mono
Mono may refer to:
Common meanings
* Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease"
* Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono
* Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single
Music Performers
* Mono (Japanese b ...
", meaning "one", and "
rail
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' ( ...
") is a
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam.
Colloquially
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...
, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of
elevated rail
An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train for short) is a rapid transit railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concrete, or bricks ...
or
people mover
A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...
. More accurately, the term refers to the style of
track
Track or Tracks may refer to:
Routes or imprints
* Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity
* Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across
* Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
.The term "track" is used here for simplicity. Technically the monorail sits on or is suspended from a guideway containing a singular structure. There is an additional generally accepted rule that the support for the car be narrower than the car.
Etymology
The term possibly comes from 1897, from German engineer
Eugen Langen
Carl Eugen Langen (9 October 1833 in Cologne – 2 October 1895 in Elsdorf) was a German entrepreneur, engineer and inventor, involved in the development of the petrol engine and the Wuppertal Suspension Railway. In 1857 he worked in his father ...
Monorails have found applications in airport transfer and medium capacity metros. To differentiate monorails from other transport modes, the Monorail Society defines a monorail as a "single rail serving as a track for passenger or freight vehicles. In most cases rail is elevated, but monorails can also run at
grade
Grade most commonly refers to:
* Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance
* Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage
* Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope
Grade or grading may also ref ...
, below grade or in subway tunnels. Vehicles either are suspended from or straddle a narrow guide way. Monorail vehicles are wider than the guide way that supports them.”
Similarities
Monorails are often elevated, sometimes leading to confusion with other elevated systems such as the
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Londo ...
,
Vancouver SkyTrain
SkyTrain is the medium-capacity rapid transit system in the Metro Vancouver Regional District, serving Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. SkyTrain has of track and uses fully automated trains on grade-separated tracks running on underground ...
, the
AirTrain JFK
AirTrain JFK is an elevated people mover system and airport rail link serving John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport) in New York City. The driverless system operates 24/7 and consists of three lines and nine stations within the ...
and cable propelled systems like the Cable Liner people mover which run on two rails.
Monorail vehicles often appear similar to light rail vehicles, and can be staffed or unstaffed. They can be individual rigid vehicles, articulated single units, or multiple units coupled into trains. Like other advanced rapid transit systems, monorails can be driven by
linear induction motor
A linear induction motor (LIM) is an alternating current (AC), asynchronous linear motor that works by the same general principles as other induction motors but is typically designed to directly produce motion in a straight line. Characteristic ...
s; like conventional railways, vehicle bodies can be connected to the beam via
bogie
A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...
s, allowing curves to be negotiated.
Monorails are in use urban areas alongside conventional parallel railed metro systems.
Mumbai Monorail
MMRDA Mumbai Monorail is an monorail system in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, built as part of a major expansion of public transport in Mumbai, public transport in the city. The project was implemented and is currently operated by the ...
serves alongside
Mumbai Metro
The Mumbai Metro is a rapid transit (MRT) system serving the city of Mumbai and the wider Mumbai Metropolitan Region in Maharashtra, India.Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority is responsible authority for maintaining the metro system ...
, while monorail lines are integrated with conventional rail lines in Bangkok's
BTS Skytrain
The Bangkok Mass Transit System, commonly known as the BTS Skytrain ( th, รถไฟฟ้าบีทีเอส '' TS'), is an elevated rapid transit system in Bangkok, Thailand. It is operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System PCL (BTSC), a ...
network.
Differences
Unlike some
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
s and light rail systems, modern monorails are always separated from other traffic and pedestrians due to the geometry of the rail. They are both guided and supported via interaction with the same single beam, in contrast to other guided systems like
rubber-tyred metro
A rubber-tyred metro or rubber-tired metro is a form of rapid transit system that uses a mix of road and rail technology. The vehicles have wheels with rubber tires that run on rolling pads inside guide bars for traction, as well as traditional ...
s, the
Sapporo Municipal Subway
The is a mostly-underground rubber-tyred rapid transit system in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Operated by the Sapporo City Transportation Bureau, it is the only subway system on the island of Hokkaido.
Lines
The system consists of three lines: ...
; or
guided bus
Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of schedules even during rush hours. Unlike trolleybuses or rubber-tired tra ...
es or trams, such as
Translohr
Translohr is a rubber-tired tramway (or guided bus) system, originally developed by Lohr Industrie of France and now run by a consortium of Alstom Transport and Fonds stratégique d'investissement (FSI) as '' newTL,'' which took over from Lo ...
. Monorails do not use pantographs.
From the passenger's perspective, monorails can have some advantages over trains, buses, and automobiles. As with other grade-separated transit systems, monorails avoid red lights, intersection turns, and traffic jams. Surface-level trains, buses, automobiles, and pedestrians can collide each one with the other, while vehicles on dedicated, grade-separated rights-of-way such as monorails can collide only with other vehicles on the same system, with much fewer opportunities for collision. As with other elevated transit systems, monorail passengers enjoy sunlight and views and by watching for familiar landmarks, they can know better when to get off to reach their destinations. Monorails can be quieter than diesel buses and trains. They obtain electricity from the track structure, eliminating costly and, to many people, unsightly overhead power lines and poles. Compared to the elevated train systems of New York, Chicago and elsewhere, a monorail beamway casts a narrow shadow. (''See '
Chicago "L"
The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the fourth-largest rapid tr ...
