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Re: Monorails [was Light Rail forum in Portland
- Subject: Re: Monorails [was Light Rail forum in Portland
- From: David McLoughlin <davemclNOSPAM@iprolink.co.nz>
- Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2000 16:01:41 +1200
- Newsgroups: misc.transport.urban-transit,aus.rail
- Organization: Not worth asking
- References: <7A8b5.1624$_6.200486@dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net> <yVei5.72$wR6.54534@dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net> <5jZi5.24114$sO2.88504@typhoon.tampabay.rr.com> <04de96db.b02a026d@usw-ex0106-046.remarq.com> <8mpg0i$ccf$1@flotsam.uits.indiana.edu> <sp0ojkkp63a57@corp.supernews.com> <8n2h9t$f98$1@freenet9.carleton.ca>
- Xref: bclass.spectrum.com.au aus.rail:15851
Colin R. Leech wrote:
> That pretty much sums up the usage of monorails: amusement park rides. If
> it were a serious contender in the world of true public transit systems
> for urban areas, we'd see a lot more of them already.
Not only are monorails engineeringly difficult, low of speed and low of
carrying capacity, they are also damned ugly. You should see the ugly
monorail track above some of the streets in Sydney, where a line for
tourists was built in the 1980s and remains now because nobody will pay
to have it pulled down.
Despite the stupidity of monorails, many people, including many
politicians and transit planners, still promote them as some kind of
"way of the future" and as a result, many ordinary people think they are
a good idea.
They were a 60s fad that fortunately came to little. Like the Jetsons.
David McLoughlin
Auckland New Zealand