Why Wuppertal's Suspended Monorail Wasn't The Future Of Travel

[@tomwoolrych4591]

You kinda missed the original point of the Schwebebahn. The Wupper Valley was full the tracks follow the river which is also the shallowest gradient. A “suspended train” was the only viable option to cram in more infrastructure in a booming late 19th century industrial town built in a narrow valley.

[@kevinmoore4887]

Turning a river bed into river rails.

[@mammutMK2]

But since it is all in a valley with a major on a rocky ground, a subway isn't the best option...exept you need to clean it several times a year

[@kimjunguny]

@@LightbulbTedbear2 And yet it still stands to this day. Clearly this option works well for this specific circumstance.

[@Sneaky_Snivy]

@@LightbulbTedbear2 As a person from Wuppertal, I think I am qualified to talk about this. However, I am by no means saying what I say is correct, it is only a theory. I think it's suspended because that made it easier to build. If you simply had an elevated train line over the river that would mean the framework (Don't know if that's the right word) would have to be broader, as is there are simply 2 single rails, one on each of the sides, but if it just were an elevated train line it would have to be broader to fit 4 rails. Plus, they wouldn't have been able to use the space above the rails in a way that gives more structural intergrity (Look at the triangular shape), plus you'd have to make sure the train doesn't fall off. Like this the train can swing freely, if it swings to the right, the wheel on the top will tilt further left, ensuring that the force pulling on the train will always be stopped by the rail, and that way it's practically impossible for it to derail. The only time that ever happend was when a construction worker left a piece of equipment on the rail.

[@commisar_________________7071]

@@Sneaky_Snivy I am sure you are correct. It being suspended both made it easier to build, especially given the geography and its swing on cornering means the load is transferred nicely onto the track. To do this with the train on top means the tracks would have to be banked appropriately. I watched them replace an entire section of track and they just lifted it on over the course of an evening, was really impressive to watch.

[@Dark__Thoughts]

It's a good transport system in Wuppertal because of its geographical location within the valley. The majority of the main city parts go right through it, following a portion of the Wupper (the river). That means there's basically just one main road through it too and side roads are often a nightmarish maze to get through, the Schwebebahn however can just drive along over the Wupper. It's not just faster than taking the bus but also more reliable because buses usually have a schedule of ~20 minutes during daytime while another Schwebebahn usually comes in every 2-5 minutes. Sometimes I dream if we could go full apeshit and come up with a hanging magnetic variant that drives more or less silently.

[@Dark__Thoughts]

@berry , strawberry And what does that have to do with anything..?

[@poppers7317]

@@Dark__Thoughts doesn't seem that reliable then.

[@karimabu-isbeih1012]

@@poppers7317 are you guys idiots?

[@waldikempel1233]

Karim Abu-Isbeih they hate on everything die iodoten

[@pikariocraftf2802]

I went to ride it withmy family last year but it was closed. Kinda sad about that- Oh and I suppose a suspended magnet train could work, if the magnets were on the top rail and... basically a magnet train but the cart hangs from the rail- Problem, that would require a lot of work and money, as well as that the carts may go too fast, not sure about that last one, but as I like to pretend I know what I'm talking about: the current system seems more reliable in order to make sharper turns. Though I am not an engineer whatsoever.

[@Naglfar83]

Hi, I'm from Wuppertal. And what I can say is, the Schwebebahn doesn't only look cool (the old orange wagons have also been replaced with newer, blue ones in the last few years) - it is also the fastest and most reliable way to get through the city (or at least through the valley part). Surely, we also have regular trains and buses, but buses get always stuck in the traffic and trains, while being faster in theory, don't depart as often as the Schwebebahn does and also connect parts of the city which are many kilometres apart (like all trains do). So in the end, if you want to reach a certain point, you often end up using the Schwebebahn after the train ride anyway and it would've been sometimes faster and always easier to just use it solely. Since Wuppertal is sometimes called the "San Francisco of Germany" because of being surrounded by lots of hills, mountains and elevated areas in general, the city unfortunately also highly depends on buses to get to these areas, which is highly unpleasant in general in Germany (i.a. because buses normally don't have AC in the summer). There have been plans for a ropeway to get from the valley to one of Wuppertal's highest points - which would've been nice - but unfortunately those plans were scrapped because many inhabitants didn't like the idea.

[@germpore]

Hmmm...I'm from San Francisco and have spent time in Wuppertal, and I don't think the comparison fits. What it reminds me more of is the hilly old industrial towns in somewhere like Pennsylvania. The part where the Schwebebahn goes through the Bayer factory complex in particular has a strong "rust belt" feel.

[@Naglfar83]

@@germpore It is merely used in a jokingly manner and is only about the area, not the towns themselves. You can hardly compare a US town like San Francisco with an old German instrustrial town like Wuppertal. But just like SF, many or most people live in homes which are located at steep slopes. We once even had something similar to SF's cable cars called the "Barmer Bergbahn" (mountain cableway). In any case: Wuppertal is the closest thing Germany has to offer to compare with SF. :) Since Wuppertal (or, to be more precice: Barmen) is much older than SF, I like to say that SF is the Wuppertal of the USA. :D

[@jack_elliott]

Busses are a much less pleasant experience than trains or trams though.

[@bingola45]

Buses are part of the benefits system.

[@hq3473]

Day to day? Yes. When a break down happens? In a bus, it's a simple as waiting 10 minutes for a next bus. With a train - it's a nightmare.

[@adrianchristoffer10]

Yea buses suck the only cool buses are Trolleybuses

[@zach99998]

Buses rule tracks drool

[@adrianchristoffer10]

Tracks are always better in confort and capasity

[@Badmuthaa]

I miss the old Sydney monorail. Impractical? Yes. Fun to ride on? Hell yeah!

[@oO_ox_O]

Sesy COD Pope It was heavily used?! Well in that case destroying it was the only logical thing to do.