' '')
Maglev
Under the Monorail Society's beam-width criterion, some, but not all,
maglev
Maglev (derived from '' magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage ...
systems are considered monorails, such as the
Transrapid
Transrapid is a German-developed high-speed monorail train using magnetic levitation. Planning for the Transrapid system started in 1969 with a test facility for the system in Emsland, Germany completed in 1987. In 1991, technical readi ...
and
Linimo
, formally the is a magnetic levitation train line in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, near the city of Nagoya. While primarily built to serve the Expo 2005 fair site, the line now operates to serve the local community.
Linimo is owned and operated by ...
. Maglevs differ from other monorails in that they do not physically contact the beam while moving.
History
Early years
The first monorail prototype was made in Russia in 1820 by
Ivan Elmanov
Ivan Kirillovich Elmanov (russian: Иван Кириллович Эльманов) was a Russian inventor. During 1820 in Myachkovo, near Moscow, he built a type of monorail described as a road on pillars. The single rail was made of timber balks r ...
. Attempts at creating monorail alternatives to conventional
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
s have been made since the early part of the 19th century.
The
Centennial Monorail
General Roy Stone's Centennial Monorail was demonstrated at the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the U.S., which was held in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Dec ...
was featured at the
Centennial Exposition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...
in Philadelphia in 1876. Based on its design the
Bradford and Foster Brook Railway
The Bradford & Foster Brook Railway was one of the earliest, if not the first, monorails in United States, America. Inspired by a working demonstration of the Centennial Monorail at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, Col. Roy Stone th ...
was built in 1877 and ran for one year from January 1878 until January 1879.
Around 1879 a "one-rail" system was proposed independently by Haddon and by Stringfellow, which used an inverted "V" rail (and thus shaped like "Λ" in cross-section). It was intended for military use, but was also seen to have civilian use as a "cheap railway." Similarly, one of the first systems put into practical use was that of French engineer Charles Lartigue, who built a line between Ballybunion and Listowel in Ireland, opened in 1888 and lasting 36 years, being closed in 1924 (due to damage from Ireland's Civil War). It used a load-bearing single rail and two lower, external rails for balance, the three carried on triangular supports. It was cheap to construct but tricky to operate. Possibly the first monorail locomotive was a
0-3-0
0-3-0 is a type of wheel arrangement for a monorail steam locomotive.
History
This most unusual wheel arrangement was only used for specialised monorails.
Listowel and Ballybunion Railway
The Lartigue Monorail locomotives used on the Listowel ...
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
on this line. A high-speed monorail using the Lartigue system was proposed in 1901 between Liverpool and Manchester.
The
Boynton Bicycle Railroad
The Boynton Bicycle Railroad was a monorail in Brooklyn on Long Island, New York. It ran on a single load-bearing rail at ground level, but with a wooden overhead stabilising rail engaged by a pair of horizontally opposed wheels. The railway ...
was a steam-powered monorail in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. It ran on a single load-bearing rail at ground level, but with a wooden overhead stabilising rail engaged by a pair of horizontally opposed wheels. The railway operated for only two years beginning in 1890.
The
Hotchkiss Bicycle Railroad
The Hotchkiss Bicycle Railroad was a purpose-built monorail on which a matching bicycle could be ridden. It was invented by Arthur Hotchkiss, and the first example was built between Smithville and Mount Holly, New Jersey, in 1892.
It closed in ...
was a monorail on which a matching pedal
bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bic ...
could be ridden. The first example was built between Smithville and Mount Holly, New Jersey, in 1892. It closed in 1897. Other examples were built in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
from 1895 to 1909,
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...
, and
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
, UK from 1896.
1900s–1950s
Early designs used a double-
flange
A flange is a protruded ridge, lip or rim (wheel), rim, either external or internal, that serves to increase shear strength, strength (as the flange of an iron beam (structure), beam such as an I-beam or a T-beam); for easy attachment/transfer of ...
d single metal rail alternative to the double rail of conventional railways, both guiding and supporting the monorail car. A surviving suspended version is the oldest still in service system: the Wuppertal monorail in Germany. Also in the early 1900s,
Gyro monorail
The gyro monorail, gyroscopic monorail, gyro-stabilized monorail, or gyrocar are terms for a single rail land vehicle that uses the gyroscopic action of a spinning wheel to overcome the inherent instability of balancing on top of a single rail.
...
s with cars gyroscopically balanced on top of a single rail were tested, but never developed beyond the prototype stage. The
Ewing System
The Ewing System is a balancing monorail system developed in the late 19th century by British inventor W. J. Ewing. It is not to be confused with the much later system patented by Robert W. Ewing.
