[M II A II R II K]

I don't know if it's been thought of or conceptualized before but I wonder what the feasibility of adding monorail lines downtown, preferably 2 way.

Not necessarily to be suspended above streets but in between buildings above alley ways would be better, and they would be out the way.

Perhaps circle lines would do best.

 

[CDL.TO]

Why? What is the advantage of monorails over traditional rail modes? Why have so few been built around the world (and even then those which have been built have been for the purposes of tourism).

 

[M II A II R II K]

Maybe to act as some kind of people mover system that only stops at popular and regularly visited sites like the Eaton Centre, City Hall, Skydome, and alike.

 

[unimaginative2]

I think what he's suggesting is a kind of downtown distributor transit system. There is some merit to the idea, especially in parts of the financial district and waterfront. It could serve to take away some of the short trips from the subway system downtown, and make GO Transit service to Union more attractive. The cost would be high, however, and there are much better ways to relieve the downtown subway lines, like a new east-west subway downtown.

 

[Therion]

Have the Simpsons taught us nothing? Look at Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook...
MONORAILLLLL... MONORAILLLL.... MONORAILLLL!!!!! Mono! D'oh!

But seriously, monorails are expensive to build and maintain, don't have high capacity and nobody wants them running in their backyard. They seem to do well as high speed connectors between semi-distant areas, like downtowns and airports. Shanghai seems to have built a pretty successful monorail line, a maglev one at that, but they razed a lot of homes to build it. That sort of thing would never fly in Canada.

 

[unimaginative2]

There is a huge difference between a monorail, like at Disney World, and a high-speed maglev, like the one in Shanghai. The first is a tourist attraction and, at best, a medium-capacity distributor. The latter is a revolutionary technology that could transform intercity travel. It is able to travel at speeds above 500 km/h much more quietly than a normal train at a fraction of the speed. It also has no moving parts, dramatically reducing maintenance requirements, and offers a smooth and comfortable ride.

There is nothing inherent in the maglev technology that requires demolishing homes. That's just the route they happened to choose in Shanghai. There's no reason why they couldn't be built in existing rail corridors or underground.

 

[M II A II R II K]

I think what he's suggesting is a kind of downtown distributor transit system. There is some merit to the idea, especially in parts of the financial district and waterfront. It could serve to take away some of the short trips from the subway system downtown, and make GO Transit service to Union more attractive. The cost would be high, however, and there are much better ways to relieve the downtown subway lines, like a new east-west subway downtown.

That's what I was thinking.

But seriously, monorails are expensive to build and maintain, don't have high capacity and nobody wants them running in their backyard.

Well as for the backyard thing I was thinking of just downtown, and was thinking if it were like the one at the airport, the suspended rails are thin and not really intrusive at all, but of course the cars would have to be a bit longer.

The expense to build it maybe worth it, not sure about maintenance costs being worthwhile though.

 

[Hipster Duck]

We have a great short-distance downtown circulator system. It's called walking.

 

[urbanfan89]

The Shanghai maglev has been universally ridiculed as a white elephant. It's proprietary technology, it's expensive, it isn't compatible with current infrastructure (the maglev stops on the outskirts of the city a long metro ride from the centre), and the government didn't address concerns of the health effects from electromagnetic waves and why dense apartments were built right beside the line.

In fact NIMBYism has stalled the project. If high-speed maglevs can be killed by NIMBYs in an authoritarian dictatorship, they sure as hell won't fly in Canada.

 

[unimaginative2]

The Shanghai maglev is a problematic project because of the alignment chosen and a terminal that is distant from the downtown. It has absolutely nothing to do with the technology.

Beware of claims that a transit project is a "white elephant". They tend to come from right-wingers who oppose any investment that has to do with transit.

The electromagnetic radiation argument is pretty absurd. These people seem to pop up everywhere in NIMBY circles. There was one lady out at the Scarborough RT meeting opposing the RT because of possible electromagnetic radiation.

 

[wyliepoon]

I've been on the Shanghai maglev line. Almost the entire line runs above farmland, so I don't get where the claim that the maglev line was rammed through residential neighbourhoods is coming from. (In contrast, the Shanghai Metro is built through dense residential neighbourhoods that had to be demolished when the subway came in)

*****

As for the discussion on monorails here... perhaps this is the afterlife of the ICTS trains currently running on the Scarborough RT. A Toronto People Mover that will look exactly like Detroit's.

 

[unimaginative2]

It's the extension on to Hongqiao that's controversial, as it will go through built up areas. They built the easy part through farmland first. It's really sad that this is all getting blamed on the maglev technology. A steel wheel on rail route on the same alignment would provoke even more NIMBY opposition, due to the wider corridor needed and the higher noise levels.

 

[adma]

Then there's the Morgantown PRT

 

[urbanfan89]

Beware of claims that a transit project is a "white elephant". They tend to come from right-wingers who oppose any investment that has to do with transit.

I'm 1000% sure something along the lines of RER from the old city, through Pudong City, and then towards the Pudong Airport would be cheaper and better integrated to the regional network. NIMBYs won't be as active, given that this is China and NIMBYs didn't stop any conventional rail project (I doubt those who oppose the Transrapid extension are anti-public transit right-wingers). The way it stands the Maglev will be Shanghai's answer to the Scarborough RT.