A monorail is a rail-based
transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support
and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the
system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track. Monorails have been
around since the 1800s, but only really came to public attention in the 1950s
when Walt Disney installed one in his new theme park: Disneyland, California.
Modern monorails are based on a
single solid beam that supports and guides the train; the carriages are either
suspended beneath the track or sit on top, with their wheels straddling
electricity, which is carried on a ‘third rail’ either within or connected to,
the main beam. Conductive shoes on the carriages then transmit the current to
the train. The straddle-beam design is the most widely used. The carriages have
pneumatic rubber tyres, which drive along the top of an ‘I’-shaped beam.
In fact, monorails are one of the
safest forms of transport. The elevated track minimises interaction with traffic
and pedestrians, eliminating the need for crossings, and derailment is very
rare. They are energy efficient too and their rubber tyres produce the beam.
They are usually powered by simple inversion of the straddle monorail, much
less noise pollution than the metal wheels of conventional trains.
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