In the Ewing System the main wheels of the trai ...
, used in the
Patiala State Monorail Trainways
Patiala State Monorail Trainways (PSMT) was a unique rail-guided, partially road-borne railway system running in Patiala from 1907 to 1927. PSMT was the second monorail system in India, after the Kundala Valley Railway, near Munnar in Kerala, an ...
in
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, relies on a hybrid model with a load-bearing single rail and an external wheel for balance. A highspeed monorail using the Lartigue system was proposed in 1901 between Liverpool and Manchester.
In 1910, the Brennangyroscopic monorail was considered for use to a coal mine in Alaska. In June 1920, the French Patent Office published FR 503782, by Henri Coanda, on a 'Transporteur Aérien' -Air Carrier.
The first half of the 20th century saw many further proposed designs that either never left the drawing board or remained short-lived prototypes. One of the first monorails planned in the United States was in New York City in the early 1930s, scrubbed for an elevated train system.
1950s–1980s
In the latter half of the 20th century, monorails had settled on using larger beam- or girder-based track, with vehicles supported by one set of wheels and guided by another. In the 1950s, a 40% scale prototype of a system designed for speed of on straight stretches and on curves was built in Germany. There were designs with vehicles supported, suspended or cantilevered from the beams. In the 1950s the
ALWEG
Alweg was a transportation company based in Germany known for pioneering straddle-beam monorails.
History
Alweg was founded by Swedish industrial magnate Dr. Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren in January 1953 as Alweg-Forschung, GmbH (Alweg Research Cor ...
straddle design emerged, followed by an updated suspended type, the
SAFEGE SAFEGE is an acronym for the French consortium ''Société Anonyme Française d' Etude de Gestion et d' Entreprises'' ( en, French Limited Company for the Study of Management and Business) and is pronounced in English.
Company
The consortium, cons ...
system. Versions of ALWEG's technology are used by the two largest monorail manufacturers,
Hitachi Monorail
The Hitachi Monorail System refers to the family of monorails offered by Hitachi Rail.
List of notable Hitachi monorails
Hitachi's designs are ALWEG-based, and are available in three configurations:
All Hitachi trains except those on Japan's ol ...
and Bombardier.
In 1956, the first monorail to operate in the US began test operations in Houston, Texas.
Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
in
Anaheim
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, opened the United States' first daily operating monorail system in 1959. Later during this period, additional
monorails
A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and "rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam.
Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, ...
were installed at
Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...
in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
,
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, and in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Monorails were promoted as futuristic technology with exhibition installations and amusement park purchases, as seen by the legacy systems in use today. However, monorails gained little foothold compared to conventional transport systems. In March 1972, Alejandro Goicoechea-Omar had patent DE1755198 published, on a 'Vertebrate Train', build as experimental track in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
Niche private enterprise uses for monorails emerged, with the emergence of
air travel
Air travel is a form of travel in vehicles such as airplanes, jet aircraft, helicopters, hot air balloons, blimps, gliders, hang gliders, parachutes, or anything else that can sustain flight.
and
shopping mall
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
s, with shuttle-type systems being built.
Perceptions of monorail as public transport
From 1950 to 1980, the monorail concept may have suffered, as with all public transport systems, from competition with the
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...
suburbanization
Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urba ...
and the
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
. Monorails in particular may have suffered from the reluctance of public transit authorities to invest in the perceived high cost of un-proven technology when faced with cheaper mature alternatives. There were also many competing monorail technologies, splitting their case further. One notable example of a public monorail is the AMF Monorail that was used as transportation around the 1964-1965 World's Fair.
This high-cost perception was challenged most notably in 1963 when the ALWEG consortium proposed to finance the construction of a major system in
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...
in return for the right of operation. This was turned down by the
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States.
History
On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their first ...
under pressure from
Standard Oil of California Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object th ...
and
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
(which were strong advocates for
automobile dependency
Car dependency is the concept that some city layouts cause cars to be favoured over alternate forms of transportation, such as bicycles, public transit, and walking.
Overview
In many modern cities, automobiles are convenient and sometimes nec ...
), and the later subway system faced criticism by famed author
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
as it had yet to reach the scale of the proposed monorail.
Several monorails initially conceived as transport systems survive on revenues generated from
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
, benefiting from the unique views offered from the largely elevated installations.
Recent history
From the 1980s, most monorail mass transit systems are in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, with a few exceptions.
Tokyo Monorail
The , officially the , is a straddle-beam, Alweg-type monorail line in Tokyo, Japan. It is an airport rail link that connects Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) to Tokyo's Ōta, Shinagawa, and Minato wards. The line serves 11 stations betwee ...
, is one of the world's busiest, averages 127,000 passengers per day and has served over 1.5 billion passengers since 1964. China recently started development of monorails in the late 2000s, already home to the world's largest and busiest monorail system and has a number of mass transit monorails under construction in several of cities. A
Bombardier Innovia Monorail
Innovia Monorail is a fully automated and driverless monorail system currently manufactured and marketed by Alstom as part of its Innovia series of fully automated transportation systems. Its straddle-beam design is based on the ALWEG monorail ...