[@Badmuthaa]

***** mainly because of the reasons pointed out in this video. The government didn't want to pay to keep it running because they were probably making a loss. Plus it took up a whole lot of space. Still, i want it back

[@dygituljunky]

+Moeyz69 Taking a loss is true for many, many rail systems around the world.

[@ThalassTKynn]

+Moeyz69 Did it take up a lot of space though? It was elevated. The only space it took up was where the legs were. If it was up to me the monorail would have been expanded haha

[@ThalassTKynn]

+Sesy COD Pope that sounds accurate :/

[@mr.boomguy]

"Why munorail failed" *Shows us a wildly succesful one*

[@wyterabitt2149]

I would ask if you are blind, but whatever software you would use to read the title wouldn't get it wrong so that is still not an excuse.

[@bestonyoutube]

And it is also not suspended.

[@bestonyoutube]

@AlexLP No it is not suspended it is still in use.

[@bestonyoutube]

@AlexLP a word should just have one meaning

[@karateman302]

@@bestonyoutube I mean...if homonyms weren't a thing, our vocabulary would have to be a lot larger. Just use context to figure it out or else maybe don't communicate with people in English because there are a lot of them.

[@DiffuseSachverhalte]

As the name says, it's located in a valley, in which the Wupper flows. We have A LOT of hills and not much flat space to build things. That's why they came up with this idea: the space above a river is always flat, naturally. Also, we are the city with the most staircases in whole Germany. I hate the hills, but the Schwebebahn pays it off I guess :)

[@JohnyJ25]

Wuppertal is my favorite city in all of Germany! It's a legendary place!

[@unvergebeneid]

U high?

[@GermanZindro]

+JohnyJ25 The Schwebebahn is cool, but the city is pretty ugly compared to Hamburg or Cologne.

[@OverG88]

+JohnyJ25 Solingen FTW! :D

[@S404_44]

+Lazic B. Solingen hat O-Bus, Müngstener Brücke und den Haribo-Laden -> auch super

[@JohnyJ25]

+Penny Lane No. I just live for this city.

[@CrownAcademyEnglish]

I think it looks cool. :)

[@EightThreeEight]

It does look cool. It's just too impractical.

[@mattwilcks5156]

I’ve been on it. It’s great fun to ride. I highly recommend a day trip.

[@QemeH]

That story about the circus elephant falling from the _Schwebebahn_ because it freaked out isn't only true - up until a very tragic day in April 1999 the story also always carried the "and that is the only serious accident it had ever" tag with it. A claw left by an unattentive maintenance worker sadly changed this, but the "floating train" (which is the literal translation of "Schwebebahn") is still considered the safest means of travel both in death per passengermile and accidents per mile.

[@salvodippolito6013]

I thought the main advantage was that it wouldn't interfere with traffic, same concept as the underground system but maybe easier and quicker to build..

[@antorseax9492]

The ground under Wuppertal isn't suitable for an underground route

[@leDespicable]

@@antorseax9492 That, and building a subway in a narrow river valley is just asking for trouble in case of flooding.

[@geoffoakland]

Along those sane lines, some cities are installing ski lift style gondolas for their urban transportation system, as they don't interfere with traffic and there are no tunnels to dig either . La Paz is à city that has a large urban gondola network.

[@gargoyleex]

Being a german guy, the first one who ever tells me about the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn is a Brit. That's certainly... _interesting_. Anyway, as you're currently in Germany I was wondering if you're planing to visit Hamburg. I would love to hear you talking about my hometown!

[@TomScottGo]

+gargoyleex Already have. There's a video about the Elbtunnel somewhere in my previous videos :)

[@gargoyleex]

Oh yeah, I've just seen it. I liked it, but at least you couldn't instruct me about my hometown, I guess :p

[@607]

Haha, nice!

[@eIucidate]

+Anton Antonovich Nice one!

[@MoritzRohwold79Blankenberg]

or birth travel and death ?!

[@linchenbienchen1001]

I live in Wuppertal and use the monorail a lot and it is brilliant because there are no traffic jams and you can take it every 10 minutes. A few months ago it was ,,renovated" and the monorail is much more comfortable now and it also is very safe to take it!

[@Sony_08]

Well, sir, there's nothing on earth like a genuine, bona fide, electrified, six-car Monorail!

[@Robovski]

+Death Monorail!

[@Azzamacaza]

+Death Mono... D'oh!

[@frollard]

+Robert “Robovski” Turner Monorail!

[@sivalley]

I call the big one "Bitey".

[@shaggy1939gaming]

But what about Main street!

[@102kamii]

Kind of a weird feel knowing Tom Scott was just a 15 minute train drive away from me. awesome

[@timwells3171]

*“Hello, and welcome to the Black Mesa transit system. The time is **8:47** AM”*

[@TheKingTywinLannister]

Tim Wells niceeee :)

[@martialme84]

Oh jesus that hit me with the nostalgia club right on the head...

[@jankkhvej434]

My thoughts exactly

[@KuruGDI]

On crowded streets a flyover monorail has one huuuuge benifit. Unlike bus or trams it doesn't have to _share_ it's space. And unlike 'ordinary' trains it doesn't use up that much space in urban areas. I would like to see a cost comparison between such a monorail system and a subway. The monorail still has an advantage where you have a complicated underground structure.

[@TheAnantaSesa]

Why a monorail over a normal dual rail?

[@markcarey8426]

@@TheAnantaSesa Yes, seems a bit of confusion about monorail and elevated rail. Maybe it's because most elevated rail is monorail, but obviously doesn't have to be. The idea of elevated seems like a good idea to me. Chicago's L works well, AFAIK. And a lot of London's rail, not the Tube, is elevated, or overail, and then you can have all those rental spaces underneath. Where villians have car repair workshops as fronts for vice.

[@Usual_User]

You saying Overground structure are simpler to maintain? Also its SIGNIFICANTLY slower, has lower capacity, cost more.

