List of monorail systems

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Monorail systems have been built in many countries around the world, many of them on elevated tracks through crowded areas that would otherwise require the construction of expensive underground lines or have the disadvantages of surface lines.

Contents 1 Operational monorails 1.1 Africa 1.1.1 South Africa 1.2 Asia 1.2.1 China 1.2.2 Japan 1.2.3 Malaysia 1.2.4 Singapore 1.2.5 South Korea 1.2.6 Thailand 1.2.7 United Arab Emirates 1.3 Europe 1.4 North America 1.5 South America 1.6 Australia 2 Monorails under construction 3 Proposed monorails 3.1 Africa 3.2 Americas 3.3 Asia 3.4 Europe 3.5 Oceania 4 Decommissioned monorails 4.1 Asia 4.2 Australia 4.3 Europe 4.4 North America 4.5 South America 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Operational monorails

This is a listing of monorails that are presently operating and open to the public. Only true monorails (self-propelled, vehicle wider than track) are included; see People mover for a list of "monorail-like" systems.

[edit] Africa

[edit] South Africa

• The Expo Centre in Nasrec, Johannesburg (located next to the 2010 FIFA World Cup FNB Stadium) hosts a monorail^[1] that is operated during major events such as the Rand Easter Show

[edit] Asia

[edit] China

• Chongqing Metro line 2, Chongqing
• Shanghai Maglev Train, Shanghai
• Happy Line, Shenzhen.
• Window of the World Monorail, at the Window of the World amusement park, Shenzhen

[edit] Japan

Japan has employed monorails in many cities, including:

• Chiba Urban Monorail (Townliner) in Chiba, a satellite city of Tokyo
• Disney Resort Line
• Kitakyūshū Monorail in Kokura, north Kyūshū
• Okinawa Monorail (Yui Rail) in Naha, Okinawa
• Osaka Monorail
• Shōnan Monorail in Kanagawa Prefecture, in the southern outskirts of Tokyo
• Skyrail Midorizaka Line, a commuter line in a residential development suburb of Hiroshima
• Tama Toshi Monorail Line in and around Tama, west Tokyo
• Tokyo Monorail is the world's busiest and most commercially successful monorail line, carrying around 100 million passengers yearly.
• Ueno Zoo Monorail which links the two sectors of the the zoo in Ueno park, again in Tokyo

[edit] Malaysia

• Kuala Lumpur Monorail - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Genting Monorail - linking the Genting Outdoor Theme Park with the indoor one in First World Plaza.

[edit] Singapore

• Jurong BirdPark Panorail. Three-station Von Roll monorail in Jurong BirdPark.
• Sentosa Express. Four-station Hitachi "Small" monorail.

[edit] South Korea

• Lotte World, two station amusement park monorail.
• Taedok Science Town Monorail, site of the Taejŏn Expo '93.

[edit] Thailand

• Chiang Mai Zoo Monorail, Chiang Mai Zoo.
• Dream World Theme Park in the northern side of Bangkok has a monorail attraction in Adventure Land.
• Pattaya Park Resort in Chon Buri province has an operating monorail transit.

[edit] United Arab Emirates

• Palm Jumeirah Monorail, Dubai.

[edit] Europe

• Belgium: There are monorails in the Plopsaland, Bellewaerde and Bobbejaanland theme parks.
• Finland has a monorail in the Linnanmaki amusement park.
• Germany has a suspended monorail in Wuppertal, the Schwebebahn Wuppertal, dating back to 1901.

Dresden's Schwebebahn uses a similar system.

There are monorails in the Europa-Park, Heide Park and Phantasialand theme parks.

There is a smaller type of suspended Monorail (H-Bahn, "Hängebahn" or "hanging railway") at the campus of the university of Dortmund. This system is also used for the Düsseldorf SkyTrain, which operates at Düsseldorf International Airport.

