Monorails

The Monorail Alternative

Monorails cost 10% - 15% of Rail Subways and can carry 60,000 passengers / hour.

Given that it is possible to build eight times as much high-capacity Monorail as rail subway per dollar we propose using Monorails to rapidly expand Melbourne's public transport network.

Our proposal is:

• Build a high-capacity Monorail from Highpoint Shopping Centre to Ashburton via Footscray, CBD, Domain, Windsor, Caulfield, Chadstone SC & Holmesglen ($1.4 Billion)
• Build a high-capacity Monorail from Docklands to Doncaster and Nunawading ($1.2 Billion)
• Build a two kilometre rail subway from north of Southern Cross Station to near Batman Avenue to alleviate the key CBD rail bottleneck. ($0.8 Billion)
• Use the remaining $13 Billion of spending recommended by Sir Rod Eddington on other public transport and level-crossing projects around Victoria.

Notes:

• Based on overseas experience both these Monorail systems could be completed before the next election and certainly well before petrol hits $8 / litre as predicted by the CSIRO.
• Both monorails are to be built above the median strips of major roads - not peoples backyards!
• The proposed monorails run on rubber tyres - so will be inaudible over the traffic noise.

East West Link Needs Assessment Submission

Click above image to download (1.4 MB PDF)

Progress

•  9^th May  2008: Initial Draft.
• 25^th May  2008: Review by Monorail Society received.
• 17^th June 2008: Limited review by Hitachi received.
• 25^th June 2008: Victorian Parliamentarian submission.
• 3^rd July 2008: Submitted to enquiry.
• 9^th July 2008: Latest Update to submission.
• 15^th July 2008: Enquiry submission cut-off.
• 22^nd July 2008: Mail-out to Politicians with an affected electorate or portfolio.

Monorail Column Design

A sample column design - Parliament House, Victoria

A key issue with Monorails is aesthetics and how the columns will fit in with Melbourne. The support column design used for the Melbourne Monorails should be chosen to fit in with existing structures in Melbourne, particularly historic buildings close to the monorail route such as the Supreme Court.

Note that monorail columns would be 10 to 20 metres apart so would have a lower visual impact than those shown above.

Except for the pillars the proposed Melbourne Monorails are similar to the Tokyo Monorail that recently carried its 1.5 Billionth passenger.

Double MET fares? No thanks!

MET fares could double if a significant part of Sir Rod's rail subway was funded by MET users. See Schedule for details. Note that all MET users would have to pay, not just the small minority that would benefit from the tunnel.

Marge vs. The Monorail: A Cautionary Tale

Promotional artwork for "Marge vs. the Monorail".

Mention the word "Monorail" and many people immediately think of this famous Simpson's episode. While we would hope that cartoons are not peoples entire source of transport knowledge, the story does have some useful elements:

• One man turns up in Springfield and recommends one transport solution.
• The citizens choose this one option without considering anything else
• The new system is built using technology that has not been proven elsewhere.

Back in the real world all options should be carefully considered and benchmarked against each other. Unfortunately at the moment we - like the citizens of Springfield - only have one option on the table.

About

NewAustralia is a web site that will be used to promote various public policy ideas in the climate change, public transit & defence areas. Its owner Alan Ide does not own property or other interests that would benefit from these proposals.

Alan Ide is a contract systems analyst in the finance industry.

The Monorail Society

Visit the Monorail Society for more information about monorails.

• Why Monorail?
• Monorail Cost.
• Monorail Types.
• Tokyo Monorail - a low visual impact monorail.
• Okinawa Monorail.
• Shonan Safege Monorail.
• Seattle Monorail showing the benefits of a walk-through design.

Hitachi Monorail Systems

Hitachi Rail is the leading manufacturer of high-capacity ALWEG monorail systems with over four decades of experience.

Privatising the Tunnel

"A PROPOSED $7 billion rail tunnel from Footscray to Caulfield could be privatised under funding options being considered by the Brumby Government and being backed by Metlink.
The Government has also refused to rule out fare increases to help pay for the tunnel. " more....

Transrapid Proposal

30^th July 2008: For half the price of the planned rail tunnel Transrapid can build a high-speed monorail from Geelong to the Airport to Frankston - more than 100km.

However, maglev track takes up far more space than a conventional ALWEG monorail so should only be routed down existing freeway easements. The CBD - Frankston section of a Maglev could only run down St. Kilda Road and Nepean Highway which is likely to be unacceptable. See HeraldSun article for more.