 |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||
Advanced light rapid transit is a generic name for the technology used in the metro systems (or parts thereof) in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, Detroit and New York, United States of America, Ankara, Turkey, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The technology, originally named the Intermediate Capacity Transit System (ICTS), was developed in the 1970s by the Urban Transit Development Corporation, a crown corporation of the Province of Ontario. The technology is now owned by Bombardier, and was among the first to make use of linear (electromagnetic) propulsion. It is not a maglev system, however: the train's weight is supported by the wheels even while in motion. The train is propelled by magnetic forces acting against currents induced in a conductive strip located between the rails.
Systems are listed below roughly in order of construction.
In 1981, the Ontario provincial government convinced the Toronto Transit Commission to use the then-named ICTS instead of older streetcar technology for a new route to serve the eastern Toronto inner suburb of Scarborough. The six-station Scarborough Rapid Transit line (or SRT) opened in 1985. The trains are partially automated, but do have drivers to address safety concerns.
The Expo Line of the Vancouver SkyTrain opened in 1986, using driverless, fully automated trains. A second line, the Millennium Line, opened in 2002. It currently the largest ALRT type system in operation.
The Detroit People Mover is a fully automated system, using the same technology as the Vancouver system.
The Putra LRT system in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is fully automated, and was built earlier than and uses the same technology as Vancouver's Millennium SkyTrain line.
The Ankara metro system, first opened in the mid 1990s, features various adaptations of the technology used in Toronto and Vancouver.
AirTrain JFK connects John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to the New York Subway and the Long Island Railroad.
The Skytrain in Bangkok, Thailand was originally also planned to use the same technology, but now uses standard light-rail technology.
The main challengers to this technology are the VAL, and the more costly to operate but cheaper to install light rail tram.
|
||||
| View Live Article | This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License | |
||