[@gregorflopinski9016]

Many trams have dedicated medians grade seperated from the road, just have a glance at Warsaw or Prague’s system

[@KuruGDI]

@@gregorflopinski9016 The city where I live has many old buildings and the inner city is >500 years old (and so is the road infrastructure). It's easy to play a dedicated tram lane if you have the space for it, but where I life there is no space other than to share the street with regular vehicles (even though it would of course make much more sense to have their own tram way)

[@WhatATypicalTime]

Tom, Monorails sure, but not all trains. Building ordinary rails rather than suspended/on a bridge (elevated) isn't always cheaper. Sometimes it is the other way around. For example: In the country side in Sweden a big thing is not to disturb the wildlife and make sure fallen trees don't get on the railroad. Solution? Elevated. Also it can surprise you that it's cheaper to build levated railroads when you soil isn't the best and have to be paved in preventing it from sinking. You come around that isue somewhat when you either share the load and make it lighter when it's elevated or have to pave much less ground rather than putting all weight directly on the ground as you do with ordinary railways. The chinese are using this technique really well.

[@elviswjr]

I'm not convinced. I think monorails could actually be a vast improvement over light rail. The very fact that they're usually elevated makes them better. For example, they can be placed so they don't interfere with traffic below, and they can go faster because there is less risk of obstacles on the track. Sure, they're more expensive to install, but the convenience they offer may outweigh the cost in some areas. In fact, I know they have their practical uses because there are many of them in regular use in Japan. If only people in the western world didn't view them as nothing more than theme park attractions and futuristic gimmicks.

[@ostkkfmhtsh012345678]

Also in Chongqing, China, people ride the monorail regularly like a subway. Chongqing, China has the world's largest monorail network. Light rail, tram, streetcar, trolleys are the least safest form of public transportation (www.caranddriver.com/features/howre-ya-dying-fatality-data-from-various-types-of-transportation-feature). Monorails can also be fully automated and run without drivers. That's a critical issue with Light Rail. Because Light Rail can run in the streets, driverless operations is not permitted. This can result in cost of operation and maintenance to be higher than a grade-separated system and to fund such high cost can result in reducing bus services.

[@mikehathaway2842]

The advantage of lightrail not needing grade separations is not a good feature. It allows cities to make massive mistakes to save money. San Jose California ran lightrail grade separated then on normal streets through downtown. Because of this the system can't serve the majority of cummuters who pack freeways going from one area with lightrail service to another area with lightrail service.. Most commuters are going from the suburbs to the tech companies on the other side of downtown and trains go from 80mph between stops to a snails crawl in the downtown area, with a small section smack dab in the middle of the system taking 20 to 40 minutes to traverse instead of 5. And because they where not forced to choose a grade separated option the option of bypassing downtown is so expensive its may be impossible.

[@qjtvaddict]

Elvis S actually they are cheaper than light rail in cities

[@qjtvaddict]

Mike Hathaway they should rip up downtown tracks and have suspended monorail take over down town service then act as express or crosstown service for the light rail

[@wuloki]

As for this particular system, it is indeed cheaper than the light-rail systems of the cities around Wuppertal. When we built a new station in the 80s, it cost just as much as 10 meters (!!) of light rail in Cologne.

[@thany3]

Hm, the monorail in Naha (Okinawa, Japan) works pretty well... And it doesn't hinder (and doesn't get hindered by) other traffic, and provides some healthy competition for buses. In Japan, only a few of the big cities have trams or light rails, and for such a densely populated country, metros are the go-to solution for intra-city railways. But every-so-often a metro system doesn't work for one reason or another, and they build monorails instead. Although I must say the one in Naha it's not a suspended monorail, but a straight-up one. Does that still count?

[@andrebartels1690]

Thank you for pronouncing Wuppertal right! 😊 P.s.: That elephants name was Tuffi. Really.

[@Drachselhuberjoschi_1]

Dat heißt doch Double you Uppervalley 😜😜😜

[@Tracomaster]

Hey look at that! The most uneventful city where I happened to grow up in, featured in the video of one of my favorite youtubers

[@blablazeug]

Tracomaster Hagen ist besser

[@blablazeug]

Tracomaster scheiß wuppertal

[@gregoirehollander7433]

Immernoch besser wie Radevormwald, denn alle wissen, Rade ist scheisse

[@De_Helen]

Gregoire Hollander Grüße aus Pforzheim.... Mehr muss da nicht gesagt werden...

[@freazy1626]

@@gregoirehollander7433 *als

[@erxu]

Well, at this very moment I'm in Japan, and I can truly tell you that monorails have not failed here.

[@the_number_one]

Where in Japan do they have this? Please let me know

[@alex28896]

Did u mean the Maglev?

[@JamesFluker]

@@the_number_one Shonan/Ofuna and Chiba.

[@kitsunewhisker]

Yes the Shonan Monorail is the sister to the Wuppertal suspended monorail. It was built by Mitsubishi I think, and it’s very expensive compared to other lines. I am not so sure it’s been a commercial success, I heard it has lost a lot of money, but it is certainly well used by commuters.

[@levmatta]

Here in São Paulo/Brazil, we were supposed to have a cost effective monorail. but corruption got in the way.

[@BegbertBiggs]

I saw the leftovers from the construction sites. Very unfortunate.

[@Sony_08]

+Jimmy De'Souza Not on your life, my Hindu friend!

[@yossarian9985]

+Death What about us brain dead slobs?

[@jimbrown341]

+levmatta Brazil is one of the shittiest places in the world because of its corruption. Try shipping packages into Brazil and you will agree with me! So many post office employees steal packages. Its so pathetic that they do that to their own citizens.

[@SKyrim190]

+levmatta We can't have actual solutions that worked in many places of the world to work here, what was the chance of ever having a "cost effective monorail" here?

[@WupperVideo]

And in the last months we got new supended monorail trains in Wuppertal

[@wilfriedklaebe]

Also, the suspended monorail in Wuppertal is suspended during weekdays currently...

[@rfairman]

In many instances you want to have your transit system to be completely grade separated. It is more costly, be it subway or elevated, but the advantages of separating your rail system from ground level traffic and pedestrians is obvious. To do that with traditional rail requires massive tunneling, or cut and cover construction or large and imposing bridge structures. Monorail lets you do grade separation at the minimum cost. If you want to see what a modern monorail looks like, search for videos of the Chongqing, Daegu, Sao Paulo or, Kuala Lumpur monorails , or any monorail system in Japan.