There is also the experimental Transrapid Maglev ("magnetic levitation") railway system built in Emsland. This prototype was subsequently developed by a German consortium into the world's first commercial Maglev railway: the Shanghai Maglev Train which runs from the Longyang Road station on the Shanghai Metro to to Shanghai's International Airport.

• Ireland: Listowel was the site of the world's first commercial monorail, named the Lartigue system after Charles Lartigue who constructed this railway in 1888. A straddle-type monorail on a triangular beam, it was perhaps the only passenger monorail to also regularly carry freight and cattle. An historical recreation now exists and carries passengers as an entertainment.
• Italy: Ravenna Amusement Park in Savio, 2 stations, 2 km.
• Netherlands: there is a monorail located at the Slagharen amusement park and one located at Ouwehands Zoo.
• Russia: the Moscow Monorail Transit System opened in 2004 has 6 stations, 4.7 km.
• United Kingdom: monorail systems at Chester Zoo - Alton Towers - Blackpool Pleasure Beach (relocated from 1964 Lausanne fair in Switzerland^[2]) - Flamingoland theme parks - National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, Hampshire.

[edit] North America

Monorails can be found in the following places in North America:

• Disneyland Monorail System, Disneyland, Anaheim, California - Known as the "First daily operating Monorail system in the Western Hemisphere"
• Niles Monorail in Fremont, California. This fully-operational, homebuilt, backyard monorail was constructed by monorail enthusiast, Kim Pedersen
• Walt Disney World Monorail System, Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida - Serves over fifty million passengers yearly
• Miami MetroZoo, in Miami, Florida - Connects major exhibits at the zoo
• JTA Skyway, in Jacksonville, Florida - Connects the main JTA bus terminal to the convention center and other downtown destinations, as well as a Park and ride garage
• Pearlridge Center in Aiea, HI, near Honolulu. The monorail is named "Skycab," and connects the Uptown part of the mall to the Downtown part of the mall. It is the only monorail system in Hawaii.
• Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, Minnesota
• Las Vegas Monorail, Las Vegas, Nevada - public transit
• Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey - AirTrain Newark connects terminals, parking lots, and Amtrak/NJ Transit Northeast Corridor rail station
• Hershey, Pennsylvania - amusement monorail at Hersheypark
• Lancaster, Pennsylvania - amusement monorail at Dutch Wonderland [1]
• Memphis, Tennessee - a short monorail connects Mud Island in the Mississippi River to Memphis.
• Dallas, Texas - Amusement ride at Dallas Zoo
• Seattle, Washington - short monorail (Seattle Center Monorail) built for the Century 21 Exposition in 1962
• Six Flags La Ronde in Montreal, Quebec - once part of a larger monorail systems built for Expo 67
• Tampa International Airport in Tampa, Florida - installed in 1991 for transportation between the parking garage and different Airsides. It was the first monorail in that cars are completely computer operated.
• Bronx Zoo in Bronx, New York City to visit Wild Asia exhibit in the Bronx Zoo
• California State Fair monorail in Sacramento, California on the fairgrounds at CalExpo

[edit] South America

• Poços de Caldas, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais have a monorail since 1990. It has not been successful as a mass transit system, and nowadays is mostly used as a tourist attraction. It extends for 6 km, comprising 11 stations. There is a second monorail in the city of Poços de Caldas that is now decommissioned due to a failure in the track. The train sits on display at the station in the city center.

[edit] Australia

• Metro Monorail, Sydney, Australia
• The Gold Coast, Queensland has two monorails:
  • A 2 km monorail around the Sea World Theme Park which was the first monorail in Australia.
  • A link between Conrad Jupiters Casino and the nearby Oasis Shopping Centre in Broadbeach.

