AirRail Link
Encyclopedia
People mover
A people mover or automated people mover is a fully automated, grade-separated mass transit system.The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks, but is sometimes applied to considerably more complex automated...
linking Birmingham Airport with Birmingham International railway station
Birmingham International railway station
Birmingham International railway station is located in the borough of Solihull, just east of the city of Birmingham in England.The station is on the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line 14 km east of Birmingham New Street and serves both Birmingham International Airport and the National Exhibition...
and the National Exhibition Centre
National Exhibition Centre
The National Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre in Birmingham, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International railway station. It has 20 interconnected halls, set in grounds of 628 acres making it the...
(NEC), in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The current system, originally known as SkyRail, replaced the earlier Birmingham Maglev system in 2003.
The Birmingham Maglev was opened in 1984 and was the first commercial Maglev
Maglev
Maglev is a form of rail transport using magnetic levitation.Maglev may also refer to:* Magnetic levitation, a method by which an object is suspended using magnetic fields* MagLev , a virtual machine for the Ruby programming language...
transport system in the world. The system was fully automated and used an elevated concrete guideway, much of which has been reused for the current AirRail Link system.
The current system is a fully automated cable-hauled system that takes passengers from the high-level railway station concourse, over a dual carriageway and into the terminal buildings. It has a length of 585 metres (1,919.3 ft), is free to use, and handles three million passengers per year. During the day, the trains run every few minutes each way. At off-peak times, trains operate on demand, and to facilitate this, a button labelled "DEMAND" must be pressed by the prospective passenger.
Maglev
Initial feasibility studies for a link from the airport to the railway station and exhibition centre were started in 1979 by the owners of the airport at that time, West Midlands County CouncilWest Midlands County Council
The West Midlands County Council was, from 1974 to 1986, the upper-tier administrative body for the West Midlands county, a metropolitan county in England....
. The selected solution was based on experimental work commissioned by the British government at the British Rail Research Division
British Rail Research Division
The British Rail Research Division came into being in 1964 directly under the control of the British Railways Board, moving into purpose-built premises at the Railway Technical Centre in Derby. The intention was to improve railway reliability and efficiency, while reducing costs and improving revenue...
laboratory at Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
.
Contracts were awarded in 1981 to a consortium involving GEC, Balfour Beatty
Balfour Beatty
Balfour Beatty plc is a British construction, engineering, military housing, rail and investment services company. It is one of the largest construction companies in the UK, and the 15th largest in the world...
, Brush Electrical Machines
Brush Electrical Machines
Brush Electrical Machines is a manufacturer of large generators for gas turbine and steam turbine drive applications, based at Loughborough in Leicestershire, United Kingdom....
and Metropolitan Cammell under the name "People Mover Group", along with John Laing plc. The system was opened on 16 August 1984.
As built, the length of the track was 600 metres (1,968.5 ft), and trains "flew" at an altitude of 15 millimetre (0.590551181102362 in). The line operated successfully for nearly eleven years, but obsolescence
Obsolescence
Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service or practice is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order. Obsolescence frequently occurs because a replacement has become available that is superior in one or more aspects. Obsolete refers to something...
problems with the electronic systems, and a lack of spare parts, made it unreliable in its later years. The system closed in July 1995 when an investigation concluding the cost of reinstating and maintaining the Maglev to be too high. Initially the cars for the MAGLEV were stored by the airport owners, Birmingham International Airport Ltd., on the airport site.
After closure, the original guideway lay dormant and a temporary shuttle bus service was operated until development of a suitable replacement was found. The guideway was reused in 2003 when the replacement cable-hauled SkyRail people mover was opened.
One of the two Maglev carriages, as well as a model of the system, can be found in the National Railway Museum
National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...
in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
; the other carriage was put up for sale in an auction on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
in late 2010 after lying unused at the airport since the system's closure. Carriage No. 2 was sold for £25,100 with the proceeds going to two charities. The two carriages had originally been manufactured by Metro Cammell
Metro Cammell
The Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company was a Birmingham, England based manufacturer of railway carriages and wagons, based in Saltley and subsequently Washwood Heath....
at the Washwood Heath plant in Birmingham.
Replacement
The current AirRail Link is a cable propelled shuttle system. It is built on top of the previous Maglev guideway, slightly shortened by an extension of the railway station concourse to accommodate a low level bus station. It uses the Cable Liner
Cable Liner
The Cable Liner and Cable Liner Shuttle is a range of automated people mover products designed by DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car for use at airports, in city centres, intermodal passenger transport connections, park and ride facilities, campuses, resorts and amusement parks.The design is notable for...
technology from DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car
DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car
DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car is a supplier of Automated People Movers based in Wolfurt, Austria. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Doppelmayr Garaventa Group...
(DCC), and has two independent rope-hauled parallel tracks and a two-car passenger unit operating on each track.
The Birmingham Airport Link was DCC's first airport system and replaced the temporary bus-service that had been operating since 1995. The new system has motivated passengers travelling to the airport to leave their cars at home and use public transportation.
The 585 m-long (1,921 ft) AirRail Link takes travellers from the public transportation interchange to the airport check-in in 90 seconds. It is a dual track shuttle with two stations, that consists of two trains, each of two cars, operating independently at a speed of 36 kilometres per hour (22.4 mph). The trains operate at a minimum headway is 120 seconds, consisting of a dwell time at each station of 30 seconds and a journey time of 90 seconds. The individual cars carry 27 passengers at 0.33 square metre (0.394676715279356 sq yd) per person, thus giving a capacity of 54 passengers per train.
See also
- LINK Train, a longer airport system using the same technology in Toronto, Canada
- Airport Shuttle Mexico, airport system using the same technology in Mexico
External links
- Air-Rail Link, Birmingham Airport.
- DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car, designer's website
- Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group, parent company of DCC
- Photograph of a Birmingham Maglev car on Flickr