-based system is under construction in
Wuhu
Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei city to the northwest, Ma'anshan ...
and several "Cloudrail" systems developed by BYD under construction a number of cities such as
Guang'an
Guang'an () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Sichuan province. It is most famous as the birthplace of China's former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. Guang'an lies between the hills of central Sichuan and the gorges area of the east.Guang'an ...
,
Liuzhou
Liuzhou (; , IPA Pronunciation:) is a prefecture-level city in north-central Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. The prefecture's population was 3,758,700 in 2010, including 1,436,599 in the built-up area made of 4 urban ...
,
Bengbu
Bengbu () is a city in northern Anhui Province, China. Its population was 3,296,408 registered residents at the 2020 census. 1,968,027 lived in the built-up area made of four Bengbu urban districts and Fengyang County in Chuzhou Prefecture, large ...
and
Guilin
Guilin ( Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''; alternatively romanized as Kweilin) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the west bank of the Li River and borders Hunan to the nort ...
. Monorails have seen continuing use in niche shuttle markets and amusement parks.
Modern mass transit monorail systems use developments of the ALWEG beam and tire approach, with only two suspended types in large use. Monorail configurations have also been adopted by
maglev train
Maglev (derived from ''magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage ...
s. Since the 2000s, with the rise of traffic congestion and urbanization, there has been a resurgence of interest in the technology for
public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
with a number of cities, such as
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
and
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, today investigating monorails as a possible mass transit solution.
In 2004,
Chongqing Rail Transit
The Chongqing Rail Transit (branded as CRT; also known as Chongqing Metro) is the rapid transit system in the city of Chongqing, China. In operation since 2005, it serves the transportation needs of the city's main business and entertainment ...
in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
adopted a unique ALWEG-based design with rolling stock that is much wider than most monorails, with capacity comparable to
heavy rail
Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas:
Rapid transit
A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid accelerati ...
. This is because
Chongqing
Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
is criss-crossed by numerous hills, mountains and rivers, therefore tunneling is not feasible except in some cases (for example, lines 1 and 6) due to the extreme depth involved. Today it is the largest and busiest monorail system in the world.
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
is building two high capacity monorail lines as part of its public transportation network. Line 15 was partially opened in 2014, will be long when completed in 2022 and has a capacity of 40,000
pphpd
Passengers per hour per direction (p/h/d), passengers per hour in peak direction (pphpd) or corridor capacity is a measure of the route capacity of a rapid transit or public transport system.
Definition
The corridor capacity in the passenger tr ...
using
Bombardier Innovia Monorail
Innovia Monorail is a fully automated and driverless monorail system currently manufactured and marketed by Alstom as part of its Innovia series of fully automated transportation systems. Its straddle-beam design is based on the ALWEG monorail ...
trains.Line 17 will be long and is using the BYD SkyRail design. Other significant monorail systems are under construction such as two lines for the
Cairo Monorail
The Cairo Monorail ( ar, مونوريل القاهرة) is a two-line monorail rapid transit system currently under construction in Cairo, Egypt, which will be the longest driverless monorail system in the world. The two lines will create the fir ...
, two lines for the
MRT (Bangkok)
The Metropolitan Rapid Transit or MRT is a mass rapid transit system serving the Bangkok Metropolitan Region in Thailand. The MRT system comprises two rapid transit lines, with a further three lines (one rapid transit line and two monorail lines) ...
and the
SkyRail Bahia
SkyRail Bahia is a proposed monorail system serving Salvador, Bahia in Brazil. Upon completion, Salvador will become the second Brazilian city to be served by a monorail line after São Paulo's Line 15.
Background
The Salvador Metro opened in 2 ...
in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
Types and technical aspects
Modern monorails depend on a large solid beam as the vehicles' running surface. There are a number of competing designs divided into two broad classes, ''straddle-beam'' and ''suspended'' monorails. The most common type is the straddle-beam, in which the train straddles a
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
or
reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...
beam wide. A
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
-
tire
A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
d carriage contacts the beam on the top and both sides for traction and to stabilize the vehicle. The style was popularized by the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
company
ALWEG
Alweg was a transportation company based in Germany known for pioneering straddle-beam monorails.
History
Alweg was founded by Swedish industrial magnate Dr. Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren in January 1953 as Alweg-Forschung, GmbH (Alweg Research Cor ...
. There is also a historical type of '' suspension monorail'' developed by German inventors
Nicolaus Otto
Nicolaus August Otto (10 June 1832, Holzhausen an der Haide, Nassau – 26 January 1891, Cologne) was a German engineer who successfully developed the compressed charge internal combustion engine which ran on petroleum gas and led to the mode ...
and
Eugen Langen
Carl Eugen Langen (9 October 1833 in Cologne – 2 October 1895 in Elsdorf) was a German entrepreneur, engineer and inventor, involved in the development of the petrol engine and the Wuppertal Suspension Railway. In 1857 he worked in his father ...
in the 1880s. It was built in the twin cities of Barmen and Elberfeld in Wuppertal, Germany, opened in 1901, and is still in operation. The
Chiba Urban Monorail
The is a two-line suspended monorail system located in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is owned and operated by , a so-called " third-sector" company established on March 20, 1979. Investors include the city of Chiba.
