Go away! There ain't no monorail and there never was
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Monorail Refurbishment
- Thread starter WallisDan
- Start date
Coming to this thread after being at the park yesterday for the first time in 4 years.
The monorail is embarrassing. Dirty, slow and not fit for purpose.
It's such a shame as I remember going to the park for the first time in 1995 as a teenager and having that magic "wow" moment as the monorail went past nemesis. I remember it so vividly now.
That's what cemented Alton Towers as the magical place I hold dear. So many memories.
The initial (and last) experience a guest gets is what frames the day. I think they need this to future-proof the park, even if it costs them a bomb.
I think the decline in the park's polish was when the advertising on rides started (Cadbury's Heroes for air?!) and the decals on the monorail - you could no longer see the rides well through the windows to marvel at the park you're entering.
I'd advocate till I'm blue in the face for them to keep the monorail track / route and get new trains as there are so many new visitors who should have that "wow" moment I had in the 90s to fall in love with theme parks.
Edit: typos
The monorail is embarrassing. Dirty, slow and not fit for purpose.
It's such a shame as I remember going to the park for the first time in 1995 as a teenager and having that magic "wow" moment as the monorail went past nemesis. I remember it so vividly now.
That's what cemented Alton Towers as the magical place I hold dear. So many memories.
The initial (and last) experience a guest gets is what frames the day. I think they need this to future-proof the park, even if it costs them a bomb.
I think the decline in the park's polish was when the advertising on rides started (Cadbury's Heroes for air?!) and the decals on the monorail - you could no longer see the rides well through the windows to marvel at the park you're entering.
I'd advocate till I'm blue in the face for them to keep the monorail track / route and get new trains as there are so many new visitors who should have that "wow" moment I had in the 90s to fall in love with theme parks.
Edit: typos
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flyingguitar
TS Member
I don't know how much it would be to get new trains (would depend on who and how it was done, could be mack, could be bombardier)
but apart from fully removing all transport options I struggle to see an option that would be significantly lower:
Tram / land train / bus would require modifications to the entrance and roads (if I were Alton, I would make the current pedestrian path one direction (probably to the entrance) and extend the tarmac for the return route and some working out) in addition to buying the vehicles.
Any people mover would require track work and any vehicles, I struggle to think it would be cheaper in any way.
A sky way could be possible, but I am not sure how expensive it would be and it would require turns, (not too cheap) or going over the trees (good luck with planning permission)
I struggle to think of any more solutions.
flyingguitar
TS Member
From the general discussion, could be very relevant here, as it proves buses can work for a replacement in the event of removal of, or during works on the monorail.
Last weekend of the 2024 season, and it seems that even the staff bus drivers are having fun with some off-season speculation tomfoolery!
(recall people saying they would have to modify the roads)
AT86
TS Member
The amount of people that need moving between the park and hotels/car park over the winter event is tiny compared to the full season.
Skyscraper
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
The winter season has much lower crowds though, they'd need a heck of a lot of busses to meet demand in Summer.
Edit: just beaten by @AT86!
flyingguitar
TS Member
they could use larger busses, for instance a double decker bus or bendy bus has the same capacity per vehicle as the monorail so they could have similar dispatch interval to currently for a similar hourly capacity, about 5 mins last time I went, assuming an 8 min round trip, and 2 mins either end for loading you could use just 2 busses in terms of traffic there wouldn't be much added even using 6 busses for triple the current capacity there probably wouldn't be a dramatic increase in traffic.
Leigh
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- EGF
Maglev or bust imo
DistortAMG
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- POTC Disneyland Paris
I do not think busses would be viable, not in the main summer season. The busses would choke up the already constrained internal roads on a busy day. You would also need a heck of a lot of busses to meet the demand, choking up the roads even more.
I would have thought some temporary basic servicing (flat tires etc) and refuelling zone would need to be implemented somewhere on site. This wouldn't be too difficult.
But I think the busses, while not impossible, would cause more problems than they resolve.
I would have thought some temporary basic servicing (flat tires etc) and refuelling zone would need to be implemented somewhere on site. This wouldn't be too difficult.
But I think the busses, while not impossible, would cause more problems than they resolve.
Jb85
TS Member
Sky ride extension ?
DistortAMG
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- POTC Disneyland Paris
I think it would need to be a whole new system to service the carparks to the entrance, but Disney have proved, this is a viable alternative to the monorail. Possibly cheaper too.
flyingguitar
TS Member
The monorail can only hold 96 people (https://towersstreet.com/theme-park/ride/monorail/#factfile) a bendy bus can hold up to 120 people (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16091997)
I think you could use the current roads without much change required if it enters and leaves via the coach part thing, the morning would be quite easy, use the road that goes to the forbidden valley car park (right at the traffic light) the road is set up quite well for it with one way being enter and the other being exit. the end of the day is more interesting as those roads tend to be exit only, but perhaps it could switch to going left at the lights and making some loop round the carpark and hotels with some stops then joining and crossing back over the lights.
this would have minimal impact on traffic, only using one road which can get busy (in the morning the road towards forbidden valley car park)
to match current capacity they could probably use 2 buses but could problem use some more and I don't think there would be much impact on traffic
Edit: They could probably look at moving the barriers for parking to that left entrance making it 2 lanes in the prominent direction (entering / exiting) and make the right primarily a bus lane / utility vehicle and for unusual times (whilst modifying some internal roads to exit/enter through there as well such as the hotels)
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QTXAdsy
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Black Hole
You forgot to mention that many here are tight fisted as hell, they boast they can do better transport than down south until they look at the price, get cold feet and run a mile.
IF they were to replace the monorail, I just had a thought on what I think would be an amazing replacment.
A vernicular, this is similar to a sky way, accept rarther than having 50 gondolas they use 2 big ones running on tracks and reverse it each time it enters the station,
They could then do it up similar to how universal did up the hogwarts express (it is also a vernicular) and I would imagine it would be cheaper to run than currently as it is only uses one big motors (the trains are usually having batteries they charge whilst in the stations (not sure on how universal did the harry potter power, possibly pick up rails) or using generators)
They could then follow the curent monorail path and theme certain areas to a railway track (such as near TCAAM and katanga, and have it themed to viaducts or bridges.
This would also free up the monorail storage and maitanence sheds for development.
A vernicular, this is similar to a sky way, accept rarther than having 50 gondolas they use 2 big ones running on tracks and reverse it each time it enters the station,
They could then do it up similar to how universal did up the hogwarts express (it is also a vernicular) and I would imagine it would be cheaper to run than currently as it is only uses one big motors (the trains are usually having batteries they charge whilst in the stations (not sure on how universal did the harry potter power, possibly pick up rails) or using generators)
They could then follow the curent monorail path and theme certain areas to a railway track (such as near TCAAM and katanga, and have it themed to viaducts or bridges.
This would also free up the monorail storage and maitanence sheds for development.
GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Ug Bugs
I think you mean funicular, a cable railway. Not vernacular, the language or dialect spoken by ordinary people in a given region.
Funicular - Wikipedia
yeah, this is it in universal:I think you mean funicular, a cable railway. Not vernacular, the language or dialect spoken by ordinary people in a given region.
Funicular - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