[@maxwellsmith9988]

isn't monorail riddiculously more expensive what are you talking about, it's just a more expensive version of elevated rail

[@ram64man]

A completely bias view, monorail is a cheaper alternative to subway and light rail lines, it can be installed in towns without interfering road transit and, is heavenly used in Japan and China mumbi and Korea where new developments have it linked with maglev for a quicker quiter experience, compared to light rail it can be 1/3 more energy efficient, Sidney's line was removed because they chose to expand the light rail line and technical issues relating to design limitations not the other way around.

[@0000-z4z]

The biggest advantage was not said yet: As the Wuppertal Schwebebahn is under the rail it can not be thrown off by centrifugal forces. You can go very fast through narrow curves. By designing the rail correctly the side forces become zero. And in case of a train going slowlier then expected it might be inconvenient for the passengers for hanging sidewards, but the train doesn't fall down.

[@andrewdevine3920]

Biased.

[@andrewdevine3920]

I live in Korea and I've never seen a monorail here.

[@TheAnantaSesa]

0000000 0000000; thanks, i wondered what the advantage was for suspension over just using an elevated track like normal cities.

[@henriks.2302]

The town makes an annual loss of 20 million Euros by operating this monorail system (at least according to Wikipedia).

[@tabithayy2066]

the Schwebebahn actually is not working anymore for like 6 months and the traffic here is a huge chaos since

[@unbekannt1110]

Noch ein paar Wuppertaler hier?

[@AliciaJxckson]

Hieeeer

[@RaTaTaRAM27]

Natürlich 😉 einmal Wuppertaler, immer Wuppertaler

[@Zukirin77]

Jawohl. Bin aus zufall hier gelandet

[@Juli-dv8mn]

Jaa 🙋‍♀️

[@pascal8045]

@@RaTaTaRAM27 Du sagst es!

[@azuredragonofnether5433]

Well, the fact is, Wuppertal isn't exactly spread out like the common big cities. It is shaped narrowly from the top perspective, mainly to the west and the east and in terms of traffic, it proved to be an issue. This suspended monorail solves many of the traffic problems and, IMO, it continues to do so. While I never rode one, after reading many benefits of this form of transport, I think it remains relevant to this day.

[@Luke_Starkenburg]

Grade separated is the only way to go in my opinion. Mixing trains with autos, bikes, and pedestrians creates unsafe environments. Just compare the safety record for monorails and light rail/trams and you will find that monorails are far superior. Just look at the monorails in Japan and in Chongqing China to see that monorails work great in transit applications!

[@DFX2KX]

+Luke Starkenburg We've got buses here in my town, and in the time the bus authority has operated, I think we have had two accidents that have resulted in fatalities (one of which was recent). I don't know if trams are any different, but I've not seen any real disruption in traffic or anything unsafe with the bus system. I'm a lot more worried about the cars then I am about getting smacked by the Gray line.

[@qjtvaddict]

Luke Starkenburg actually they only work in cities but then again they are only getting built in dense cities

[@airplaneplustrainguy8143]

Luke Starkenburg yeah

[@hackerofawesomeness]

New Delhi has a metro system where they use rails on top of an elevated track. It works pretty well, and halves the time it takes to get around the city by car (there's a TON of traffic)

[@jamescurrie1395]

Where I live, in Australia, our entire train system is going through the process of grade separation - It's far cheaper & safer to make grade separated trains than monorails.

[@seal3081]

When I hear monorail I think of that simpsons episode.

[@KimAPedersen]

and sadly, so do many others. It's sad that people form their opinions based on a cartoon.

[@seal3081]

masterninjahh the funny thing is that the creators of the simpsons put a lot of science into some of their episodes. I remember my highschool teacher giving lessons on a specific simpsons episodes, homers job at the nuclear plant etc. You'd be surprised at what you'd find under the surface.

[@volbla]

+seal3081 Mono meaning one, and rail meaning rail.

[@ralien3066]

+Kim A Pedersen your an idiot at what point in the sentence "when i hear monorail i think of that Simpsons episode" do you hear his opinion on monorail systems because i dont see it

[@GhostInTheShell29]

+Kim A Pedersen I see similar sentiments from a lot of people about cartoons and animes. But I just want to point out that the animation style really says nothing about the depth of a show, or how accurate it is. The simpsons quality varies.. a lot. It is the longest running show in history. But it has tackled many social issues, and some of them it has done very well. The monorail episode accurately sums up what happened in my city when some charlatan had the bright idea to build a giant stadium down town. Now that its been built and the numbers crunched it will actually never be profitable the city will take a major loss on the whole thing. And most the city council is going to jail. There are two main reasons giant engineering projects are proposed, sometimes its to benefit the community. Other times its for millions of dollars in kickbacks union fees and so on.

[@mazdaman2315]

I love that both the Tim traveler and Tom have made a video on this they both have very similar styles but Tim is a bit of a comedian while Tom is serious

[@nicolas2419]

I went to Wuppertal only for doing a trip aboard the Schwebebahn! That was great! :)

[@SharlexUwU]

I didnt know you made a video in my hometown. Greetings from wuppertal here!

[@lmlmd2714]

"Coolness" should be a factor in the cost-benefit study for all transit projects.

[@TheDuckofDoom.]

(here in the USA) buses are horribly off schedule due to traffic, are slow and circuitous on a good day, and tend to clog traffic more than they reduce it. Monorails can generally climb much steeper grades than light rail, for electric powered units the supply conductors pose fewer problems, they don't mess up traffic flow like trolleys/light-rail and buses, and there is the real estate issue as they can be built around existing infrastructure without condemning shops and ripping up streets for years of construction. (also reduced real estate reduces some of the the ever present back room real estate deals that plague light rail projects.) The concrete use isn't much more than that used for traditional railroads (all new ties are concrete in this area), and being elevated monorails properly designed and operated can safely run at higher speeds, out of the city traditional rail beds are not reliably smooth enough for speeds much more than 120kph and still have the safety issue of large ground animals, pedestrians, and road crossings.