[edit] Monorails under construction

Physical construction work has started on the following monorails:

• Jakarta Monorail, Jakarta, Indonesia. Construction suspended.
• Mumbai Monorail, India.^[3]
• Calabar Monorail, Nigeria [2]
• Putrajaya Monorail, Malaysia. Construction suspended.
• Skybus Metro, Margao, Goa, India. 1.6 km test track built, construction of 10.5 km public track suspended.
• Wolmido Monorail, Incheon, South Korea. [3]

[edit] Proposed monorails

[edit] Africa

• Lagos, Nigeria ^[4]
• Johannesburg, South Africa ^[5]
• Cape Town, South Africa ^[5]

[edit] Americas

• Sherbourne Conference Center Monorail, Saint Michael, Barbados^[6]
• Managua, Nicaragua
• Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Maglev ^[7]
• Atlanta - Nashville - Maglev^[7]
• Washington - Baltimore - Maglev^[7]
• As part of the DestiNY USA project in Syracuse, a monorail from Syracuse University to Syracuse Hancock International Airport via downtown and the DestiNY complexes is planned.
• New York - Stony Brook University
• Pittsburgh International Airport - Pittsburgh - Greensburg, Pennsylvania - Maglev^[8]
• Tampa-Orlando, Florida, United States. Proposed, currently suspended. Unified monorail system to link major Florida cities and suburbs. Extensive networks are planned in Tampa, and possibly Orlando, for the purposes of intra-metro transport.
• Austin, Texas, United States.^{[citation needed]}
• Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Canada
• Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil^[9], proposed as part of development plan for the FIFA World Cup 2014

[edit] Asia

• Delhi Monorail, New Delhi
• Kolkata Monorail, India. Approved by the Government.^{[citation needed]}
• Amritsar, India. Connecting the Raja Sansi International Airport to the Golden Temple,was approved in September, 2007 and is designed to cut pollution and possibly connect other important links in city.
• Chandigarh Monorail, India. Currently awaiting final designs and approvals.
• West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong, linking the WKCD with Tsim Sha Tsui
• Tehran Monorail, Iran. In final stages of planning. The project to construct the monorail lines that would extend across the capital is predicted to be completed within three years, however the first phase of the project is to be inaugurated in 2009.

^[10]

• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, four new lines in addition to the current one: Petaling Jaya monorail, Subang Jaya monorail, Sungei Buloh monorail and Cheras monorail.^{[citation needed]}
• Malacca Monorail, Malacca, Malaysia
• Penang Monorail, Malaysia
• JB Monorail in Johor Bahru, Malaysia
• Lahore, Pakistan
• Karachi, Pakistan
• Islamabad, Pakistan
• Mecca Monorail, Saudi Arabia
• Daegu, South Korea
• Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

[edit] Europe

• Istanbul Monorail, Turkey^[11]
• Birmingham Monorail, United Kingdom^[12]
• Preston Monorail, United Kingdom^[13]
• Kraków, Poland: Will connect airport, downtown and Show place.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Oceania

• Geelong-Melbourne-Frankston, Australia Proposed to combat the rapidly growing population around Port Philip Bay. The proposal will feature a monorail linking the regional city of Geelong to Melbourne and on to the south-east suburb of Frankston while passing through Avalon Airport and Tullamarine. Travel time between Geelong and Melbourne will be around 20 mins.^{[citation needed]}

• Wellington, New Zealand [4]

[edit] Decommissioned monorails

[edit] Asia

• Monkey Park Monorail Line, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan (1962-2008)
• Nara Dreamland Monorail, Nara Dreamland, Japan (1961-2006)
• Patiala State Monorail Trainways, Punjab, India (1910-1927)
• Sunway Monorail, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Served Sunway City, including Sunway Pyramid mall and Sunway Lagoon theme park and the surrounding. Decommissioned and partly dismantled to allow mall expansion.
• Sentosa Monorail, Singapore (1982–2005). Replaced by the Sentosa Express monorail.
• Fashion Island Monorail, Bangkok, Thailand. Short indoor amusement park monorail in Fashion Island shopping center. Decommissioned due to an accident which killed 2 riders.
• Tuk-Tuk Monorail, Bangkok. Half indoor-outdoor monorail tour operated between LeoLand amusement park and the water park. The track is still located in the 6th floor of Central City Bang Na.