The first segment ...
is the world's largest suspended network.
Power
Almost all modern monorails are powered by
electric motor
An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...
s fed by dual
third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...
s, contact wires or electrified channels attached to or enclosed in their guidance beams, but diesel-powered monorail systems also exist. Historically some systems, such as the
Lartigue Monorail
The Lartigue Monorail system was developed by the French engineer Charles Lartigue (1834–1907). He further developed a horse drawn monorail system, which had been invented by Henry Robinson Palmer in 1821.
Lartigue had seen camels in Algeri ...
, used steam locomotives.
Magnetic levitation
Magnetic levitation train
Maglev (derived from ''magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage ...
(maglev) systems such as the German
Transrapid
Transrapid is a German-developed high-speed monorail train using magnetic levitation. Planning for the Transrapid system started in 1969 with a test facility for the system in Emsland, Germany completed in 1987. In 1991, technical readi ...
were built as straddle-type monorails. The Shanghai Maglev Train runs in commercial operation at , and there are also slower maglev monorails intended for urban transport in Japan (
Linimo
, formally the is a magnetic levitation train line in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, near the city of Nagoya. While primarily built to serve the Expo 2005 fair site, the line now operates to serve the local community.
Linimo is owned and operated by ...
), Korea (
Incheon Airport Maglev
The Incheon Airport Maglev is a Maglev (transport), maglev line in South Korea opened on 3 February 2016. It is the world's second commercially operating unmanned urban maglev line after Japan's Linimo. The trains are lighter, cutting construc ...
Changsha Maglev Express
The Changsha Maglev Express () is a medium-low speed magnetic levitation, or ''maglev'' line in Changsha, China. This is China's second maglev line, after Shanghai Maglev, and the first domestically built maglev line that uses indigenous techno ...
). However, it is argued that the larger width of the
guideway
An automated guideway transit (AGT) or automated fixed-guideway transit or automatic guideway transit system is a type of fixed guideway transit infrastructure with a riding or suspension track that supports and physically guides one or more dr ...
for the maglevs makes it not legitimate to be called monorails.
Switching
Some early monorails (notably the
suspended monorail
A suspension railway is a form of elevated monorail in which the vehicle is suspended from a fixed track (as opposed to a cable used in aerial tramways), which is built above streets, waterways, or existing railway track.
History
Experimental d ...
at
Wuppertal
Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
) have a design that makes it difficult to switch from one line to another. Some other monorails avoid switching as much as possible by operating in a continuous loop or between two fixed stations, as in the
Seattle Center Monorail
The Seattle Center Monorail is an elevated straddle-beam monorail line in Seattle, Washington, United States. The monorail runs along 5th Avenue between Seattle Center and Westlake Center in Downtown Seattle, making no intermediate stops. ...
.
Current monorails are capable of more efficient switching than in the past. With suspended monorails, switching may be accomplished by moving flanges inside the beamway to shift trains to one line or another.
Straddle-beam monorails require that the beam moves for switching, which was an almost prohibitively ponderous procedure. Now the most common way of achieving this is to place a moving apparatus on top of a sturdy platform capable of bearing the weight of vehicles, beams and its own mechanism. Multiple-segmented beams move into place on rollers to smoothly align one beam with another to send the train in its desired direction, with the design originally developed by ALWEG capable of completing a switch in 12 seconds. Some of these beam turnouts are quite elaborate, capable of switching between several beams or simulating a
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
double-crossover. Vehicle specifications are generally not open to the public, as is standard for rolling stock built for public services
An alternative to using a wye or other form of switch, is to use a
turntable
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
, where a car sits upon a section of track that can be reoriented to several different tracks. For example, this can be used to switch a car from being in a storage location, to being on the main line. The now-closed
Sydney Monorail
The Sydney Monorail (originally TNT Harbourlink and later Metro Monorail) was a single-loop monorail in Sydney, Australia, that connected Darling Harbour, Chinatown and the Sydney central business and shopping districts. It opened in July 1988 ...
had a traverser at the depot, which allowed a train on the main line to be exchanged with another from the depot. There were about six lines in the depot, including one for maintenance.
Grades
Rubber-tired monorails are typically designed to cope with a 6%
grade
Grade most commonly refers to:
* Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance
* Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage
* Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope
Grade or grading may also ref ...
. Rubber-tired light rail or metro lines can cope with similar or greater grades - for example, the
Montreal Metro
The Montreal Metro (french: Métro de Montréal) is a rubber-tired underground rapid transit system serving Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The metro, operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), was inaugurated on October 14, ...
up to 6.5%, while
VAL
Val may refer to: Val-a
Film
* ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo
Military equipment
* Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies
* AS Val, a Sov ...
systems can handle 7% grades.
