Monorail concept is back??.........for the Sunshine Coast

[Sunbus610]

Reaching for the sky
Maroochy Journal
6 May 2011

THE monorail concept is back, but this time the plan is bigger and more refined than ever. James Birrell from Conlon Birrell Landscape Architects has been working on the concept of the monorail on and off for more than six years and said it was time the coast got smart about the transport

for more on this article refer to Maroochy Journal newspaper - http://paper.questnews.com.au/QST_MJL/mjl005.pdf

Conlon Birrell - http://www.conlonbirrell.com.au/infrastructure/129-light-rail

Another public transport pipe dream I think 

[#Metro]

Just lump it there with all the other modes when the feasibility study is done.
What matters is cost, frequency, scope of hours etc...

Will CAMCOS be elevated too?

[ozbob]

Mono rails have their place --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=5669.0

[Fares_Fair]

I suspect that this fellow's father is famed Sunshine Coast Architect, James Birrell.
He designed the JD Storey Building at UQ and many of the coast's high-rise in the 1980's.

Our company did much work with 'Jim' Birrell and he is the one who first proposed a rail link up through the centre of the Sunshine Coast back in the early 1980's.
I know this because I saw and even marked up some early concept plans on it's route.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[colinw]

My main objection to monorails is that they are usually really ugly.

The proper commuter type ones from Hitachi overcome the "show ride" objection to monorail, which is what most Aussies see them as.

Where monorails really shine is getting above ground public transport into a densely build environment, with minimal ground footprint.

As to whether the Sunshine Coast is a suitable venue for a monorail, I don't think so.

What is interesting 'though is that the suggestion of a monorail generally means that a community is starting to seriously consider the need for some kind of transit system.  Vigorous discussion of monorails, Bishop Austrans personal rapid transit, etc., all preceded the decision to build LRT on the Gold Coast.  Perhaps we are seeing a similar evolution on the Sunshine Coast.

[SurfRail]

My main objection to monorails is that they are usually really ugly.

Mine tends to be that they are proprietary technology.

Whenever some new whizzbang concept comes along, like the O-Bahn, Translohr etc, you get locked into a supplier and lose the ability to get the best deal for your rollingstock (Translohr, monorail), or have a horrendous time trying to reverse engineer and adapt competitors vehicles to work (Adelaide O-Bahn).

Steel wheels and rubber tyres are about as open-book as you can get.  Where there is plenty of room and reasonable distances, just build the railway and leave the heroic new frontier of technology to the Japanese or the Germans or the Swedes, who are good at it, have a need for it and whose expertise we can then borrow if needed.

[ButFli]

I have to ask is there anywhere in the world where a monorail is a legitimate transport solution?

[ozbob]

See --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=5669.0

[colinw]

I have to ask is there anywhere in the world where a monorail is a legitimate transport solution?

Very dense environments where you want to fit an above ground transit system through with minimal ground footprint.

[Emmie]

I have to ask is there anywhere in the world where a monorail is a legitimate transport solution?

Very dense environments where you want to fit an above ground transit system through with minimal ground footprint.

So why not put an ordinary rail line on whales tails, a la the Airport line?

[mufreight]

Monorails have a number of operating limitations not the least of which it the inability to intergrate with other rail modes in times of extreme loadings when they can only utilize the rollingstock captive on that system and no ability to draw in supplementary rollingstock from other common systems as would be the case with an elevated heavy or light rail system which would have a similar footprint to a monorail anyway.

[Golliwog]

I have to ask is there anywhere in the world where a monorail is a legitimate transport solution?

Very dense environments where you want to fit an above ground transit system through with minimal ground footprint.

So why not put an ordinary rail line on whales tails, a la the Airport line?

I don't think its the only issue, but ordinary trains tend to be noisy, and sound carries a lot further/better if the source is raised in the air.

[ozbob]

Wuppertal Schwebebahn Twilight and Night