as public transportation. (except Wuppertal and Dortmund)
The Ruhr area, to which Dortmund and Wuppertal belonged, were very much industrialized and had a very dense interwoven tram and railway network, that even beat the average top density rail networks in Belgium, such as existed until around 1958. If the river Wupper in Wuppertal is actually a valley with two roads alongside, and both are occupied with streetcars in the streets of companies that don't want to share their space with a competitor... THEN: You must build your tracks OVER the river. And OVER the streets where your competitor runs. How ? Develop a suspended monorail....
I LOVE Monrails! AMAZING video.
What about the carrying capacity?
One of the points not mentioned in the video is how monorails have a significant advantage over light and heavy rail when it comes to maintenance. Take the NYC subway. The tracks are constantly being warped by temperature changes and rail usage. Warped rails are a constant headache and complicated laser systems are needed to make sure they are aligned and safe. Heavy metro also frequently needs to take their lines offline for maintenance to realign and fix their tracks. This is the same for all major metros around the world like the Tokyo metro. Monorails are so much simpler...it's just a slab of concrete or steel...no need to worry about warping.
Also monorails are not affected by snow anywhere near as any other method of travel except aircraft.
can I get monorail in HO gauge?
Anyone who says monorail construction is disruptive compared to light rail has never lived close to a light rail line being installed. Literally the worst of the modes.
All the trains shown are operating in summer weather. I'm in Wisconsin and wonder how these trains would deal with a foot of snow or better yet, two inches of ice on the rail? Especially going up an incline. Also, how do you fix a bad wheel under these things? Fixing a light rail that is at ground level is one thing, fixing a car that is 25 ft. in the air is another.
There are many Alweg-based monorails around the world that continue to operate in snow conditions. Some examples: Tokyo, Tama, Seattle. Some have shovels on the front of the train. I address this at length in my new book 'Monorails: Trains of the Future-Now Arriving.' Wheels are easily changed out at the maintenance/storage facility, and they require far less care than steel wheels. Consider the millions of miles these monorails and others have operated, many at 99.9% reliability.
Ric Trexell Dude it's the same as fixing a jumbo Jet .you don't repair the jet in the air. You build the repair shop at ground level.
I think they use those real tall jacks an no buddy can move and wiggle the jacks.
Years ago Eric Laithwaite suggested the linear induction motor as a way to propel trains. It would probably work well for a monorail since it requires a central rail. Laithwaite's linear induction motor does not depend upon the force of friction between the track and the wheels of the train, so snow and ice on the rail(s) do not affect the tractive effort.
Excellent video, Kim! I wish the region I live in (Waterloo, Ontario) had seen this before selecting light rail for our rapid transit system. They did list it in a selection matrix, but the fields were totally stacked against it/for LRT.
I think the real problem is "infrastructure". Roads and railway road beds are already there. Diesel power for the trains is conveniently available, and the technology is well known.
Not all rails are diesel power. Take example of SEPTA Regional Rail and NJ Transit trains that are electric with overhead wire.
Which company manufactures the rail eg bombardier?
What's the top safe speed for a monorail system? A wider gauge provides greater high-speed stability.
The newer ones can handle 60 mph on straight rail, and they accelerate and brake better than light rail trains. The rail beam widths range from 24" to about 27", but the wrap-around design of the car bodies makes fast riding on even a rail that thin very workable. They could also be set up for linear induction instead of motors on-board the trains (like Vancouver's Skytrain), and that would allow for speeds faster than 60 mph.
They can run at 80-100kmph on straight. They are more stable because sraddle the beam tightly through its wheels so derailments are not there. It's energy consumption however is a matter of further study.
@@floorguy9411 So pretty damm good for cities, not that great for elsewhere.
The monorail in Las Vegas is very nice but expensive and only goes a short distance wish it had more distance it's what Vegas need for the tourists and the locals.
I am a great fan of monorails they are clean electric trains they are above the traffic so you can not worry about being stuck in traffic
The "good example" of a monorail at 7:20 was shutdown in 2013 in Sydney.
We need this in the Boise, Idaho Market to get passengers from Ontario, Oregon to Boise, Idaho quickly and efficiently
Monorails are a great idea, but in the USA, back in the late forties big car Companies got rid of very good electric transit systems in Los Angeles.Even in the Fifties, GM really did not approve of Disney's televised introduction of Disneyland's Monorail because cars were the bread and butter of profits together with petroleium consumption. What!!! an Electric Transit System!!! This is just not acceptable!!! GM, Ford and Chrysler. Just my Opinion.
Gustavo Reyes. The people of Los Angeles got rid of the Red Car by a vote. The SP Railway wanted a bunch of money from the city after letting the Red Car decline badly over thirty years. The SP was known as The Octopus due to its monopoly deals, corruption, scandal and greed.
The Red Car CREATED LA sprawl in the early 1900s not cars (they weren't there yet). The car line existed to sell empty land the Red Car, the SP and the line owner was pitching. By 1950 the streetcars were not able to handle the population growth into these areas and the operator staff was notoriously surley. Cars and freeways solved the problem for a decade or so, then the sheer bulk of people moving into those old sprawl townships overwhelmed it again.
