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Monorail Refurbishment

Loading times is the killer these days, they'll still run up to 5 trains on busy days but that involves a lot of stacking. In the past they'd be filling the bays before the train arrived which meant they'd be stationary only long enough for everyone to get in. These days they don't start loading until the train is parked which results in dwell times of several minutes. Loading gates would fix this immediately, or just a relaxation of the current procedures (have people stand behind the bays rather than in them, or move the bays further from the platform edge).

It's pretty clear that the number of people walking nowadays is far higher than it was ~10 years ago.
 
Which is of course fine for those of us without dodgy knees and hips.
Express parking, nine times out of ten, because the operations on the monorail have been poor for over a decade.
Saves a full hour on park, so it is worth it for me.
 
venny said:
The loading procedure is madness nowadays. How on earth does most public transport operate with people waiting on the platform and yet the monorail cannnot?
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I've said it before, I think it's all down to The Smiler incident. We all know the tiniest of stoppages on rides that happens at Towers these days is reported as a near-death experience on [social] media so imagine a toddler fell off the platform from the loading bays. Regardless of severity of any injury, Towers would be slaughtered by the media for not doing something to prevent it. A free option - while definitely not ideal and I'm sure they know this - is to only allow people into the bays when the train is there and that's exactly what they've done. I'm sure if air gates were viable - either technically or financially - they'd have installed them by now.
 
If they aren't willing to invest in a refurbishment and inevitably remove it/leave it to rot, the least they could do is make the track walkable with a roof and windows running along. They could even go the full Manchester Airport and install travelators that work once in a blue moon.
 
I am thinking that if you follow transport related news is that following the climate emergency announcement has seen many companies trying out various prototype forms of transport and it is pretty much anything in which I won't be surprised if Monorails suddenly came back into fashion given how it seems everything is being tried out. and I got thinking that since Towers have already done this with the SW concept, why not try something different for prototype transport? (No, not SW9 before you make a joke on that! :p ) The monorail being potentially used a pawn for this so let me explain this more.

As mentioned before, Alstom are just up the road from Towers and who are known for transit systems, let's assume for example they get into a partnership with Towers which actually ends up bring a win-win situation for both. Alstom (or any company let's say) will supply the new trains and various other features needed for the Monorail while getting some excellent publicity showing off their new technology to the public while Towers will in turn have a updated, safer and more reliable form of transport needed for park operations, perhaps even working far better than when the Monorail was first opened.

As you can see, it is a scenario that everyone seems to gain from however the only downside is that if this was to happen, it would likely see the Monorail being covered in sponsorship for the company supplying the trains that would probably request Towers to have the queue area install TV's that show nothing but promote the company showing all their products and yes, covering the Monorail in such sponsorship would be very much like with the Flume with Imperial Leather or Oblivion and the Fanta debacle. Then again, that would be a small price to pay for the Monorail to survive.
 
You could have subtle sponsorship for a reduced cost of replacement. If we say Alston, a builders plate inside each carriage, use of it for demonstration and product photography would do. Bit more costly than free with sponsorship but less ugly.
 
There is - or certainly used to be a small "Von-Roll" builders plate in each monorail carriage.
Back when I worked at Towers the Team Leaders openly said there was no long-term replacement plan for the monorail - they are just going to run it until it dies... and this was 15yrs ago. Given that the monorail trains were bought 2nd hand from Expo 86, they were 21yrs old even back then - now 35yrs old. They are on their last legs.
 
E
Kraken27 said:
There is - or certainly used to be a small "Von-Roll" builders plate in each monorail carriage.
Back when I worked at Towers the Team Leaders openly said there was no long-term replacement plan for the monorail - they are just going to run it until it dies... and this was 15yrs ago. Given that the monorail trains were bought 2nd hand from Expo 86, they were 21yrs old even back then - now 35yrs old. They are on their last legs.
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Even EPs feels outdated and that's way better looked after
 
QTXAdsy said:
I am thinking that if you follow transport related news is that following the climate emergency announcement has seen many companies trying out various prototype forms of transport and it is pretty much anything in which I won't be surprised if Monorails suddenly came back into fashion given how it seems everything is being tried out. and I got thinking that since Towers have already done this with the SW concept, why not try something different for prototype transport? (No, not SW9 before you make a joke on that! :p ) The monorail being potentially used a pawn for this so let me explain this more.

As mentioned before, Alstom are just up the road from Towers and who are known for transit systems, let's assume for example they get into a partnership with Towers which actually ends up bring a win-win situation for both. Alstom (or any company let's say) will supply the new trains and various other features needed for the Monorail while getting some excellent publicity showing off their new technology to the public while Towers will in turn have a updated, safer and more reliable form of transport needed for park operations, perhaps even working far better than when the Monorail was first opened.

As you can see, it is a scenario that everyone seems to gain from however the only downside is that if this was to happen, it would likely see the Monorail being covered in sponsorship for the company supplying the trains that would probably request Towers to have the queue area install TV's that show nothing but promote the company showing all their products and yes, covering the Monorail in such sponsorship would be very much like with the Flume with Imperial Leather or Oblivion and the Fanta debacle. Then again, that would be a small price to pay for the Monorail to survive.
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Can't see what Alstom would gain from advertising their multi-million pound high speed rail vehicles to Billy and his mates going on a school trip in the summer though?
 
If it was up to me, I would scrap the monorail, it’s old, tired, dirty and gives a bad first and last impression of the park.

i would first tart up the Galactica entrance, get rid of the purple tent, put a proper building there and gates, etc. And I would make this the entrance for hotel guests and also annual pass holders (if they wish). That saves a lot of hassle for those who walk to the entrance.

I would then make the pathway to the park entrance much nicer. Proper paving, shelter, perm lighting and audio as well and more direct than the round a bout way it takes currently winding round the edge of the car parks, and also along that road.

It really isn’t that far of a walk, and during covid everyone Seemed to manage fine with it.

Removing the monorail station near the hotels would also open up that area a bit, and could be made into more parking or better access to the hotels and golf. And with the track gone, you could also put a proper pathway along the edge of the car parks, or even totally redesign the car parks.
 
djtruefitt said:
If it was up to me, I would scrap the monorail, it’s old, tired, dirty and gives a bad first and last impression of the park.

i would first tart up the Galactica entrance, get rid of the purple tent, put a proper building there and gates, etc. And I would make this the entrance for hotel guests and also annual pass holders (if they wish). That saves a lot of hassle for those who walk to the entrance.

I would then make the pathway to the park entrance much nicer. Proper paving, shelter, perm lighting and audio as well and more direct than the round a bout way it takes currently winding round the edge of the car parks, and also along that road.

It really isn’t that far of a walk, and during covid everyone Seemed to manage fine with it.

Removing the monorail station near the hotels would also open up that area a bit, and could be made into more parking or better access to the hotels and golf. And with the track gone, you could also put a proper pathway along the edge of the car parks, or even totally redesign the car parks.
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Tbh deck the existing track add glass walls and roof lovely panoramic walk utilising the old monorail system …
 
Perhaps they could do something similar to the travelators connecting the car parks and CityWalk at Universal Orlando Resort that runs along the current route of the monorail?

This would keep the views and make getting to the park easier than if you were walking, but it would also not have the long queues and high operating costs of the monorail!

Here’s a video of what I’m referring to:
 
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