[@ostkkfmhtsh012345678]

In addition, Monorails can be fully automated and driverless. Long term operations and maintenance should be lower than light rail and equivalent at-grade rail systems as there is no need for drivers and fully automated trains can run longer hours and shorter headways.

[@rottenrafflesia]

Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley (in Malaysia) has a mix of monorail, light rail, mostly the latter. I'm actually a bit confused by these terms but many parts of the light rail tracks are elevated while some near the city centre are underground.

[@ostkkfmhtsh012345678]

We're using the American definition for Light Rail/LRT where it is more like a tram/streetcar/trolley and cannot be fully automated and driverless. E.g. Edmonton: oldtrails.com/LightRail/Edmonton/Images/edminbndmt.jpg Hong Kong (Light Rail-car accident): cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2016/02/05/fa405e60-cbcb-11e5-9c95-074a8ff7bdd1_1280x720.jpg?itok=YkdU96wi Calgary (Light Rail-car accident): i.cbc.ca/1.2356034.1383597188!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/3rd-accident.jpg

[@ccityplanner1217]

Here in the UK the term "light railway" is a system similar to the Bombardier DLR, which has virtually all the advantages of a monorail but is more reliable. It runs entirely separate from streets on a mostly double track system. It has many crucial advantages to a monorail, for example it can run in a tunnel. Some parts of the DLR have a 1:17 gradient. The only disadvantage compared to a monorail is that it looks ugly.

[@TheDuckofDoom.]

1:17 is less than 6%, that is not quite enough for the West coast of the North America. All rail can run in a tunnel. When you say separate from streets do you mean above/below grade, or just as a replacement for a street?

[@chaosmagican]

The tram footage from Düsseldorf, I immediately recognized it, I stood there approx. 6 months or so (summed) waiting on that tram :D

[@seattleite6631]

Monorails CAN change track though. It's also impossible for them to derail. Also, they usually take up a small footprint and much of system can be built off site.

[@hashkeksii5010]

If any of you were wondering, the Schwebebahn is currently broken (for nearly half a year now), and will probably be able to function again this September 2019.

[@bspringer]

Die war ja wohl noch einige längere Zeit kaputt, geht die mittlerweile wieder? Auch an Wochentagen? Komme theoretisch jedes Mal, wenn ich vom Studium aus meine Eltern besuche, durch Wuppertal. Vielleicht lege ich mal nen Zwischenstop ein, um die mal wieder zu benutzen 😂 Einmal Vohwinkel-Oberbarmen durchfahren, wenn die DB mir sowieso wieder ne Stunde Verspätung reindrückt ^^

[@clarkyboio]

I went to Wuppertal a few years ago and went on the monorail for myself. It wouldn't stop swaying

[@jul7985]

1:35 Fun fact: Düsseldorf also has these airport-monorails like Gatwick

[@BernhardWelzel]

Additional fun fact: it is actually based on a (old) system developed in Dortmund University that is connecting parts of the campus

[@Aboleo80]

I used to live in Wuppertal as a teen and had to take Schwebebahn to school from Elberfeld to Vohwinkel every day. Coolest form of public transport anywhere in the world!

[@erik_erikson]

Nice, I live near Wuppertal. Hope you have a nice time in Germany!

[@luigigaminglp]

Hello from Wuppertal :D Unluckily I live in one of the small parts of Wuppertal which isnt supported with the suspention Railway, up the hill. Just these inside the valley are supported.

[@prop_thunder_therealone]

me seeing my city in a popular vid: finnaly someone knows about it me looking at it myself from my window: ehhh thats boring

[@JorenVerspeurt]

Went there last year! I think this is one of the few places where the monorail really works (most of it runs over the river so it doesn't take up extra space, no conflict with cars, ... and the maintenance cost is apparently relatively limited) My favorite thing about riding it was the fact that it actually swung pretty far to the side when it took a more-than-slight corner, something you're not really used to with something the size of a tram =D

[@honi7186]

I've never been on a monorail (that I can remember at least) but this looks so neat! Especially considering how old it is, wow!

[@OldBrutus]

Great video Tom! I'm looking forward to watching the second half of it.

[@Hobbyblasphemist]

"Or a Tram, with JUST some rails laid down" cue everyone who's ever lived in Edinburgh during the tram fiasco screeching with anger and despair.

[@ostkkfmhtsh012345678]

Tram tracks cannot simply be laid down. It stills require digging out roadways like cut-and-cover tunnels for utilities relocation and more in addition to installing track and infrastructure. Whereas for elevated guideway columns including elevated Monorails columns, holes are dug, foundations are created, and column is built. The roadways typically are not completely closed and only closed for short periods of time unlike roadways with tram infrastructure being installed with lengthy closures.

[@Hobbyblasphemist]

I lived through tramworks, I'm aware how much of a pain they are, it was Tom in his video who said something along the lines of tram rails are just laid down, implying it's a simple construction project.

[@2001cavador]

Sydney Australia has no more room for adding light rail or buses to the streets and thus has resorted to building expensive underground metros. An idea that WOULD work is a suspension railway between Central and Parramatta along the Parramatta river.Tis would be much easier and cheaper than using expensive tunnel boring machines to build a metro underground and would be a great tourist attraction.

[@AlohaBiatch]

Sorry, but I completely and utterly disagree with your statements about the viability of monorail. Monorails can actually be very cost effective and even have a high passenger capacity in many cases. You keep claiming that monorails are silly attractions for theme parks, yet if you did your researched and read about the Chongqing monorail, Osaka monorail or Tokyo monorail, you would know that there are very popular and effective lines out there. Amazingly in Chongqing, the monorail is the backbone of public transport there instead of a metro or heavy rail. In that city, the terrain with many hills and gradients means a monorail is much cheaper than both subways or regular elevated or surface rail. The main problem with Monorails is the lack of standards among different systems. Unlike the standard gauges on regular rail, monorail differ a lot depending on the maker. This means that cities are reluctant to go into exclusivity with a single manufacturer because the equipment will forever be proprietary.

