Sydney Monorail cars
Object No. 2014/13/1
This operator's cab and passenger car were used for 25 years on train No. 3 of the Sydney Monorail. The Monorail was a limited public transport system which operated between 1988 and 2013 on a 3.6-km elevated single continuous loop track with eight stations connecting Darling Harbour and Chinatown with Sydney's central business and shopping districts. The cab and carriage are from one of the six, seven-carriage trains designed and built in Switzerland by Von Roll. This firm was well known for its monorails and rides built for fairs and leisure parks around the world. Von Roll's Sydney contract to build a public transport system was seen as both a challenge for the company and the realisation of a dream to legitimise this form of transport as a mass transit system. The Sydney Monorail was also said to have been the world's first fully computerised monorail system, and this was developed in Australia. It was promoted as silent, pollution free, visually and aesthetically pleasing and the first transport system designed to cater for the handicapped, the elderly and parents with strollers. Each train comprised seven articulated carriages supported by eight bogies each riding on pneumatic truck tyre wheel sets. While the outermost bogies of the trains were freewheeling, each of the six innermost bogies were powered by six 37 kW 525 volt DC electric motors, not much bigger than a suitcase, located above the drive wheels. The tyres ran on top of an elevated single box section steel beam (track) supported by fabricated steel columns. To ensure the train's vertical and lateral stability, the bogies were fitted with a set of upthrust, down thrust and side thrust rollers which clung to the lip and side walls below the track. The construction of the Monorail between 1986 and 1988 was politically motivated and highly contentious. Protest marches from 1985 were attended by up to 10,000 people. These failed to stop its development even though a light rail system would have carried more passengers and cost almost half the fare for users. The Monorail opened on 21 July 1988 but the projected 12 million passengers per year did not eventuate and dwindled to four million. It was touted as a 21st century transport system for Sydney but was fundamentally flawed in its promise to be regularly used by commuters, who only made up to nine percent of its passengers. The Monorail ended up being an entertainment ride for tourists as an easy and convenient way to see the city and Darling Harbour. Nevertheless, the Monorail became a tourist landmark for Sydney, though its construction and operation polarised Sydneysiders who either loved or loathed it. If the government at the time had installed a light rail system, as was the official recommendation, Sydney would have had the beginnings of a modern public transport system in the city instead of being decades behind as is the case today (2013). The Monorail was purchased by the New South Wales State government in March 2013 in order to close and demolish it at a huge public cost. Its last day of operation was on Sunday, 30 June 2013. "The Darling Harbour Monorail: Linking the City to Darling Harbour". Evans, David, 'It's The Rail Thing', in "Daily Mirror", 7 May 1987, p.26-7. Evans, David, 'Mountains out of monorails' in "Daily Telegraph", 24 May 1987, p.8. "Gem 80 Minigem Technical Manual", GEC Industrial Controls Ltd, Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, England, 1986. "Monorail Autopilot Training Course Manual", ANSYS Pty Ltd, 1994, pp. 64-67. Office of Transport Safety Investigations, "Rail Safety Investigation Report Monorail Collision Darling Park 27 February 2010". Saulwick, Jacob, 'Never the rail deal', in "The Sydney Morning Herald", 18 June 2013. "The Sydney Monorail, TNT Harbour-Link: moving with Sydney into the 21st Century". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Roll_Holding wiki Von Roll Holding. Margaret Simpson Curator Transport August 2013
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Summary
Object Statement
Monorail cars (2), comprising Von Roll Mk III operator's cab (Car No. 1) and passenger carriage (Car No. 2) from Train No. 3 of the Sydney Monorail, metal / acrylic, designed and made by Von Roll Transportsysteme AG, Industriestrasse 2, Thun, Switzerland, 1987, used by TNT Harbour-link from 1988, Metro Transport Sydney Pty Ltd from 1998 and the New South Wales Government from 2013, operated in Darling Harbour and Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 21 July 1988-30 June 2013
Physical Description