Monorail systems
Manufacturers of monorail rolling stock with operating systems include
Hitachi Monorail
The Hitachi Monorail System refers to the family of monorails offered by Hitachi Rail.
List of notable Hitachi monorails
Hitachi's designs are ALWEG-based, and are available in three configurations:
All Hitachi trains except those on Japan's ol ...
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...
(now
Alstom
Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
), PBTS (a joint venture of
CRRC Nanjing Puzhen
CRRC Nanjing Puzhen () is a Chinese railway rolling stock manufacturer, based in Puzhen, Nanjing city. It is a subsidiary of CRRC. Nanjing Puzhen has supplied trains to Shanghai Metro Line 3 and Nanjing Metro in partnership with Alstom.
India ...
& Bombardier),
Intamin
Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein. It is best known for creating thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement ins ...
and EMTC.
Other developers include
CRRC Qingdao Sifang
CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer based in Qingdao, Shandong province. Founded in 1900 during the German occupation, Qingdao Sifang is one of the oldest rolling stock manufacturers in China.
History
Qing ...
SkyWay Group
SkyWay Group is an self-proclaimed investment group based in Minsk, Belarus. In 2018, financial regulators in Germany, Lithuania, and five other countries warned that SkyWay "is not registered as a financial services provider and therefore, is no ...
.
Records
*Busiest line:
Line 3, Chongqing Rail Transit
CRT Line 3 (and the branch line branded as Konggang line) runs from north to south, linking the districts separated by Chongqing's two main rivers, the Yangtze (Chang Jiang) and Jialing rivers. Built by Japan's ODA project, it uses Hitachi, ...
, 682,800 passengers per day (2014 Daily Avg.)
*Largest system:
Chongqing Rail Transit
The Chongqing Rail Transit (branded as CRT; also known as Chongqing Metro) is the rapid transit system in the city of Chongqing, China. In operation since 2005, it serves the transportation needs of the city's main business and entertainment ...
(Lines 2 & 3),
*Longest straddle-beam line:
Line 3, Chongqing Rail Transit
CRT Line 3 (and the branch line branded as Konggang line) runs from north to south, linking the districts separated by Chongqing's two main rivers, the Yangtze (Chang Jiang) and Jialing rivers. Built by Japan's ODA project, it uses Hitachi, ...
, , or if the Jurenba branch is included
*Largest suspended system:
Chiba Urban Monorail
The is a two-line suspended monorail system located in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is owned and operated by , a so-called " third-sector" company established on March 20, 1979. Investors include the city of Chiba.
The first segment ...
Schwebebahn Wuppertal
The Wuppertaler Schwebebahn ("Wuppertal Suspension Railway") is a suspension railway in Wuppertal, Germany.
Its original name was ("Eugen Langen Monorail Overhead Conveyor System"). It is the oldest electric elevated railway with hanging cars ...
, 1901
In popular culture
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more tha ...
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
's novel ''
Fahrenheit 451
''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. Often regarded as one of his best works, ''Fahrenheit 451'' presents an American society where books have been personified and outlawed and "firemen" burn any that ar ...
'' contains suspended monorail exterior scenes filmed at the French
SAFEGE SAFEGE is an acronym for the French consortium ''Société Anonyme Française d' Etude de Gestion et d' Entreprises'' ( en, French Limited Company for the Study of Management and Business) and is pronounced in English.
Company
The consortium, cons ...
test track in
Châteauneuf-sur-Loire
Châteauneuf-sur-Loire () is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.
Population
Twin towns
* Amarante, Portugal
* Bad Laasphe, Germany
See also
* Communes of the Loiret department
The following is the list of the 325 c ...
near
Orléans
Orléans (;"Orleans" (US) and Thunderbirds'' February 1966 episode " Brink of Disaster" is about the financing and building of a high speed driverless cross-country monorail project. Two of the Thunderbirds find themselves trapped on board the a monorail train, and with no possibility of escape, when it is discovered it is speeding towards a stricken bridge.
The James Bond film franchise features monorails in three movies, all belonging to the villain. In '' You Only Live Twice'' (1967) there is a working ground level monorail inside the SPECTRE volcano base. The principal actors ride the monorail during the film. In 1973's '' Live and Let Die'' in the villain's lair on the fictional Caribbean island of San Monique a prop monorail is shown and in the 1977 '' The Spy Who Loved Me'' there is another working monorail on the villain's ''supertanker'' (submarine dock).
In 1987,
Lego
Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...
released a monorail among the ''Futuron''
Space
Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...
line. Despite being the most expensive Lego set of its time (due to being massive and including electrical elements), it was very popular, with Lego releasing a ''
Town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
'' themed monorail in 1990 and another Space monorail in 1994 among the ''Unitron'' line, as well as additional track. The monorail system was also prominent in the unreleased ''Seatron'' Space line and prototype ''
Wild West
The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
'' sets. Its popularity has still endured over thirty years later, where Lego has paid homage in promotional sets and fans have manufactured compatible components.
