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A monorail is a railway system in which the track consists of a single rail, typically elevated and with the trains suspended from it. The term is also used to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track. Many monorail systems run on elevated tracks through crowded areas that would otherwise require the construction of expensive underground lines or have the disadvantages of surface lines.
This is a listing of operating monorails that are open to the public. Only true monorails (vehicle wider than track) are included; see people mover for a list of monorail-like systems.
Under construction
Physical construction work has started on the following monorails:
São Paulo, Brazil had another project (Line 18) to build a monorail that would connect São Paulo to the neighbour ABC region. It was cancelled and replaced by a BRT system.
Quebec, Canada. For many years, plans for a high-speed transit system have been tabled. Since the cost for a new train would be too high and that it wouldn't be fit for the Québécois winters, the option for a monorail has been debated. In late 2012 TrensQuébec released two newsletters stating that they've found enough investors and supporting politicians to build a 5-kilometer test track.[23]
Vargas, Venezuela. Proposed. The system would be part of state of Vargas new governor's transportation plan. The project would connect 5 cities: Catia La Mar, Maiquetia, La Guaira, Macuto and Caraballeda. The Swiss corporation Intamil presented the proposal. The trains will ride around 80 km/h and will translate about 60.000 passenger per hour.
Rio de Janeiro had a private monorail that linked Barra Shopping mall to its parking lot. Only one part of the track and the platform still remain, in the parking lot (second floor, behind the Fnac dome). [citation needed]
The Poços de Caldas Monorail was the very first monorail system in Brazil. It operated for 9 years when it went privatized and closed by its buyer. Today the system remains dead.[36]
The Minirail at Expo 67 in Montreal, which joined Pleasure Beach Blackpool in purchasing rail and rolling stock from the monorail system at the 1964 Lausanne exposition, along with new rail cars from the manufacturer.[37][38]
The Boynton Bicycle Railroad was a monorail on Long Island, New York, which ran on a single load-bearing rail at ground level with a wooden overhead stabilising rail engaged by a pair of horizontally opposed wheels.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg 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. Eagle One was dismantled in the 1990s.
Busch Gardens California also had a monorail for the brewery tour. It was dismantled upon park closing however the supports still exist to support brewery piping.
The Centennial Monorail was demonstrated at the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, which was held in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
The Epsom Salts Monorail was "the fastest moving monorail in the world" when it was built from 1922 to 1924 by Thomas Wright, a florist from Los Angeles, who had discovered magnesium salts southwest of Death Valley.
Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, Michigan (outside of Detroit) had a shuttle monorail that connected to the Dearborn Hyatt Regency Hotel to the Fairlane shopping mall.
HemisFair '68 had a monorail that carried visitors around the pavilions during the six-month event. Over 1 million riders[40] used the monorail, which was designed by Universal Design, Ltd. A collision between two trains on September 15, 1968 resulted in one death and 48 injuries.
Geauga Lake operated a monorail from 1969-2006, named the Bel-Aire Express
Jetrail, a suspended monorail, was the world's first fully automated monorail system during operation at Dallas Love Field (1969–1974)
The Trailblazer suspended monorail ran from October 1956 until 1964 at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. The single monorail car was used in Houston for a demonstration prior to its relocation to the State Fair of Texas.[41]
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.
Jungle Jim's International Grocery Store near Cincinnati, Ohio maintained a monorail circulator purchased from Kings Island Theme Park. However, plans are in motion to bring the monorail back online in the future to shuttle people from the grocery store's hotel to the store.
Six Flags Magic Mountain operated a monorail since the park's opening in 1971 and shut down several years ago due to lack of parts.
Fairplex operated a monorail built by the American Crane and Hoist company. The middle 90s saw a new station and new cars built by Arrow Dynamics. The new cars were far heavier than the original and caused it to last only a couple of years more until it was dismantled.
Santa's Village in Skyforest had another American Crane and Hoist monorail that shut down when the park went defunct.
Fashion Island Monorail, Bangkok, Thailand. Short indoor amusement park monorail in Fashion Island shopping center. Decommissioned due to an accident that killed 2 riders.
Tuk-Tuk Monorail, Bangkok. Half indoor-outdoor monorail tour operated between LeoLand amusement park and the water park. The track survives in the 6th floor of Central City Bang Na.
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.
Lartigue Monorail in France and Ireland. A restored 1-kilometre (0.62 mi) section now operates in Listowel.
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.
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 built in 1899 at a leisure park. A horse-pulled monorail was already built in 1820 in Myachkove near Moscow.
Phantasialand: Phantasialand Jet (1974-2008), closed and removed. Manufacturer was the german theme park ride manufacturer Schwarzkopf.
Sydney Monorail (also known as Metro Monorail), Sydney, Australia (closed on 30 June 2013)[50]
Brisbane, Queensland had a Von Roll Type II monorail 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 and some track was sold to Sea World, Gold Coast, in 1989 for expansion of its monorail system. The remainder of the sets and track were bought back by Von Roll.
Oasis Shopping Centre, Broadbeach, Queensland ran between the shopping centre and Conrad Jupiters Casino. The Von Roll Mark III monorail, owned by the Oasis Shopping Centre, consisted of two 4-carriage trains. Two spare carriages that were removed when the system switched from 5-carriage to 4-carriage trains were also kept with the two trains. Most components were original to the Oasis Monorail, but some were sourced from the UK Merry Hill Shopping Centre's former monorail that closed in 1993. As of July, 2017, most of the monorail system has been removed (closed on 29 January 2017).[51]
^Beesley, Paul (2008-07-04). "Behind the scenes - A closer look at Blackpools Monorail". Ridemad. Retrieved 2008-10-09. Pleasure Beach Blackpool bought the monorail in 1964 from the Lausanne expo in Switzerland and it was opened in Pleasure Beach in 1966.