The ULTra trackway is under construction north of T5. Even though the pods
require much less headroom than road traffic, the trackway seems to go over
all of the roads... I suppose this is cheaper because the vehicles are
light, and high weak bridges are cheaper than low strong ones. I'm not sure
why it wasn't ready for the opening of T5... but then again, I'm not sure
why T5 wasn't ready for the opening of T5.

In the animation below, the vehicles seem to be travelling on "the wrong
side", even though it is a British company. There is a map at the end of the
video.
http://www.ultraprt.com/heathrow.htm

On 5 May, 23:58, "John Rowland"
wrote:
The ULTra trackway is under construction north of T5. Even though the pods
require much less headroom than road traffic, the trackway seems to go over
all of the roads... I suppose this is cheaper because the vehicles are
light, and high weak bridges are cheaper than low strong ones.

The whole system is built from lightweight prefab elevated guideways
threaded through and over existing structures. Going underneath roads
would have meant a whole load of extra engineering for no real
benefit.

I'm not sure why it wasn't ready for the opening of T5

Because it wasn't ordered until a couple of years ago, and wasn't part
of the original design.

U

--
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
A blog about transport projects in London

On May 5, 11:58 pm, "John Rowland"
wrote:
The ULTra trackway is under construction north of T5. Even though the pods
require much less headroom than road traffic, the trackway seems to go over
all of the roads... I suppose this is cheaper because the vehicles are
light, and high weak bridges are cheaper than low strong ones. I'm not sure

Its an experimental mickey mouse system that'll keep breaking down ,
require huge maintenance costs and in a few years will be scrapped , I
can guarantee it. Or possibly sooner when the first high roller gets
stuck 20 foot up on the guideway for an hour when it goes tits up and
they miss their flight.

I'm more interested in the underground transit system linking the
separate T5 buildings which unfortunately you can't get on unless
you've gone through check-in. Anyone been on it yet?

B2003

Boltar wrote:

I'm more interested in the underground transit system linking the
separate T5 buildings which unfortunately you can't get on unless
you've gone through check-in. Anyone been on it yet?

Yup. My group on the trials back in December was the first to get to gho
on it. It's pretty much the same as the ones at Gatwick and Stansted,
only a *lot* faster.

Cheers,

Barry

On 6 May, 10:40, Barry Salter wrote:
Yup. My group on the trials back in December was the first to get to gho
on it. It's pretty much the same as the ones at Gatwick and Stansted,
only a *lot* faster.

I went on it during a trial at the beginning of November. There are
some photos of it he
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2281972...7604088428473/
(which are surprisingly rubbish, given they were taken by BAA staff
for an astroturf "insider" campaign)

Basically it's a rubber tyred DLR with smaller carriages and very few
seats.

U

--
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
A blog about transport projects in London

Mr Thant wrote:
On 6 May, 10:40, Barry Salter wrote:
Yup. My group on the trials back in December was the first to get to gho
on it. It's pretty much the same as the ones at Gatwick and Stansted,
only a *lot* faster.

I went on it during a trial at the beginning of November. There are
some photos of it he
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2281972...7604088428473/
(which are surprisingly rubbish, given they were taken by BAA staff
for an astroturf "insider" campaign)

Hrm...I could have got my dates wrong, I guess...It's been a while since
I went. But we were told we were the first group to use the TTS, and
most of the handrails and seats were still covered in plastic at the time.

The truly ironic thing, however, was that the only planes we saw at T5
during our visit were a couple of Virgin ones.

Cheers,

Barry

"Mr Thant" wrote in message
...
On 6 May, 10:40, Barry Salter wrote:
Yup. My group on the trials back in December was the first to get to gho
on it. It's pretty much the same as the ones at Gatwick and Stansted,
only a *lot* faster.

I went on it during a trial at the beginning of November. There are
some photos of it he
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2281972...7604088428473/
(which are surprisingly rubbish, given they were taken by BAA staff
for an astroturf "insider" campaign)

Basically it's a rubber tyred DLR with smaller carriages and very few
seats.

U


Is it based on the VAL systems, used in France?

On 7 May, 10:12, wrote:
Is it based on the VAL systems, used in France?

No, it's a Bombardier Innovia. The VAL technology is owned by Siemens.

U

--
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
A blog about transport projects in London

"Mr Thant" wrote in message
...
On 7 May, 10:12, wrote:
Is it based on the VAL systems, used in France?

No, it's a Bombardier Innovia. The VAL technology is owned by Siemens.

U

Same concept?

"Mr Thant" wrote in message

On 7 May, 10:12, wrote:
Is it based on the VAL systems, used in France?

No, it's a Bombardier Innovia. The VAL technology is owned by Siemens.

As it's presumably entirely underground, is there some sort of depot or
maintenance facility? And how do the vehicles get into and out of the
system.