You're gut feeling is more the plot to Roget Rabbit and is a popular conspiracy theory, except that in 1950-70 GM made more money building locomotives than cars. GM-EMD still builds most locomotives and commuter rail in the US and much abroad. Rail helps GM.
America's transport authorities are NOT INTERESTED in convenience for the public(end-users). They are interested ONY in making piles and piles, and yet more piles of MONEY, at the very expense of the public!
I’ve rode the monorail in Las Vegas and it’s amazing.
Also, how DARE Hong Kong government rejected using monorail but street cars???
Hong Kong is not as smart as Shanghai maglevs are safer than electric trains Tokyo has monorails all over Japan we need to impeach Trump and move into the future
Trump use to want have China help build fast trains in America now he hates China why
Nobody wants to have them because it's the right thing to do. It's all about the money .
I am surprised you did not include the Kuala Lumpur system which seems rather extensive from what I have seen in other videos on this site.
This video was made in 2000
I wish that the politicians here in Stockholm would allow monorails because slot of people here would like to get a monorail and it is really needed here in Stockholm
i miss your Sydney monorail now =[
0:35 Buses are stuck in traffic because there aren't any dedicated bus lanes for them to take in most cities. 0:38-0:48 They are expensive but far more efficient to build.
A maglev monorail would be cool, because you wouldn't have a tire intruding into the passenger compartment.
True
Also, it produces no pollutants and is VERY reliable. It uses magnets to make the train move and they can go insanely fast. I've heard of test prototypes easily cracking the 300 mph barrier! They unfortunately run at reduced speeds to prevent excessive wear/tear on the tracks when going through a sharp corner. I don't understand why big open states like Montana and Texas have no monorails.
Wow!
Very interesting
Thanks
Chongqing has the first medium speed maglev monorail.In the Island of Mindanoa,Philippines.China is building a system to cover the whole Island.
Wow so the first monorail intoduce from japan!! I'm from Malaysia capital is Kuala Lumpur (KL monorail) 2003 with okinawa which country?? I thinks Singapore first use monorail but Malaysia first at south east asia :3 very proud!!!
The Sydney Monorail (Australia) was removed and a "Light Rail System" was put into the city. Says quite a bit in regard to the forward thinking and intelligence of the city councils...
the choise is clear, and it is CGI!!!
RUclips suggestions brought me from gaming videos to Monorails :P
I guess yeah I do agree that for traveling within cities and steep areas monorails do seem like a cleaner, cheaper and tidier solution. Traditional rail's more suited for long travel.
They never seem to travel very fast though (Shaghai Transrapid Maglev excepted). The Shonan suspended monorail seems to be a really good system with their bogies (and pantograph) running in an enclosed guideway. It even has tunnels!
i love using these systems in Cities:Skyline
Cliff Leigh
>... with their bogies (and pantograph) running in an enclosed guideway.
This would be a very good decisions for north cities with heavy snow storms in winter
All ground transport blocked by snow and MonoRail works
Why not monorail? It would be half price because only one track is needed.
Tokyo's airport monorail is the largest, busiest and most profitable of any monorail. Ultra high speed meglev is always monorail.
Some Maglevs are not Monorails
Well the SC maglev from Japan isn't but basically every other Maglev is and honestly I would say Maglev is one of the best choices for an express city service. Like let's say you build a Maglev from the southern tip of Manhattan to the northern tip of Manhattan with a stop about every 1-3 miles. I mean IMO that's a pretty good solution to get people around quickly in a metropolis.
No, it's not. The Japan Maglev is not on a monorail, but in a tube like environment, with a flat bottom for the rubber tires, which speed up the trains until they reach 160 km/h, then the maglev begins to levitate on its own :D
The only type of Maglev that looks like a monorail is an electromagnetic suspension (EMS).
I think were getting a monorail here in LA that connects Sofi/Forum to the Crenshaw line. Hell yeah dude.
Greetings again! Any plans to do an updated video reflecting the latest systems in place (including Chongqing, Daegu, and Sao Paulo) along with the advance technologies available including complete automation, radio-based CBTC (Communication-Based Train Control), and Linear Motors?
+ostkkfmhtsh012345678 No plans for new videos immediately, I've spent the last 20 years concentrating on publishing my book. That finally happened and it's now available: www.monorails.org/tMspages/book.html All my time now is devoted to promoting monorails through the book. I may get back to producing more monorail videos at some point however, I have ideas! That said, there are a lot of videos of newer monorails made by monorails, most of which are linked through our Monorail Society facebook page. Thanks.
How long did it took you to produce this, and what was the budget?
Excellent video. Thank you.
Aren’t monorails more expensive than overground trains to build?
Strike Sydney, and now Broad-beach... Sydney extending their Light rail...trying to catch up with Melbourne... which never removed it's trams....
Sydney doesn't need trams, trams suck. They stop at every traffic light.
