Monorail Refurbishment

[TroySmith1]

The monorail makes the experience feel more
Magical into towers, I hope they keep it and refurbished the trains eventually. Please no buses!


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[Dave]

It's this junction that'd be a bugger



The land to the right is not owned by the park. If the park was happy to sacrifice minibus parking access it might work if they made it bus only access so the buses don't need to use the main drive. Any route using the main drive would not work.

That land is owned by the park.

 

[Poisson]

Interesting they let animals on it when not in use as a car park then

 

[Mattie boy]

Interesting they let animals on it when not in use as a car park then

Does it still get used? Only fireworks surely?

 

[AT86]

Interesting they let animals on it when not in use as a car park then

Free lawn care.

 

[djtruefitt]

Does it still get used? Only fireworks surely?

Usually the last week of Scarefest and fireworks it gets used. But I don’t think as much as it used to, as they limit tickets for fireworks now and it’s usually a lot less than they would have let in the park a few years back.

 

[Archie]

I think on the monorail, a new system would be the single biggest investment in the parks history because transport infrastructure is hugely expensive. the monorail that runs at the moment has been out of production for decades and the track is very unique being made from steel and actually having up stop wheels, unlike other systems using concrete, so replacement trains would have to be custom designed which would also be very expensive. considering how short the system is, I don't actually think a new monorail would be the solution because monorails in production now are generally much larger than towers one and I think would be too bulky. I think APMs Automated People Movers would be a good fit, they are trains that run on rubber tyres on concrete guideways, they are very reliable, completely automatic, fast and high capacity. the tech is also tried and tested with hundreds being built at airports around the world. Their are a few types, self propelled so basically an electric train or a cable funicular. I personally think either would work well since the concept is the same.

 

[Poisson]

Or do something silly like the Marconi Express and get Intamin to build it.

 

[Dave]

Interesting they let animals on it when not in use as a car park then

helps relations with local farmers and saves cutting the grass.

They have planning permission to make changes to it and use it as parking for I think 50 days a year but they haven’t actually implemented it.

 

[ScottishChris]

I think on the monorail, a new system would be the single biggest investment in the parks history because transport infrastructure is hugely expensive. the monorail that runs at the moment has been out of production for decades and the track is very unique being made from steel and actually having up stop wheels, unlike other systems using concrete, so replacement trains would have to be custom designed which would also be very expensive. considering how short the system is, I don't actually think a new monorail would be the solution because monorails in production now are generally much larger than towers one and I think would be too bulky. I think APMs Automated People Movers would be a good fit, they are trains that run on rubber tyres on concrete guideways, they are very reliable, completely automatic, fast and high capacity. the tech is also tried and tested with hundreds being built at airports around the world. Their are a few types, self propelled so basically an electric train or a cable funicular. I personally think either would work well since the concept is the same.

Whilst an ideal replacement, just for perspective the Luton Airport DART, which is a similar length, cost £90m to build. I know a Towers system wouldn't be as complex, but even at half the cost you would still be looking at £45m. Heck, 10% of the cost is almost the cost of a new coaster! For a method of getting people from a car park to the entrance that is still insane money.

The monorail at Disney cost the equivalent of $2.5m to build (before trains and in the 70's). These types of transit cost an insane amount of money to build. Companies who historically built these systeme for parks such as Mack, and Intamin seem to have de-listed them from their product line-up too.

I think that if you look at it from a unemotional, purely practical point of view they really dont make sense. Road trains/ buses on a dedicated roadway could literally cost 1/10th to build and a fraction to maintain.

 

[Dave]

I think on the monorail, a new system would be the single biggest investment in the parks history because transport infrastructure is hugely expensive. the monorail that runs at the moment has been out of production for decades and the track is very unique being made from steel and actually having up stop wheels, unlike other systems using concrete, so replacement trains would have to be custom designed which would also be very expensive. considering how short the system is, I don't actually think a new monorail would be the solution because monorails in production now are generally much larger than towers one and I think would be too bulky. I think APMs Automated People Movers would be a good fit, they are trains that run on rubber tyres on concrete guideways, they are very reliable, completely automatic, fast and high capacity. the tech is also tried and tested with hundreds being built at airports around the world. Their are a few types, self propelled so basically an electric train or a cable funicular. I personally think either would work well since the concept is the same.

It’s likely Mack are designing a monorail for Europa Park and chances are they will model
It on their existing VR monorail which is the same model as Towers.

If Merlin are sensible they would speak to them and see if there is anything to be gained from sharing some R&D burden to get a system that’s more a refresh rather than a whole new build.

