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Monorail Refurbishment

Sorry for a bit of an out of the blue post, but did the Monorail end up getting refurbished during the closed season? I heard it mentioned then I've not heard or seen anything since?
 
siralgenon said:
Sorry for a bit of an out of the blue post, but did the Monorail end up getting refurbished during the closed season? I heard it mentioned then I've not heard or seen anything since?
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I haven’t heard anything, but I think we’ll probably find out on 4th July when the park reopens!
 
I know which way I'd like to bet.

Also re: railway. Even if it managed to operate, coming to a station that is closed / holiday, Towers have no control over that and I doubt would be bothered as its out of their control. It would be an instruction of "Walk from here, try not to get hurt on the roads".
 
For the life of me, I struggle to understand the appeal of getting a train to Alton Towers.

If you walked up the road, that's a dangerous route - it's a pretty fast road all told. You could walk along the old railway route and up into the hotels that way - unless there is track there.
 
Rick said:
For the life of me, I struggle to understand the appeal of getting a train to Alton Towers.

If you walked up the road, that's a dangerous route - it's a pretty fast road all told. You could walk along the old railway route and up into the hotels that way - unless there is track there.
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#furloughed booze


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Rick said:
For the life of me, I struggle to understand the appeal of getting a train to Alton Towers.

If you walked up the road, that's a dangerous route - it's a pretty fast road all told. You could walk along the old railway route and up into the hotels that way - unless there is track there.
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Yeah, Farley lane is definitely not fun to walk...

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Bit late for the chat but seeing the Churnet Valley Railway being mentioned got my interest being the trains enthusiast as I am and I could see that once they did get to Alton, it would be very good for them in the long term if it means have an joint up relationship with Towers. However the distance between the station and park does prove to be a problem with the below summing it up nicely...

imanautie said:
Yeah, Farley lane is definitely not fun to walk...

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blackholes crow said:
Thay need to open up the bottom entrance for this to be a safer route
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Anyway, with regards to the monorail, I do have one wild thought that'll likely never get done other than perhaps the driverless trains...why not add an extension to the current monorail track that goes beyond it's terminus at Towers Street and carries on towards the station at Alton before heading back towards Towers Street, thus eliminating the need to walk from station to park?

Would help make the monorail actually be more useful than ever though I'm not sure if they could get permission to build down through that area of the park, still it would be quite a sight to behold. It would help the CVR have an attraction for that station and maybe with those who want to go to the park by train could use the price of their tickets for the train also act as their entrance fee for the park. Really if you put your mind to it, though there is no such thing as joint up thinking when it could be good for all...
 
QTXAdsy said:
Bit late for the chat but seeing the Churnet Valley Railway being mentioned got my interest being the trains enthusiast as I am and I could see that once they did get to Alton, it would be very good for them in the long term if it means have an joint up relationship with Towers. However the distance between the station and park does prove to be a problem with the below summing it up nicely...





Anyway, with regards to the monorail, I do have one wild thought that'll likely never get done other than perhaps the driverless trains...why not add an extension to the current monorail track that goes beyond it's terminus at Towers Street and carries on towards the station at Alton before heading back towards Towers Street, thus eliminating the need to walk from station to park?

Would help make the monorail actually be more useful than ever though I'm not sure if they could get permission to build down through that area of the park, still it would be quite a sight to behold. It would help the CVR have an attraction for that station and maybe with those who want to go to the park by train could use the price of their tickets for the train also act as their entrance fee for the park. Really if you put your mind to it, though there is no such thing as joint up thinking when it could be good for all...
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I see a shuttle bus as a more viable solution then extending the monorail.
Thinking across merlin I'm not aware of any joined up transport+park ticketing arrangements, THORPE don't and they have an operator running dedicated buses.
Oddly enough arriva who run buses to Drayton apparently do sell park tickets on board.

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This is very much a "speculative idea" as it wouldn't make financial sense, but if it were up to me I'd open a new entrance at the southern side of the park to connect to the railway.
 
I don't think people appreciate the geography of the area, the hill is bigger than you think. The closest bit of the park really is behind Oblivions brake run. That comes out opposite the Chained Oak B&B but then there's still a big hill to navigate from there. A cable car would be the best simply for it's ability to do the gradient, but traffic limiting and a shuttle bus is more likely
 
Poisson said:
I don't think people appreciate the geography of the area, the hill is bigger than you think. The closest bit of the park really is behind Oblivions brake run. That comes out opposite the Chained Oak B&B but then there's still a big hill to navigate from there. A cable car would be the best simply for it's ability to do the gradient, but traffic limiting and a shuttle bus is more likely
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Or an escalator system, as seen in Ocean Park, Hong Kong, and Janfusion Fancyworld in Taiwan! (not sure if/how disabled people are able to navigate those parks however)
 
It would not be a good gamble to build a fixed transport link until you had proven constant demand.

A bus link would be the best approach until you got to hundreds of people a day needing that link.

If Britain seriously moved away from private cars over the next decade, that sort of transport link would start to make sense.
If we stay as car dependent as now, I can't see demand for a train service going above what a single bus could handle.
 
Could Mag-lev cope with the gradient? That would need some form of Otis like safety mechanism I am not sure exists?
A funicular would be a great option, but the road is an issue.

If the monorail is reaching end of life (e.g. maybe the supports needed major work), a cable car would make sense as a replacement - especially if you can allow room for an extension to the train station as an option.

I assume refurbishing what they have is more realistic. A bit of paint and some new windows and platform side gates would make a huge difference to the experience.
 
Lots of the footers for the Monorail do not look to be in good shape. The trains are probably cream crackered after so long as well. I think a cable car would be a decent shout for a replacement if they don't find fixing the monorail cost effective. Or a new monorail but I think in reality we'll get nothing
 
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