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Europa Park Operations/Throughput

Matt N

Matt N

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Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
Hi guys. Europa Park is famous for its very efficient operations, and I saw this first hand over the last 3 days! I just wanted to share with you some throughput timings I got of some of EP’s rides over the last 3 days, and I was keen to hear your thoughts:
  • Alpenexpress: 896pph (average of 2)
  • Arthur: 1,061pph (average of 4)
  • Atlantica: 856pph (average of 10)
  • Blue Fire: 1,423pph (average of 5)
  • Euro Mir: 1,333pph (average of 5)
  • Poseidon: 1,333pph (average of 5)
  • Silver Star: 1,489pph (average of 10)
  • Wodan: 1,228pph (average of 5)
I hope you find that interesting! Do you agree with my timings based on your own experiences?
 
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For some reason, I found myself thinking about EP’s throughputs, and I have a few questions for those of you who are more knowledgeable about this than me, if you wouldn’t mind answering.
  • If Silver Star had a 3 minute dispatch interval at one point in time, is that a regular occurrence or is it more likely to have been a temporary stoppage? I only ask because when I got a chance to time the throughput on my recent visit, the average was 1,716pph when I had done 9 readings, but dropped to 1,489pph once I had done 10. I’ve calculated that the dispatch interval that would have been required to drop the average that much would have been roughly 3 minutes. Is this a normal dispatch interval on Silver Star, or is it likely to have been an outlier?
  • Building on from that; on 3 trains, does Silver Star ever have a gap where the station is waiting for a new train to arrive, or is the flow of trains constant? I only ask because I noticed that while no dispatch interval seemed to hit 3 minutes like my final timing did, there did seem to be a slightly longer dispatch interval every few timings, with consistent intervals for the other times in between (the faster interval seemed to be a train starting to climb the lift hill as another was beginning to negotiate the post-MCBR section, while the slower interval didn’t see a train being dispatched until well after the train in front hit the brake run).
  • Does Pegasus only have 1 train, or was it simply on reduced capacity if it was only running 1 train? I did notice the queue felt somewhat slower than any of Europa’s others, so I wondered whether the max throughput saw it on 2 trains. 2 trains wasn’t really needed, though; even on 1, the queue was only 25 minutes!
  • RCDB states that Blue Fire has 5 trains. How on Earth would it run all 5 without significant stacking? When I was there, the ride appeared to only be running 3, and even with the staff working super hard and there not being a wasted second in the station, there appeared to be a slight bit of stacking and a constant flow of trains; the throughput was 1,423pph when I timed, and there was never a gap in the flow of trains!
 
Pegasus does indeed have 2 trains (the second one would have been beneath the station).

I'm guessing when you were there, Blue Fire was operating with onload and offload on the same station platform? This was also the case when I was there. If it is running more than 3 trains, they would use the separate offload platform which of course helps to improve throughput. I am not sure how much gain, if any, there is between running 4 and 5 trains.
 
The 5th Blue Fire train is for rotating trains when maintenance is needed to ensure there can always be 4 train ops if required. The ride doesn’t run more than 4 at one time.

As for Silver Star that would be an outlier due to a problem with a guest most likely. Otherwise they dispatch as consistently as possible.
 
Rob said:
I'm guessing when you were there, Blue Fire was operating with onload and offload on the same station platform? This was also the case when I was there. If it is running more than 3 trains, they would use the separate offload platform which of course helps to improve throughput. I am not sure how much gain, if any, there is between running 4 and 5 trains.
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I think it was, yes. I seem to remember getting off on the same platform as I entered, but the train did wait in the station for a bit like on Icon. Or Smiler if 4 trains are running. Could Icon technically have had a separate offload platform, then?

Does Blue Fire’s throughput go higher than 1,400pph, then? RCDB says it can do 1,720pph, but I’ll admit I’d been struggling to see how that was possible given that my 1,423pph timing seemed pretty fast. I did notice that the interval wasn’t entirely consistent, however; sometimes, the train was launching as the train in front was negotiating the final inversion, but other times, it wasn’t launching until the train in front was practically in the station. Is 4 trains essentially consistent maintenance of the faster interval?