[edit] Australia

• Brisbane, Queensland once had a Von Roll Type II monorail, which was built for World Expo '88. Four sets, consisting of nine carriages each, operated in a continuous loop throughout the Expo site. A single train set was sold to Sea World, Gold Coast, for expansion of its monorail system. It is unknown where the other sets and track were relocated to.

[edit] Europe

• Milngavie, near Glasgow, had an experimental high-speed propellor-powered monorail, the Bennie Rail Plane, built during 1929-30 and abandoned during the Great Depression.
• Butlins Skegness Camp, Skegness, United Kingdom (1964–2003) — the first commercial monorail in the UK
• Birmingham Airport had a magnetic levitation train which had to be closed down due it becoming life expired and a lack of spare parts. It was later rebuilt as a more conventional elevated rail system.
• Merry Hill Shopping Centre, Brierley Hill, West Midlands had a Von Roll Mk III Series monorail which opened in June 1991 but only worked for a short while before finally being sold off in 1996. The rolling stock now operates in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. Reasons for the closure of this system include a combination of technical problems and safety concerns (especially the difficulty of evacuation), exacerbated by a dispute between the owners of Merry Hill and The Waterfront which at this time were owned separately.
• Seville Expo '92
• France has two abandoned test tracks for the Aérotrain, which can be considered monorails. One is between Limours and Gometz-la-Ville and the other between Saran and Artenay. France also had a suspended monorail the SAFEGE that featured in the film Fahrenheit 451.
• Russia had one suspended monorail build in 1899 at a leisure park. A horse-pulled monorail was already been build in 1820 in Myachkove near Moscow.

[edit] North America

• Busch Gardens Africa also had a monorail, the Veldt Monorail. It shut down in 1999 due to upkeep cost.
• Busch Gardens Europe had a monorail, Eagle One, that connected the theme park with the nearby Anheuser-Busch brewery. Park visitors could tour the brewery and return via monorail. The setup lost money; the tours were discontinued and Eagle One dismantled in the 1990s.
• Expo 86 in Vancouver, British Columbia had a monorail that was moved to Alton Towers in the United Kingdom.
• Kings Dominion near Richmond, Virginia had a monorail as the conveyance for visitors to its Lion Country Safari attraction, which was removed after the 1993 season.
• Oklahoma State Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (1964–2005)
• The Pelham Park and City Island Railroad in the Bronx, New York, New York operated a short-lived monorail system in 1910. It ceased operation after an accident.^{[citation needed]}
• The Philadelphia Zoo had a monorail in the 1970s and 1980's, but was discontinued in the 1990s.
• Toronto Zoo Domain Ride, Toronto (1976–1994)
• Miami Seaquarium Spacerail, Miami Seaquarium (1963–1991)
• The Wgasa Bush Line at the San Diego Wild Animal Park near Escondido, California was shut down in March 2007. It was a five mile (eight km) long, one hour tour around the large area devoted to animal environments.
• Flushing Meadow Park New York, New York had a monorail during the 1964 New York World's Fair

[edit] South America

• Brazil had a monorail in Rio de Janeiro that linked the large Barra Shopping mall to its parking lot. After its destruction, only one part of the track and the platform still remain in the parking lot (second floor, behind the Fnac dome).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• [5]http://www.themerryhillcentre.co.uk/monorail.html
• [6] Light Rail Transit Association fact sheet on Monorails.
• [7] Everything2.com page with information about the Merry Hill Monorail submitted by local people.
• [8] The 'Monorails in Australia' page of The Monorail Society.
• [9] Birmingham (UK) International Airport information about the former Maglev and its replacement.
• [10] The Monorail Society