''Véhicule Automatique Léger'' () or VAL is a type of driverless (automated),
rubber-tyred,
medium-capacity rail transport system (
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 ...
). The technology was developed at the
Lille University of Science and Technology, was marketed by
Matra
Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a major French industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Its business activities covered a wide range of industries, notably aerospace manufacturer, aerospace, defence industry, def ...
, and first used in the early 1980s for the
Lille Metro system, one of the world's first fully automated mass-transit rail networks, preceded only by the
Port Island Line in Kobe, Japan. The VAL technology is now marketed by
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
, which acquired Matra in the late 1990s.
A total of 11 lines in 8 systems based on the VAL technology are currently in operation worldwide. The current version of the VAL product is marketed as NeoVal (with a distinction between AirVal for airport environments and CityVal for more conventional transit environments).
The name is a
backronym
A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...
, with the first project to use the technology nicknamed VAL after the routing of the line: ''Villeneuve d'Ascq à Lille'' ().
Technology
Original VAL

The VAL system uses a fully automated elevated
guideway, which may be metal or concrete depending on prevailing weather conditions. Primary suspension is by rubber tires, with pairs of horizontal tires to provide lateral guidance. Electrical power at 750 V DC is collected by shoes from the guidebars.
The vehicles are lightweight 2-car sets (
VAL 206 or
VAL 208) with 124 total capacity, or twin sets (
VAL 256) with 80 seated and 160 standing capacity. All axles on these vehicles are motored with electrical motors. The system detects the location of trains on the guideway by the use of ultrasonic sensors. VAL uses fixed-block signalling.
VAL can cope with unanticipated demand by inserting additional trains into the network as required by remote command from the control center. The control center computer system automatically speeds up or slows down trains in order to maintain a timetable. The VAL system can handle headways as small as 60 seconds, and the Lille VAL system rapidly proved itself with a 99.8% availability.
In contrast to another early driverless metro system, the
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
SkyTrain, the VAL design uses platforms that are separated from the rollways by a glass partition, to prevent waiting passengers from straying or falling onto the rollways.
Platform screen doors
Platform screen doors (PSDs), also known as platform edge doors (PEDs), are used at some train, rapid transit and people mover stations to separate the platform from train tracks, as well as on some bus rapid transit, tram and light rail ...
– produced by
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
glass door manufacturer
Kaba Gilgen AG – are embedded in these partitions and open in synchrony with the train doors when a train stops at the platform. The original platform-edge doors were manufactured and installed by PLC Peters in
Hayes, Middlesex and were used on the first line.
In addition to the trains being driverless, the station platforms are unstaffed in normal operation. In the original
Lille metro system, they are monitored by a large closed-circuit television system with 330 cameras and 24 television monitors in a remote control room.
NeoVal
In 2006 the NeoVal project, successor of the VAL, was announced. It features
regenerative braking. 40% of the 62 million Euros set aside for the programme will come from the ''
Agence de l'innovation industrielle
The Agence de l'innovation industrielle was a French governmental agency created in 2005 to support technological projects. As of 2006, it was supporting seven projects:
*BioHub, a chemistry projects to create products with cereals, without using ...
'' (the technology-supporting project agency formerly known as the AII). The program is managed by
Siemens Mobility, in association with
Lohr Industrie. The NeoVal will be guided by a single central rail, similar to that of the
Translohr, and will be able to operate without any electrical supply between the stations (no third rail or
overhead lines
An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...
), making the cost of infrastructure much lower.
The NeoVal is offered in two versions:
* the CityVal version designed for conventional transit environments (car width ) with the first implementation on
Line B of the Rennes Metro;
* the AirVal version designed for airport environments (car width ) with the first implementation on the
Suvarnabhumi Airport Automated People Mover at
Suvarnabhumi Airport,
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
.
VAL systems
Active systems
there are a total of 12 lines in 8 systems operating with VAL technology:

*
Lille Metro (two lines), since 1983,
VAL 206 and
VAL 208 cars
*
Paris Orlyval, since 1991, VAL 206 cars
*
Toulouse Metro (two lines), since 1993, VAL 206 and VAL 208 cars
*
Taipei Metro Wenhu (Brown) line, since 1996, larger
VAL 256 cars using the MAGGALY technology from
Lyon Metro Line D and Bombardier signaling
*
Rennes Metro (two lines), since 2002, VAL 208 and CityVal cars
*
Turin Metro, since 2006, VAL 208 cars
*
Paris CDGVAL (two lines), since 2007, VAL 208 cars
*
Uijeongbu U Line, since 2012, VAL 208 cars with air conditioning, locally designated the U100
*
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, since 2023 - 6 2-car AirVal trains
Future systems
*
Frankfurt Airport SkyLine (rehabilitation of existing people mover system) - 24 2-car AirVal trains
Defunct systems
*
Airport Transit System at
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
's
O'Hare International Airport
Chicago O'Hare International Airport is the primary international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, United States, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop, Loop business district. The airport is ope ...
(opened in 1993 and replaced by a
Bombardier system in 2019 and reopened in 2021)
*
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
, had a VAL line inaugurated in 1989; it was shut down in December 1996 and replaced by a monorail, the
Jacksonville Skyway. The rolling stock was sold to O'Hare.
Medium-Capacity Transport System
When VAL was introduced to
Taipei
, nickname = The City of Azaleas
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country ...
, the term
medium-capacity rail transport system was coined by railway planners to differentiate VAL from
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 acceleratio ...
(metro). Since then, this term has begun to be applied on similar capacity transit systems–mainly in Asian cities–even when the systems are not based on VAL's technology. On
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
' official website, VAL was during a certain time advertised as the "first fully automated light metro", in which the term "
light metro
A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit. MCS trains are usually 1 to 4 cars. Most medi ...
" can be traced back to the
Moscow Metro's Butovskaya Line. Siemens now rather uses the terms "medium-capacity metro" or simply refers to VAL as a "people mover".
See also
*
Automated guideway transit
*
Rubber-tyred tram and
Rubber-tyred metro
A rubber-tyred metro or rubber-tired metro is a form of rapid transit system that uses a mix of road transport, road and rail transport, rail technology. The vehicles have wheels with rubber tires that run on a roll way inside guide bars for tr ...
*
Transport in France
Competing systems:
*
Bombardier Innovia APM
*
Crystal Mover from
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the prede ...
References
External links
Presentation of the NeoVal system on the official Siemens website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vehicule Automatique Leger
Passenger rail rolling stock
People movers
Electric multiple units of the United States
Rapid transit in France
Public transportation in Taiwan
French inventions