[@svartmetall48]

Agreed. Been on the Tokyo and Osaka systems myself (not to mention the hanging monorails of the same type as the Schwebebahn in Chiba and Shonan). They are actually very good systems and well-used.

[@tjejojyj]

AlohaBiatch I agree with those points. Standardisation is the great advantage for rail and the bus. The new monorail systems being built are pushing the capacity-to-cost comparison in favour monorails. It will be interesting if the Brazilian lines kick off a trend. Cost blowouts are a common problem to all public transport systems. The video makes some silly statements about grade separation and heavy overhead structures. This is hardly a unique feature of monorails and in comparison monorail's aerial visual pollution is less than a standard rail system on a viaduct. He does say "there are PLACES where it is suitable" but unfortunate doesn't mention any of the others. BTW: most people in Sydney haven't missed the monorail. They reused some of the beams for a road bridge over the new north west railway.

[@MartinBrenner]

The Wuppertal Schwebebahn ("levitating railway") is there because of the special geographic location of Wuppertal - on both sides of the river Wupper in a somtimes narrow valley (hence the name Wupper-tal). And since the valley is packed with buildings and factories there was an obvious place where to put the trains: *over the Wupper*. For most of the length of the track it is elevated above the Wupper, so the increased cost for building the track is made up by not having to pay for property.

[@ken125y]

Your arguments succinctly refute Tom Scott's weak arguments. Tom Scott seems like a clever guy who understands science and technology, but he seems to have utterly misunderstood the potential of suspended monorails for passenger and freight traffic, particularly in urban environments. Tom Scott seems to have some sort of emotional, almost quasi-religious dislike of suspended monorails. Perhaps he lived next door to a mean or unpleasant suspended monorail when he was growing up.

[@koohikoo]

in the nearest large city to me, there is a system called the Skytrain, it's effectively a mix of a monorail, and a light rail system

[@tinol6090]

been there done that! I was once in Wuppertal and I fell in Love with it!

[@NNOTM]

Probably Schwebebahn, not Schwebenbahn ;-)

[@Woolookologie]

+NNOTM yeah ^^

[@Tophu48548]

It says that?

[@NNOTM]

Christopher Wright It does now, yes.

[@Dear_Mr._Isaiah_Deringer]

And even further up north experience the unique styled S(ch)wedenbahn.

[@TheMeflon]

It´s so weird to see Tom in your hometown 😅 Nice Video about the Schwebebahn, hope you enjoyed our city

[@olli449isthebest]

Well, sir, there's nothing on earth like a genuine, Bona fide, Electrified, Six-car Monorail

[@davidjames2910]

These are interesting videos with good delivery - thanks.

[@nickclark2278]

Actually monorails are making a come back in south east Asia and South America. They're taking on the role of metro lines. In busy and densely packed cities grade separated systems are more reliable and cheaper to deliver than either extensive tunnelling or viaducts. A lot of monorails were taken down as the majority were proprietary systems from companies that no longer exist. The industry broadly has settled on the alweg system which both bombardier and hitatchi provide products for. In the case of Sydney it was never built on its originally intended route and didn't actually connect anything useful and ended up being a novelty loop. Being 30 years old and at the end of its design life it needed a refit, new trains and heavy investment. Being a vonroll product there were no more parts to really keep it going, there were only 2 working trains out of 7 as the others just got parted out over time to keep it going.

[@Anrhok]

Have you tried to travel with it? Its an amazing feeling tho. I do live close to Wuppertal and always its fascinating and amazing. They even have one Car left from the beginning, the Kaiserwagen. If it travels for special Events the Staff crew even wears Special Uniforms that they used in the past for the Schwebebahn. The Manufacturing Facility was in Oberhausen by the way.

[@bruceschneider4928]

"Doesn't look as cool, though." That's for sure. Monorails are right up there with jet packs on the coolness scale (and we don't have THOSE, either!).

[@S404_44]

Woah, Tom Scott was in Wuppertal. I live in the town next to Wuppertal *trying to breath again*

[@TheGamersLegion1]

the SkyTrain in vancover works around the same way as a monorail and on top of that where still building new traks

[@metropod]

+TheGamersLegion Skytrain is a normal light metro system. two rails.

[@Electrify85]

metropod if it were built as a monorail though, it would have a smaller physical footprint.

[@PatricioGarcia1973]

The subway in New York runs on elevated tracks also. This I see has advantages on inclement weather, were regular trains have delays due to snow, rain. No risk of people jumping on the tracks....

[@aleksanderW21]

I live in Wuppertal this is a nice Video i Love it and i Love my City 😁😍

[@kabantofik4499]

Aleks Wegner schade dass die grad nicht läuft

[@sirsaiyn9917]

Voll die Drecksstadt

[@timoki329]

@@sirsaiyn9917 halts maul

[@cerisskies]

Osaka, Japan has a monorail with two tracks; it's expensive, slow, and only runs across the north of the city, whereas down in the heart of the city there is a brilliant subway system, a tramline, average buses (only slightly better than the monorail), and several trainlines, one of which includes the loop-line, which takes you in a loop around the city

[@Amzide]

Hm interesting... the electric sign on the monorail station didn't flicker when filmed by your camera but the signs on the bus did. So it seems that the bus signs and the monorail signs work on different hertz. My guess is that it has to do with the fact that the bus sign is powered by the (non-alternating) battery in the bus whereas the mono sign is powered by the alternating current in the grid.

[@S404_44]

Well the Schwebebahn signs are mostly just paper with a light bulb behind it whilst the buses have LED or do you mean the "Next train announcer" on the platform?

[@Mezgrman]

+Amzide The AC doesn't have anything to do with it. It's most likely just a different multiplex frequency.