The fourth season of the American animated television show ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
impulsively purchases a faulty monorail from a con man at a wildly inflated price. The Monorail Society, an organization with 14,000 members worldwide, has blamed the episode for sullying the reputation of monorails, to which ''Simpsons'' creator
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...
responded "That's a by-product of our viciousness...Monorails are great, so it makes me sad, but at the same time if something's going to happen in The Simpsons, it's going to go wrong, right?"
The 2005 feature film ''
Batman Begins
''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan and written by Nolan and David S. Goyer. The film is based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, with Michael Caine, Liam ...
'' features a monorail, constructed by Bruce Wayne's father through Gotham City, that is part of the climax of the film. The monorail is also included in the spin-off
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
.
Blaine the Mono is a train featured in
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
Transport Tycoon
''Transport Tycoon'' is a video game designed and programmed by Chris Sawyer, and published by MicroProse on 15 November 1994 for DOS. It is a business simulation game, presented in an isometric view in 2D with graphics by Simon Foster, in whi ...
(since 1999), ''Japanese Rail Sim 3D: Monorail Trip to Okinawa'' by
Sonic Powered
Sonic Powered Co., Ltd. is a Japanese software development company based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. It mainly focuses on mobile and console games, and software for business purposes.
History
Sonic Powered was first formed in Nagoya on Februar ...
Planet Zoo
''Planet Zoo'' is a construction and management simulation video game developed and published by Frontier Developments for Microsoft Windows. The game is a spiritual successor to ''Zoo Tycoon'' and '' Zoo Tycoon 2'', with gameplay similar to ...
and a non-operating monorail system in the 2020
Cyberpunk 2077
''Cyberpunk 2077'' is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed by CD Projekt Red and published by CD Projekt. Set in Night City, an open world set in the ''Cyberpunk'' universe, players assume the role of a customisable mercenary know ...
Farm, mining and logistics applications
Monorails have been used for number of applications other than passenger transportation. Small suspended monorail are also widely used in factories either as part of moveable assembly lines.
History
Inspired by the
Centennial Monorail
General Roy Stone's Centennial Monorail was demonstrated at the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the U.S., which was held in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Dec ...
demonstrated in 1876, in 1877 the
Bradford and Foster Brook Railway
The Bradford & Foster Brook Railway was one of the earliest, if not the first, monorails in United States, America. Inspired by a working demonstration of the Centennial Monorail at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, Col. Roy Stone th ...
began construction of a line connecting
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The line operated from 1878 until 1879 delivering machinery and oil supplies. The first twin-boiler locomotive wore out quickly. It was replaced by a single boiler locomotive which was too heavy and crashed through the track on its third trip. The third locomotive again had twin boilers. On a trial run one of the boilers ran dry and exploded, killing six people. The railway was closed soon after.
Monorails in Central Java were used to transport timber from the forests of Central Java located in the mountains to the rivers. In 1908 and 1909, the forester H. J. L. Beck built a manually operated monorail of limited but sufficient capacity for the transport of small timber and firewood in the Northern Surabaya forest district. In later years, this idea was further developed by L. A. van de Ven, who was a forester in the Grobogan forest district around 1908–1910.Ch. S. Lugt: ''Het boschbeheer in Nederlandsch-Indië.'' 1933, S. 75–76. Zitiert in: Rob van de Ven Renardel de Lavalette ''De Monorail van Grobogan.'' Monorails were built by plantation operators and wood processing companies throughout the mountains of Central Java.Augusta de Wit: ''Een bevloeiingswerk''. In: ''Natuur en menschen in Indië'', 1921, page 125. First published in ''Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant, Avondblad A,'' 30 November 1911. Referenced in: Rob van de Ven Renardel de Lavalette ''De Monorail van Grobogan.'' In 1919/1920, however, the hand-operated monorails gradually disappeared and were replaced by narrow-gauge railways with steam locomotives as forest utilization changed.
In the 1920s the
Port of Hamburg
The Port of Hamburg (german: Hamburger Hafen, ) is a seaport on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from its mouth on the North Sea.
Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (''Tor zur Welt''), it is the country's largest seaport by volume ...
used a petrol powered, suspended monorail to transport luggage and freight from ocean-going vessels to a passenger depot.
In the northern
Mojave desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...
, the
Epsom Salts Monorail
The Epsom Salts Monorail or Magnesium Monorail was a short-lived Lartigue Monorail in San Bernardino County, California, in the United States. It was built to carry epsomite from a deposit in the Owlshead Mountains to a siding of the Trona Railway. ...
was built in 1924. It ran for 28 miles from a connection on the
Trona Railway
The Trona Railway is a short-line railroad owned by Searles Valley Minerals. The TRC interchanges with the Lone Pine Subdivision of the Union Pacific Railroad (former Southern Pacific Transportation Company) at Searles, California.
History
The ...
, eastward to harvest
epsomite
Epsomite, Epsom salt, or magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, is a hydrous magnesium sulfate mineral with formula MgSO4·7H2O.