 

[Thameslink Rail]

The Luton Dart did not cost £90m, that was how much the budget was increased by in 2022, The actual cost was about £300m. It virtually bankrupted the council and they've been trying to recuperate the money by charging £4.90 per person each way (most expensive railway per mile in the UK). Admittedly the Luton Dart had a lot of extra costs that Towers wouldn't have due to the number of bridges and tunnels required but it is still very expensive. Note that the monorail system we currently have at Alton Towers was bought second hand.

 

[ScottishChris]

The Luton Dart did not cost £90m, that was how much the budget was increased by in 2022, The actual cost was about £300m. It virtually bankrupted the council and they've been trying to recuperate the money by charging £4.90 per person each way (most expensive railway per mile in the UK). Admittedly the Luton Dart had a lot of extra costs that Towers wouldn't have due to the number of bridges and tunnels required but it is still very expensive. Note that the monorail system we currently have at Alton Towers was bought second hand.

Thanks for the clarification. Even at 1% of the DART actual cost - it would be too much for a basic transportation system IMO.
The first ever time I went to Towers I was so excited by the monorail. I then queued for around 20 minuites to get on. I was packed into a car with wooden benches surrounded by screaming kids, grumpy adults and everyone was coughing and spluttering. My over-riding memory of it was how bad it smelled too! Can you tell, I'm not a fan? I'm strictly a walker now.

 

[rob666]

Fine if you have the knees. It is a lot of walking after you get in!
We have always focused on mid/off peak, but to me the system was a joy to behold...you usually got walk on, train waiting in station, as it filled, your train pulled out of the station as the next one pulled in.
On busier days, it was a constant slow shuffle up the nice mural painted ramp.
Modern, fun clean entrance flow solution of high order, with a grand show of the park...that they have failed to maintain properly, and now operated as a very poor shadow of the system it once was.

 

[Matt N]

I don’t think I’ve taken the monorail to the park in quite a few years. It normally has a huge queue by the time I arrive.

I do occasionally take it back to the car park when we’ve come for a 2 day trip and leave at about 2-3pm on the second day (which is quite common when we visit Alton Towers for 2 days), and I do quite like it, as I like the views of the park it offers! However, I’d love it if they would change the windows so that you can see out of them a little bit better; the current windows don’t offer the best view, in my opinion.

One problem, however, with revamping the monorail significantly or replacing it is that as identified above, monorails cost a lot of money. A brand new monorail would probably be out of Alton Towers’ price range, particularly if they did what many discuss and extended it towards the Enchanted Village belt of the accommodation offerings. I think something like trams, land trains or shuttle buses are probably more within Alton Towers’ price range and also more easily extendable towards the further reaches of the resort, like the Enchanted Village.

 

[rob666]

I'm driving a magnificent twenty five year old shed, about to upgrade to a thirty year old magnificent top of the range estate shed, with all the bits...working.
Good for another hundred thousand miles, according to the mechanic I've used for thirty years.
Cheap, and efficient use of precious resources...don't scrap, reuse and recycle.
They have lots of parts, replacement bits can be reverse engineered quickly and cost effectively if they haven't.
All it needs is the time and effort.

 

[evilcod]

I'm driving a magnificent twenty five year old shed, about to upgrade to a thirty year old magnificent top of the range estate shed, with all the bits...working.
Good for another hundred thousand miles, according to the mechanic I've used for thirty years.
Cheap, and efficient use of precious resources...don't scrap, reuse and recycle.
They have lots of parts, replacement bits can be reverse engineered quickly and cost effectively if they haven't.
All it needs is the time and effort.

Monorail has been open 36 years (at Towers)
Park is open lets say 230 days a year
36*230 = 8,280 days of operation

Monorail runs 9:30 till 5:30 so 8 hours
8*8280 = 66,240 hours of operation

Speed is approx 17mph
17*66,240 = 1,126,090 miles covered

Distance from Earth to the Moon is 238,855 miles
1,126,080/238,855 = 4.71 moon trips

I'd say they have got a fair amount from it at this point

 

[ItsAllGood]

Monorail has been open 36 years (at Towers)
Park is open lets say 230 days a year
36*230 = 8,280 days of operation

Monorail runs 9:30 till 5:30 so 8 hours
8*8280 = 66,240 hours of operation

Speed is approx 17mph
17*66,240 = 1,126,090 miles covered

Distance from Earth to the Moon is 238,855 miles
1,126,080/238,855 = 4.71 moon trips

I'd say they have got a fair amount from it at this point

dont forget about the year it didnt open, 2020

PS Love that someones done the maths for this

 

[rob666]

Only five trips to the moon?

 

[Zeock]

The monorail can have very large queues. To improve the current monorail, the first thing to do is to change the windows so that you can properly see out of them.