[@Amzide]

SimonHellinger Yeah I meant the 'next train'-thing :)

[@Amzide]

Mezgrman What's multiplex frequency? The only thing I get up when googling is that multiplexing means "combining many signals into a single transmission circuit or channel" which to me doesn't seem very related to led-signs. Does it refer to the frequency at which the screen updates it's image or something?

[@Mezgrman]

+Amzide That's a different definition of multiplexing :) what i mean is the frequency at which it "scans" the lines, a nice visual example is here: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dot_matrix.gif and here's an explanation: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiplexed_display :)

[@saoirse147]

I miss the Sydney monorail as a kid i remember it was soo cool seeing the city from a hight.

[@CzornyLisek]

Monorail is good when it's not tourist attraction but properly build as mass transit.

[@kyh148]

An interesting thing to note, the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) which you showed isn't actually lightrail. It's a light metro, which has smaller trains compared to regular metros, but is still fully grade separated (most of it is elevated, while some parts are actually underground).

[@RayLiehm]

Dude! You're in Germany? You should totally swing by the Effelsberg 100m radio telescope while you're in the area :) Also, the Schwebebahn is one of my favorite things in the NRW, I went to Wuppertal last year specifically to take a ride on it.

[@DonWeihawei]

+RayLiehm I was in Wuppertal for the same reason. Fun Fact: about half the tourists that go to Wuppertal are just there for the Schwebebahn

[@ZaunpfahlsSpieleVideos]

+Wei Hawei apart from the zoo there isn't much else to see in town though ;) just around the corner is also the "Müngstener Brücke" (bridge), highest (and maybe oldest) railway bridge in Germany. Also a nice sight and a techical monument of it's own.

[@RayLiehm]

+Zaunpfahls Spiele-Videos I spent a few hours in the zoo while I was there, it was surprisingly pretty good. The wolves were a rare treat for me.

[@markpolo97]

+RayLiehm It is certainly an interesting place, even if it just misses being the biggest moveable radiotelescope. On one visit the scientist doing the presentation was a bit annoyed, "We could put a meter of aluminum foil around our telescope and beat the Americans…"

[@paulkennedy8701]

+RayLiehm It's the best sort of toursit attraction: you go there, you see it, you get on it, and it takes you somewhere else.

[@davebar96]

Wow! I currently study in Wuppertal and i wouldve never thought to see my city on your channel. Hope you had a nice time filming here :)

[@daffygrey]

Being a Mancunian, the ripping up of the roads for the recreation and extension of the Manchester tram system convinced me that monorails are a good idea. There is no need to rip up the roads to re-route the sewers and other services. The monorail would be a boon at rush hour, as it would not be caught in the traffic on the road, unlike buses and trams. If routed over a picturesque river, the monorail could also be used to attract tourists. By the way, it's snowing here, trains and buses have been cancelled and drivers have been told not to travel unless necessary. Monorail? It would be out of the way of snow drifts and skidding vehicles, and they wouldn't have to deal with snow or leaves on the line.

[@schmatzler]

A friend of mine lives in Wuppertal. She will love this video! :D

[@Electrify85]

Yeah, monorails are such a bad idea because they are grade separated. That is why cities like London, New York, Paris, Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco, Tokyo, etc. built and expanded their rapid transit systems at street level, right? Oh wait...

[@TheAnantaSesa]

They’re a bad idea because the forces from putting all the weight in the center require much more engineering skill to handle than just using 2 rails. You can elevate dual rail lines just like monorails.

[@InLoveWithCities]

@@TheAnantaSesa The nice thing about monorails is that (with more modern designs) they run much quieter than traditional elevated rail. And the engineering problems are easily solved. The downside is mainly that they are not compatible with existing networks and some people see them as ugly.

[@TheAnantaSesa]

Lars; mag lev is definitely quiet. i always thought they were more aesthetic than heavy use train tracks.

[@InLoveWithCities]

@@TheAnantaSesa Even monorails running on normal monorail track are usually quieter since their wheels are enclosed wtih minimal gaps. The Wuppertal monorail is an exception to that. I agree that they look neat but sadly many people don't.

[@Ssgmfs]

in my city we have a monorail system that runs on just one side of the river downtown, they made it free to ride since no one would ride it anymore when it cost $1, now I think only homeless people, some students and maybe office workers take it. But you cant take it anywhere near housing so kinda defeats the purpose.

[@nougatbitz]

None of the arguments you made seem applicable really. Reliability of monorails aren’t principally an issue when such and old and complex implementation like this hanging version can operate smoothly. These things can be build to high standards. Even when they weren‘t they surely won’t be involved in street traffic accidents, which allows engineers to build them lighter and slimmer than street cars. When they run on top of a slim profile rail, they certainly require less space and the whole „concrete pillars in the ground“ aspect is negligible as a negative argument since it‘s a solved problem engineering wise. Street cars / trams add thousands of horrendously looking cables on top of their wide tracks, claim a lot of precious ground space of which they only use a tiny fraction of at any give time.

[@Tom_Hadler]

I saw this on that portillo show. Must pay it a visit. Thanks for making such cool and interesting videos on a brilliantly diverse range of topics. 👍 (and for keeping them succinct)

[@Tracomaster]

To be honest, unless on your way through wuppertal isn't eventful whatsoever. I'd maybe even call it ugly except if you wanted to get some exercise and visit the "nordbahntrasse". An old railway converted to a bike path.

[@sarahabdelwahab7757]

I live in Wuppertal

[@4ppych]

Japan has lots of suspended railways, and they continue to build them. Stanchions for hanging tracks are much easier, cheaper, and less disruptive to build over an existing roadway than building a complete platform covering the road. Seems like it's not as cut-and-dried as this video would have it.

[@edwinstar100]

How is it different from a subway or an elevated system, grade separated is what makes it rapid transit; separate from traffic, see Vancouver's Skytrain very fast 80Kmph and totally automated for over 25 years with trains running 90 seconds or less apart.

[@WerewolfLord]

Skytrain is a horrible example. Automated trains necessitate longer stopping time at stations, so trains bunch up (Commercial, Metrotown), which makes them seem 90 seconds apart.