I didn’t think a separate offload platform would have made any difference on Blue Fire given that the exit was on the opposite side of the station to the entry, but I guess you would prevent blockages from people getting off the ride, which would surely make a difference.
 
Matt N said:
I didn’t think a separate offload platform would have made any difference on Blue Fire given that the exit was on the opposite side of the station to the entry, but I guess you would prevent blockages from people getting off the ride, which would surely make a difference.
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It definitely makes a difference. When running onload and offload, the training arriving in to onload is empty, meaning that guests can board immediately with no delay waiting for guests to get off and out of the way.
 
Rob said:
It definitely makes a difference. When running onload and offload, the training arriving in to onload is empty, meaning that guests can board immediately with no delay waiting for guests to get off and out of the way.
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Interesting… I wonder if rides like Icon and Smiler would benefit (or would have benefitted, as this sort of thing can’t really be added retrospectively) from this being used, as both of those also wait in the station like Blue Fire?
 
I've timed Blue Fire boarding at less than 30 seconds with the offload in operation.
I'f they can keep close to that over a 4 train operation 1,700 is definitely possible.
 
The clever double sided baggage bins used when Blue Fire uses 4 trains also help. Blue Fire will achieve 1500-1600/hour although 1700 is difficult.

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AstroDan said:
The clever double sided baggage bins used when Blue Fire uses 4 trains also help
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I was going to mention this. It alleviates baggage faff. Typically on coasters that have bins on the station, people getting off the ride trying to retrieve their items get in the way of people getting on the ride trying to stow their items. It also slows down people leaving the platform. The double sided bins completely avoid those problems.
 
More rides should use double sided baggage when they have onload/offload. If definitely saves in people getting in each other’s way.
 
Or run it like F.L.Y. and have double sided lockers. Either way seems to work well.
 
Blue Fire's bag store allows for faster loading than a single station setup but isn't really that great for an in-line setup. Ideally guests should store their bags before boarding. Something like Stealth's arrangement would have made BF loading even faster.
 
John said:
Blue Fire's bag store allows for faster loading than a single station setup but isn't really that great for an in-line setup. Ideally guests should store their bags before boarding. Something like Stealth's arrangement would have made BF loading even faster.
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If Blue Fire had something like a baggage hold, lockers or something that meant guests didn’t have bags when boarding the train, do you feel that its theoretical throughput of 1,720pph might be attainable on 4 trains?
 
Just got back from my first trip yesterday. After hearing so much about Europa Park operations, I was shocked that Blue Fire, Wodan and Silver Star were all only on two trains each despite having 15-30 minute queues all day. I think it was made more obvious that there was so few trains as they were dispatching them so quickly it was leaving big gaps between there being a train in the station.
 
Aardvark747 said:
Just got back from my first trip yesterday. After hearing so much about Europa Park operations, I was shocked that Blue Fire, Wodan and Silver Star were all only on two trains each despite having 15-30 minute queues all day. I think it was made more obvious that there was so few trains as they were dispatching them so quickly it was leaving big gaps between there being a train in the station.
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Don’t quote me on this, but I’ve heard it said that Europa Park will often try to “engineer” a queue of 15 minutes or so on major rides because if queues are all walk-on, then the average visitor may perceive the park to not provide a full day’s entertainment.

Also, I would not be surprised if the park were performing maintenance on the coasters (which could result in less trains being available) given that they only have a 3 month closed season, and that Christmas is a typically quieter time of year (I’m led to believe?).
 
I don’t think that’s true Matt. At least it’s not something I’ve ever experienced in my visits. More common is seeing multiple train operations on days where rides are walk on. Last winter for example Blue Fire, Silver Star and Wodan were all on 2-3 trains with absolutely no queue.

I suspect the number of trains used may be a reflection of the weather conditions and how each train is set up. Last week there was 2 train ops on Silver Star with a 40 minute queue. Operations were excellent which left gaps between dispatches and the next train arriving in the station. If there were any intent to artificially create a queue, it wouldn’t make a great deal of sense to continue to operate the ride so well. Much more likely in that scenario l it was a result of operating the ride in below freezing conditions and what each train and the overall ride was set up for.
 
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