Monorail Refurbishment

[LordOfDarkness]

Main point is, if they wanted to upgrade it, they could.

Plenty of third parties would provide new rolling stock if needed.

Alstom are just down the road who are arguably the best in the world at supplying mass transit systems.

Like anything, it'll come down to money.

 

[Trooper Looper]

Main point is, if they wanted to upgrade it, they could.

Plenty of third parties would provide new rolling stock if needed.

Alstom are just down the road who are arguably the best in the world at supplying mass transit systems.

Like anything, it'll come down to money.

To this day, I'm still hoping they monorail at least gets new train shells and scrap those horrific current ones with the poster like look (strawberry trains, splash landing trains, etc) still can't believe they thought putting them over the windows was a good idea.

 

[AT86]

If you had said last year that Merlin would invest in Duel to improve the experience without a new IP I wouldn’t have believed it.

So it does give me more hope that they would be willing to invest in something like the Monorail.

We will have to see.

 

[Trooper Looper]

If you had said last year that Merlin would invest in Duel to improve the experience without a new IP I wouldn’t have believed it.

So it does give me more hope that they would be willing to invest in something like the Monorail.

We will have to see.

Im hoping this new Private owned Merlin will bring improvements to the park of the likes that we haven't seen for a long time.

 

[JAperson]

If you had said last year that Merlin would invest in Duel to improve the experience without a new IP I wouldn’t have believed it.

So it does give me more hope that they would be willing to invest in something like the Monorail.

We will have to see.

You've definitely got a point here, perhaps they will try and make the monorail have an actually story of some form. Sort of take you through each land but having a reason to go there, new music new trains, all to fit the new monorail. I don't know, might just be a way to make it marketable.

 

[QTXAdsy]

Main point is, if they wanted to upgrade it, they could.

Plenty of third parties would provide new rolling stock if needed.

Alstom are just down the road who are arguably the best in the world at supplying mass transit systems.

Like anything, it'll come down to money.

Indeed as I said before, there are many companies in this country who are looking for any kind of work especially in these times including some very niche things and the monorail certainly fits the latter very well.

We all doubted if Duel would have a major overhaul, Nemesis getting a second dose of life and finally something happening to Coaster Corner and yet we've been proven wrong for them so something happening on the monorail might not be far fetched as we might think.

 

[Trooper Looper]

Tussauds 2.0 anyone?

 

[Matt N]

One question I have is; if they were to refurbish the monorail, what would they change the train exteriors to?

I actually quite like the current train exteriors myself; I think they’re good fun with all the different styles, and they’re all very wacky and fit the brand of the park very well, in my opinion. I’d hope for something similar in the event of a refurb, although I would like to see the windows unblocked again to enable better views out of them.

 

[Jonathan]

One question I have is; if they were to refurbish the monorail, what would they change the train exteriors to?

I actually quite like the current train exteriors myself; I think they’re good fun with all the different styles, and they’re all very wacky and fit the brand of the park very well, in my opinion. I’d hope for something similar in the event of a refurb, although I would like to see the windows unblocked again to enable better views out of them.

I'm fine with the exteriors, though I guess having one or two refreshed ones won't hurt. And I think we can all agree with you, Matt, in that one EASY thing to do would be to remove the vinyls from the windows so people can actually see things.

 

[Matt.GC]

If you had said last year that Merlin would invest in Duel to improve the experience without a new IP I wouldn’t have believed it.

So it does give me more hope that they would be willing to invest in something like the Monorail.

We will have to see.

Whilst I don't currently share your optimism yet, you do have a point here.

With the Duel refurb, Nemesis retrack and the possibility of a new inside attraction of some sort in coaster corner, you do get the feeling that there are people at the park who deep down agree with us about the current state of things and have a good idea about what Alton's shortcomings are. I would also say that propping up the lineup with temp flats and the sheer amount of events they've invested in are also evidence of this. None of this comes cheap and compared to the previous way of doing things, some of these investments are rather brave I'd say.

Something like a boring old land train to welcome visitors with a tour of dull access roads they've already driven on on the way in is only being suggested due to the lack of faith that they'll do anything with the monorail. But then the demise of Nemesis and Duel having a cheap screen based IP overlay has been widely discussed as well.

The future of the monorail is something that looks bleak to me. But I really really hope to be proved wrong like I was with Nemesis and Duel. I couldn't imagine Towers without the monorail passing through above me.

I wouldn't want to give them any ideas that getting rid of the Monorail would be anything but a massive downgrade for the park. I get that it currently operates in a very poor state, but we've been here before in that some things get so knackered and crap that we're willing to accept anything to put it out of its misery. Look at Walliams World for an example of that. Or accepting a poorly conceived upcharge Dungeon instead of an empty building. Or funfair flats replacing years of empty plots where permanent flats once stood.

 

[Poisson]

Monorails crap ops can be fixed in a refurb. Platform doors like the Underground I could see going in if they go for a refurb. The current trains and track and footers are knackered so it'll be a big old job.

 

[MattyH]

As myself and @Jonathan witnessed the other day. People with mobility issues who then have to walk from the hotels to the entrance would be severely disadvantaged by its removal. Land trains have severely reduced capacity compared to a monorail train

 

[rob666]

Not with the new Galactigate they wouldn't.

 

[MattyH]

The key issue with Galatigate is guest flow.

You don't want 20 thousand guests filing in through forbidden valley, the park isn't designed for it.

 

[rob666]

Two gates, not one, spread the entry, park at either end of the car park.
Have disabled and express as it is, and enter from either gate.

 

[Rick]

I'd be curious to understand the % of guests that walk vs. get the monorail and how that has changed over the years.

 

[rob666]

Yup, back in the glorious days when there was always a train coming in to the station as one left.

 

[Matt N]

Do they run fewer trains on the system nowadays, then?

The throughput is supposedly astronomical, at a theoretical 4,100pph, but I'm not sure if it still gets that figure.

I very rarely use the monorail these days. The queue is mostly quite big, so I find it easier to walk these days.

 

[MattyH]

Yes, from observation it's usually 3 trains on the monorail nowadays and they end up bunched too.

 

[Matt N]

Yes, from observation it's usually 3 trains on the monorail nowadays and they end up bunched too.

Wow, that’s a big throughput reduction; TST’s page says that it used to run 8 at peak throughput… has the new H&S procedure of not letting people stand on the platform really slowed things down that much?