[@kaidrache2395]

Sitze im tiefsten Südhessen und denke an die Heimat. Da tun solche Videos echt gut. Ach ja, ich vermisse das Teil, bin Jahre lange damit von Oberbarmen zum Döppersberg gefahren und dann weiter im Bus zur Uni. War 'ne gute Zeit.

[@vzxvzvcxasd7109]

or in japan, where they do also have the monorail for mass transit

[@Gamesaucer]

+victor vicy Wikipedia only shows 10 monorails that are currently in service in Japan. That's not a whole lot.

[@rockstopsthetraffic]

How many subway systems does Canada, for example, have? Ten is not an insignificant number.

[@Gamesaucer]

Canada has three rapid transit systems, which isn't a whole lot, but the total length of those combined is still more than double the length of all Japanese monorail tracks combined, clocking in at just under 70 miles.

[@Gamesaucer]

Oh also, Canada has about 25% percent of Japan's population, so no wonder mass transit is used less there. Regarding population density it has a respectable amount.

[@rockstopsthetraffic]

+Gamesaucer that's all fair and good, but my point really is more that even "normal" systems are comparatively underdeveloped in other countries, and really, that ten systems is not a small number for a system that is supposed to "not work". I suspect it has more to do with building roads underneath and existing infrastructure being in the way. Also, I'm sure those same places in Japan also have other state of the art infrastructure serving them. Canada may not be the best example, but in terms of population density, while Canada is huge and obviously has wide, unoccupied swathes of land, the metropolitan areas that are rather dense tend to be sorely under-served by rapid transit.

[@ouvsyproductions630]

I remember the Sydney Metro Monorail. Everyone was so sad when they scrapped it. I went on the Farewell Tour and everyone who rode on it in its last month in Sydney got a free Token that said "Sydney Metro Monorail - Farewell" then it had an image of a Monorail then said underneath "1988 - 2013"

[@uselessDM]

Good job pronouncing Wuppertal though.

[@fried_out]

Why? I don't find it difficult and i'm not even German. :P

[@Elmojomo]

Never have I seen so much dissent to one of Tom's videos. It's fascinating!

[@hobog]

yep, monorails are niche, not necessarily terrible. look at Chongqing 's system

[@asantaraliner]

The Tokyo Monorail & Chongqing Monorail worked because it was connected to the airport. There are another Suspended Monorail such as in Chiba & Shonan.

[@ihathtelekinesis]

A lesson that Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook learnt the hard way.

[@Veptis]

Düsseldorf Airport, which you have landed at a few times for sure - also has an automated suspended train that moves between terminal, car park and train station

[@suburiboy]

Is there a good explanation for why monorails have trouble with elevation changes?

[@Kasperekdk]

+Jacob Mccann same as trains. steel on steel doesnt have good traction and monorains have even fewer wheels than a train so even worse traction

[@NNOTM]

You can use rack railways though en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rack_railway

[@suburiboy]

+NNOTM I'd also think that you could devise some kind of cable car system with the one rail used as a support structure.

[@BlackSharkfr]

+Jacob Mccann Dealing with elevation changes has little to do with the number of rails, but number of wheels, and type of wheels and engine. Monorails being elevated don't need to handle steep grades, they can spread the elevation change over longer distances, so they tend to be built with reduced grade capability. But if you really need a custom made hill climbing monorail, it can perfectly be done.

[@suburiboy]

+BlackSharkfr I thought that was the implication of "constantly elevated track" in the video. I don't see why one couldn't design a ground level monorail system.

[@KevintheBooth]

This with Roads above and a central walkway and cycling paths alongside. Enclose the entire structure with separate air systems for the traffic and others. Design it with small spaces for businesses along the length. Use the rail system for smaller self driving units, following the defined paths (are separate roads better?). Year round walking in any climate, tons of space for small business to get tons of foot traffic, etc etc etc.... my ramble for the day.

[@canguar]

i thought there would be some amazing background story... but no.. now i have to use wikipedia myself, goddamit

[@sugarfrosted2005]

0:14 Occasionally people mistakenly think all airport trams are monorails. For example O'Hare's shuttle actually has two rails.

[@RustyTube]

Ah, finally a real video from Tom instead of those three corny guys who are laughing at their own jokes!

[@LittleLionRawr]

+RustyTube Do you understand the jokes?

[@idcaf]

Jokes aren't bad per se, but they should start their own channel for their stuff, just my opinion

[@LittleLionRawr]

The Major ^=& I presume.. :-)

[@RustyTube]

The Major Yes, of course, I'm a complete idiot with only two graduate degrees, from two different universities in two different countries in Europe. I am so dumb that English is only my fifth language instead of being my only language. As a published author of two books on mathematics and an editor of other books, I cannot compete with anyone's smarts. Especially not with those three stooges.

[@RustyTube]

idcaf Agreed.

[@finn7948]

I'm from Sydney and people actually complained about the monorail being an eyesore and not many people used it.

[@gigglyfitzgirl]

Remember the Simpsons song? 🎶 Monorail!! Monorail!! MONORAAAIILLL!!!🎶 😂😂

[@wilbertrejon]

Mono...DHO!

[@imaginebeinggood3471]

I used to live in Sydney and me and my sister were really sad when it was demolished.

[@michaelwalker1119]

systems lke this and in fact, eny mass transit system work fine. Its only when you have to show a profit for share holders ect that they become unprofitable. If the systems are owned by the government/you, then all they have to do is pay for there up keep. maintenance, staff ect.

[@Cherb123456]

Exactly!

[@Aragorn.Strider]

In general trams are indeed cheaper and better. Monorails shine in difficult areas to cross, such as from mountain top to another and/or above existing busy roads maybe integrated into airports. Busses can easily get congested and carry to few in busy cities. In smaller villages and neighbourhoods busses are best

[@LarsMezaka]

:o that was way to short! Tell us more! Youre videos are generally really good, answering all the important questions but i feel like this one didnt. Even if it takes you more time: dont waste a topic! You can do better!