There is no reason, why traditional railways can't be elevated. What the narrator says, has nothing to do with monorail or bi-rail. In Berlin they experimented with a train system, moved by magnets and not touching the tracks, this wasn't monorail, but similar design.
There are many examples of elevated railways around the world past and present, New York and Liverpool both have or had famous elevated railways. But due the nature of convential elevated railways they take up more airspace and make street below dark. Becasue of the silm nature of the monorail track the street below gets much more light.
Elevated railways are loud, big, WAAAAYYYY too expensive, useless, ugly, and personally the majority, normal person just hates the look, speed, reliability, expenses, and noise pollution it creates around their home town. Monorail is *QUIET,* cheap (it makes a profit a lot of times), good-looking and faster.
Yeah there is, elevated railroads are ugly and noisy.
You can't beat a good metro system but I can see monorails are good for tourist areas. I think the columns and rails of a monorail can look a bit ugly sometimes.
Don't quote Sydney's Monorail as a good example. It went nowhere, and was too expensive for what it was. There is a reason why we're removing it. Also, there is no "downtown" Sydney. Otherwise a good idea
Ooch. So much for the monorail promotion. Too bad, though.. It obviously developed to be a toy thing, and early or late they have to go.
sydney monorail is abandoned. some of the tracks are used to sydney metro construction and the monorail carraiges (all) are not scrapped at all.
Sydney was smart to get rid of those toys .
good.
One thing you missed out was that with the application of maglev technology - monorails can outperform traditional intercity rail. More expensive to build, but as it is contactless technology, a lot quieter and far lower energy consumption. Not to mention how fast they can go...
Thanks for your comment. Note the video is quite dated at this point (produced in 2000). Personally speaking, I see maglevs as better suited for longer distance travel, where the speed advantages can be taken advantage of. Currently urban maglevs have what I perceive as gigantic guideways, especially compared to monorails. Gigantic guideways aren't exactly environment friendly, for both aesthetic reasons (folks don't like elevated track to begin with, even worse the bigger they are) and materials useage (far more resources/materials used to make gigantic guideways). Hopefully future maglev technology for urban applications will feature smaller guideways, such as the proposed SkyTran system.
Thanks for the vid a bit out dated but still interesting. It is a shame about the ones in Sydney and the Gold coast but they are long gone now. It seems people weren't using them much as they were quite slow I think.
I can only see one solution to our transport urban and inter city, it is a monorail of sorts but not like these heavy lumbering old beasts. Perhaps you have heard of it it is called Skytran also was called Unimodal at some point in the past. If they can get it off the ground it will negate the need for 90% of cars on the road,,,, ok I just made that statistic up but it would be totally revolutionary. Please check it out and tell me what you think.
www.google.co.uk/search?q=skytran&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&ei=OeQXWOPTN4Hc8AftwqKwDg
Problem with PRT systems is with no human operators to monitor passengers they are highly vulnerable to vandalism. This would seriously increase cost in the areas where mass transit is most needed.
Sadly, the British Government will never fund something like this.
You sure about that definition of light and heavy rail? XD
A D 2class tram in melbourne weighs 35.3 metric tonnes for the entire 4 section Tram.
The older, Comeng 3 car EMU's used by the Melbourne rail network weigh 141 metric tonnes each for the 3 car unit as a whole. Similarly, most 'heavy rail' trains I've ever found information on are in the region of 30-40 tons per carriage, and anything from 80-150 for a locomotive. (powered carriages being somewhere in the middle.)
An entire tram is comparable in weight to a a single passenger carriage in my experience.
Not to mention that officially, the designation of 'light rail' vs 'heavy rail', as far as I recall is related to the weight of the rails themselves, with heavier, stronger rails in use on 'heavy rail' installations...
Ah well. Whatever.
I used to ride a monorail back in the 1960s... at Disneyland !
because there is no international standard for track. There are really only proprietary systems that don't separate proprietary guideways from proprietary rolling stock. Also, monorail tracks are a nightmare for switching, unless the monorail is SAFEGE type, but SAFEGE type guideways pose complication for support pylons and station design. Just build conventional rail.. or a téléferico :D. Monorails make sense for high-capacity transit with easy construction through/over existing infrastructure without need worry of connecting with conventional rail or using existing rolling stock, and easy slope tackling: Chongqing monorail; São Paulo;
I think lots of urban downtown places should have monorails!
I like monorails 🚝😀
Miami's Metrorail (elevated light rail) was and is a massive white elephant costing way too much $$, taking up too much room, is loud and fugly. Miami should have built a Disney-style mono that masses of people would actually use . . .
Miami's Metrorail was routed where the politicians wanted it to go, not where the passengers wanted it to go.
I should have thought 'Follow the money' each time I asked myself the question over the past half century whilst I was stuck in any kind of traffic, why monorail hadn't taken over world transportation. I've used monorail in Disney-world and it seemed an obvious solution to me. As is often the case... less $ - more $. Meanwhile, we all suffer. Sad!