Automated guideway transit

thumb|[[Port Island Line AGT, Kobe, Japan (the world's first mass transit AGT)]]

thumb|[[Véhicule Automatique Léger|VAL-208 type train in the Lille Metro]]

thumb|A [[SkyTrain (Vancouver) rolling stock#Bombardier ART Mark II train fleet|Mark II train in Vancouver, Canada. The SkyTrain is the longest driverless transit system in the Americas.]]

An automated guideway transit (AGT) or automated fixed-guideway transit or automatic guideway transit system is a type of fixed guideway transit infrastructure with a riding or suspension track that supports and physically guides one or more driverless vehicles along its length. The vehicles are often rubber tired or steel wheeled, but other traction systems including air cushion, suspended monorail and maglev have been implemented. The guideway provides both physical support, like a road, as well as the guidance. An automated line can be cheaper to run than a conventional line, due to the shorter trains and stations.

AGT covers a wide variety of systems, from limited people mover systems commonly found at airports, Small AGT systems are also used as circulator or feeder systems within urban centers. The city of Miami installed its Metromover system in 1986 and later extended it by 4.4 miles and added 12 new stations in 1994. Similar Innovia APM 100 systems operate in Singapore's Bukit Panjang district and in Guangzhou, China.

Over time, the aerospace firms that had initially designed most of these systems left the industry and sold off the AGT divisions to other companies. Most of these were picked up by existing transportation conglomerates, and through additional mergers and buyouts, many of these are today owned by either Siemens or Bombardier. During the same period, a number of new companies entered the field with systems designed solely for these smaller installations. Poma, Doppelmayr and the Leitner Group, better known for their ski lift systems, provide AGT systems for the airport market.

Large systems

left|thumb|[[Taipei Metro VAL256 train on the Wenhu line ]]

thumb|right|[[Las Vegas Monorail]]

Although the smaller vehicle systems were not successful in the marketplace, larger AGT were simpler to integrate into existing mass transit systems. Many higher capacity AGT systems that looked and operated in a fashion similar to a small subway have since become a common fixture of many existing metro systems, often as a way to serve outlying areas or as feeders to a metro system. Kobe's Port Liner is the world's first mass transit AGT, which began operating in 1981. It connects Kobe's main rail station, Sannomiya Station, with the dockyard areas and Kobe Airport to the south. Many similar systems have been built elsewhere in Japan. The Véhicule Automatique Léger (VAL) system in Lille, France, opened in 1983, is often cited as the first AGT installed to serve an existing urban area. Larger scale Innovia advanced rapid transit (ART) systems in Toronto, and Vancouver followed in the next few years, and then the Docklands Light Railway in London. VAL and ART systems have seen continued installations around the world such as in Airport Express in Beijing and have been joined by a variety of new systems with similar features, like the AnsaldoBreda Driverless Metro. Automated monorail systems, such as the Innovia Monorail 200 system in Las Vegas, are becoming more common AGT systems. Monorails are less obtrusive because they only require a single, narrow guidebeam.

AGT renaissance

Once limited to larger airports and a small number of metro systems, AGT have undergone something of a renaissance since the late 1990s. Lower capital costs compared to conventional metros have allowed AGT systems to expand quickly, and many of these "small" systems now rival their larger counterparts in any measure. For instance, the Vancouver SkyTrain started operations in 1986, but has expanded so rapidly that its track length roughly matches the Toronto subway which pre-dates it by 30 years.

Although the original introduction of PRT systems did not result in the widespread adoption as expected, Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit in West Virginia's success, along with a renewed interest in new forms of transit, has led to several new PRT projects since 2000. London Heathrow Airport has installed a PRT system, known as ULTra, to connect Terminal 5 with the long-term carpark; its full operation began in September 2011.

Automated guideway transit

Large systems

AGT renaissance

See also

References