Epsomite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system as rarely found acicular or fibrous crystals, the normal form is as massi ...
deposits in the
Owlshead Mountains
The Owlshead Mountains are located at the southern end of Death Valley National Park near the border of the Fort Irwin Military Reservation in San Bernardino County, California, US.
Geography
The range lies in the Mojave Desert, north of the Gra ...
. This Lartigue type monorail achieved
gradient
In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p is the "direction and rate of fastest increase". If the gradi ...
s of up to ten percent. It only operated until June 1926, when the mineral deposits become uneconomic, and was dismantled for scrap in the late 1930s.
In the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
the Lyskovsky monorail in the
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...
region was designed by the engineer of the timber industry Ivan Gorodtsov. A Lartigue type line of about long was opened in November 1934 to connect the village of Selskaya Maza with the villages of Bakaldy and Yaloksha to carry timber. Following this example a separate cargo-and-passenger monorail was built from the town of Bor to the village of Zavrazhnoe, where forest and peat were exploited. The Lyskovsky monorail stopped operating in 1949.
The British firm ''Road Machines (Drayton) Ltd'' developed a modular-track ground-level monorail system with a high rail segments, long, running between support plates. The first system was sold in 1949 and it was used in industrial, construction and agricultural applications around the world. The company ceased trading in 1967. The system was adapted for the use in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. An example of the system exists at the
Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre
Amberley Museum is an open-air industrial heritage museum at Amberley, near Arundel in West Sussex, England. The museum is owned and operated by Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre, a not-for-profit company and registered charity, and has the ...
in Britain.
Recent applications
Very small and light weight systems are used widely on farms to transport crops such as bananas. First developed in Japan, industrial versions of slope cars are used in agriculture in steep sloped areas such as citrus orchards in Japan and vineyards in Italy. One European manufacturer says they have installed 650 systems worldwide.
In the mining industry suspended monorails have been used because of their ability to descend and climb steep tunnels using rack and pinion drive. This significantly reduces cost and length of tunnels, by up to 60% in some cases, which otherwise must be at gentle gradients to suit road vehicles or conventional railways.
A suspended monorail capable of carrying fully loaded 20' and 40' containers has been under construction since 2020 at the
Port of Qingdao
The Port of Qingdao is a seaport on the Yellow Sea in the vicinity of Qingdao (Tsingtao), Shandong Province, People's Republic of China. It is one of the ten busiest ports in the world (7th in 2019, considering total cargo volume).
Qingdao Port ...
, the first phase of which was put into operation in 2021.
See also
*
List of monorail systems
A monorail is a railway system in which the track consists of a single elevated rail, beam or track with the trains either supported or suspended. The term is also used to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam o ...
*
Suspension railway
A suspension railway is a form of elevated monorail in which the vehicle is suspended from a fixed track (as opposed to a cable used in aerial tramways), which is built above streets, waterways, or existing railway track.
History
Experimental d ...
*
Bennie Railplane
The Bennie Railplane was a form of rail transport invented by George Bennie (1891–1957), which moved along an overhead rail by way of propellers.
Prototype
Bennie, born at Auldhouse, near Glasgow, Scotland began work on the developmen ...
*
Hotchkiss Bicycle Railroad
The Hotchkiss Bicycle Railroad was a purpose-built monorail on which a matching bicycle could be ridden. It was invented by Arthur Hotchkiss, and the first example was built between Smithville and Mount Holly, New Jersey, in 1892.
It closed in ...
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Lartigue Monorail
The Lartigue Monorail system was developed by the French engineer Charles Lartigue (1834–1907). He further developed a horse drawn monorail system, which had been invented by Henry Robinson Palmer in 1821.
Lartigue had seen camels in Algeri ...
Rail transport in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Rail transport can be found in every theme park resort property owned or licensed by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, one of the four business segments of the Walt Disney Company. The origins of Disney theme park rail transport can be t ...
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Slope car
A is a small automated monorail, or a fusion between monorail, people mover, and rack railway. It is a brand name of . Since this mode of transportation is relatively unknown, it lacks widely accepted generic name, other than the simple "monorai ...
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Monorackbahn Monorackbahn is a small monorail rack railway manufactured by the Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group. Its style is derived from industrial monorails used in 1960s vineyards. There are more than 650 Monorackbahn systems installed across Switzerland, Germany ...
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Bombardier Innovia Monorail
Innovia Monorail is a fully automated and driverless monorail system currently manufactured and marketed by Alstom as part of its Innovia series of fully automated transportation systems. Its straddle-beam design is based on the ALWEG monorail ...
Transportation engineering
Transportation engineering or transport engineering is the application of technology and scientific principles to the planning, functional design, operation and management of facilities for any mode of transportation in order to provide for th ...
and
Urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
programs at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
The Disneyland Monorail - Article on how a rubber-wheeled monorail works. The Monorail Society - home page of a volunteer organization promoting monorails, with over 600 separate pages includin