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Monorail Refurbishment

Would it be possible to retrofit new trains on to the existing track? Can't say I know much about monorails although I wonder if there are 'cheaper' ways to make it new without having to rip the entire thing up and build a new one from scratch. It's not as if we're talking about a completely new transportation system that doesn't exist in the park, the foundations are there...

I'm sceptical with Merlin back under private ownership there may be a change in attitude and they may look into ways the monorail system could be kept running long term. However as things stand right now the future is not looking bright.

I know a lot of people like to go on about it's easier to walk etc however there is still a lack of a proper walkway (beyond the RCR walkway, plus at the end of the year its mostly pitch black!) and from the hotels it is still one heck of a walk, however healthy you are. Walking to the park can be ok, however walking for miles back to the hotels/car parks is hardly a nice way to end the day. Plus there's the obvious of those with prams, disabled persons, wheelchairs, other health conditions etc who find the monorail helps start and end the day off with ease.

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James said:
Would it be possible to retrofit new trains on to the existing track? Can't say I know much about monorails although I wonder if there are 'cheaper' ways to make it new without having to rip the entire thing up and build a new one from scratch.
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The rolling stock can have undercarriage to fit the existing track system. Disney have changed their rolling stock a few times without changing the track.

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Reckon merlin will fix a wooden deck to the track and blag a land train is a new monorail


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I disagree that investing in the monorail has a zero reuturn on investment. It doesn't have an IMMEDIATE return on investment. Thus it's fate is sealed. If this was a competent company, it wouldn't be 'investment' anyway, more infrastructure maintenance.

Your local Sainsbury's doesn't remove the frozen food section when the freezer cabinets come to the end of their life (which is around 15 years and extremely expensive to replace). Companies of course usually defer these costs when they assess viability, if they can get away with another 2 years they will. But then that's what normal competent businesses do. Merlin likely just have their fingers in their ears ignoring it.

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Matt.GC said:
Your local Sainsbury's doesn't remove the frozen food section when the freezer cabinets come to the end of their life (which is around 15 years and extremely expensive to replace). Companies of course usually defer these costs when they assess viability, if they can get away with another 2 years they will. But then that's what normal competent businesses do. Merlin likely just have their fingers in their ears ignoring it.
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The difference being that if Sainsbury’s remove the freezer section, they can’t sell frozen food and sales and revenue therefore drop.

The monorail does not bring in any revenue for Merlin, so if they get rid of it the theory goes that it won’t make any difference to sales.

Of course the reality is much more complex than that, but the Merlin bean counters probably don’t care.
 
There are a lot of same sized theme parks that have monorails and big car parks away from the entrance that don't have this problem.

Building a new entrance by Towers Street would be one of the worst cost cutting decisions the park had ever made I think, worse than removing the monorail
 
TakeYourMedicine said:
There are a lot of same sized theme parks that have monorails and big car parks away from the entrance that don't have this problem.

Building a new entrance by Towers Street would be one of the worst cost cutting decisions the park had ever made I think, worse than removing the monorail
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Isn't the current entrance on Towers Street? If so, how would building a new one change things?
 
skyscraper said:
Yeah, there has been talk of the entrance being moved to FV. I like walking down Towers Street though tbh.
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Moving it from Towers Street would be terrible decision for all sorts of reasons, operational as well as just because inevitably a Forbidden Valley entrance would be boring and lose the impact

They dropped the idea for it apparently but with the monorail problems and now having the gate by Galactica they might be considering it again

Although I do think a total redesign of Towers Street more along the lines of Phantasialand or Europa Park's entrances would be brilliant! Towers Street always was a bit odd and plain, but the view is fantastic.
 
If the Monorail does ever need major refurbishment or removal, then I think trams like they have in the Walt Disney World parks would be a good idea. You could make them electric so as to reduce CO2 emissions, and I'd imagine they would cost significantly less to run while serving the same purpose as the Monorail. If they work at Walt Disney World, whose parks get between 5 and 10 times the amount of annual visitors that Alton Towers does, then I could definitely see something similar working at Alton Towers!
 
OilyWater said:
The current monorails are electric and wouldnt installing trams be as big a job as a new monorail?
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Perhaps trams was the wrong choice of word? I might have meant a land train or something; the sort of thing I was referring to would only require the purchase of vehicles and could be driven along. WDW-style vehicles wouldn't require a transit system or track of any sort to be built, as far as I'm aware.
 
Matt N said:
If the Monorail does ever need major refurbishment or removal, then I think trams like they have in the Walt Disney World parks would be a good idea. You could make them electric so as to reduce CO2 emissions, and I'd imagine they would cost significantly less to run while serving the same purpose as the Monorail. If they work at Walt Disney World, whose parks get between 5 and 10 times the amount of annual visitors that Alton Towers does, then I could definitely see something similar working at Alton Towers!
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Pretty sure magic kingdom alone gets more than 10 x towers annual figures
 
The Florida parks keep redesigning their entrances to improve their efficiency, most have some water transportation, and a lot of bus transportation, plus the geography is flatter than the Netherlands.
Whatever works there is irrelevant to the Alton Towers scenario.

Having said that :)... a gondola system following a similar route to the Monorail one would be a pretty cool alternative to a monorail.
 
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