The Cars The Monorail cars are constructed on an extruded aluminium frame with a sandwich skin of marine or polished aluminium, a special grade of salt-resistant aluminium. This was coated with a two-component epoxy paint resistant to saltwater and rain. Both the front and rear cars on Monorail trains had sloping nose cones of fibreglass. Inside were driving consuls and a single bench seat. The front car (Car No. 1) carries the main controller and a standby one which communicated with each carriage controller on board. An Autopilot, which acted as an independent safety system, was also located in the front car and was used to monitor the operation of the train. The cars all feature wide-access sliding automatic doors on each side, which were locked while in motion, and large, tinted anti-glare windows. The vehicle floor levels had a self adjusting automatic suspension system which aligned the level of the car floor with the station platforms according to the load. The passenger car (Car No. 2) has two bench seats facing each other, the seat fabric of which was said to have been developed in Australia from a special hardwearing material. The car seats and parcel shelves were all reupholstered in 2002. There is no corridor between the carriages as each car was a self-contained unit with automatic access doors, emergency communication facilities and interior lighting. The emergency communication facility comprised an emergency help button which, when pushed, allowed passengers to talk directly with the controller in the central control room at the maintenance depot. This was meant to prevent vandalism and anti-social behaviour but was most often activated by a curious toddler on board. One design feature of the trains, which was ill considered at its inception, was the lack of air conditioning. The cars arrived from the manufacturers in Switzerland fitted only with ventilators but once they began operating during the hot Sydney summer months, the cars became unbearably hot as the windows could not be opened. Air conditioning units were then quickly added to the roof of each car. The first Monorail trains had a livery of all-white cars with an orange stripe, the TNT Harbour-link operator's colours. Later, lucrative advertising space was sold on the exterior of the trains. This was in the form of an adhesive graphic vehicle wrap produced by the Sydney firm, Studioline, of Seven Hills. Both No. 1 and No. 2 cars feature a bright and colourful livery with an undersea theme showing coral, dugongs and sharks which advertised the Sydney Sealife Aquarium located in Darling Harbour. The Bogies and Engines The trains were supplied with power at 500 volts AC to a sheathed conductor rail mounted below the running plate of the track. AC power was converted to DC via a thyristor four-quadrant phase shift rectifier. The engines were located in the articulated section between each carriage and were specially adapted for use with the Monorail trains. The rotational speed of each motor was regulated by an electronic drive controller which varied the value of the DC voltage supplied across the motor armature. To ensure that all engines shared the load equally, and ran at the same speed, they were linked together in a master/slave closed loop arrangement. This propulsion system obeyed the external analogue speed signal from which it was fed. Although the engines generated about 50 brake horse power, about as much as a small car, torque was more important than speed. This ensured smooth acceleration and deceleration which increased passenger comfort. As the trains approached a station the motors acted as a brake and also generated power which went back into the system. A separate braking system came on automatically if the power stopped. Each motor operated independently and was linked by computer to the other motors and the central control system. In 2010 the original Swiss-built DC drivers were replaced with AC ones made by Siemens. At the front and rear of the train were two lazy bogies which free-wheeled from the drive units. Each of the bogies had two driving wheels, four side-thrust wheels and four up-thrust wheels. Sets of two, heavy-duty, pneumatic, rubber-tyred driving or riding wheels propelled the train along the top plate forming the Monorail track. The plate extended out beyond the track's steel box girder. Small, vertical, up-thrust guide wheels, which operated under the track plate and along the sides of the supporting box girder, stopped the cars from rising upwards. Larger, horizontal, side-thrust guide wheels stopped any lateral movement and held the cars securely on the track by pressing into the sides of the box girder. Specifications of the Darling Harbour Monorail Manufacturer of Monorail trains: Von Roll Transportsysteme AG, Thun, Switzerland. Type: Mk III Date of opening of Sydney Monorail system: 21 July 1988 Date of closing Sydney Monorail system: 30 June 2013 Construction time of Monorail system: 26 months Monorail owners: TNT Harbour-link (1988-1998), Metro Transport Sydney Pty Ltd (1998-2013), Transport for NSW (2013) Monorail operators at time of decommissioning: Veolia Transport Sydney Pty Ltd Length of track: 3.6 km, a single line loop Power supply: 500 volts AC 3 wire /50 Hertz Operating speed: 33 kph Time for one circuit of the loop: 12 minutes Number of trains in the fleet: 6 Number of cars per train: 7 Overall length of each train: 32.12 metres Overall height of each train: 2.6 metres Overall width of each train: 2.06 metres Height of car door entrances: 2 metres Length of front and rear cars: 5.55 metres Length of middle cars: 4.14 metres Maximum seating capacity per monorail: 56 (later 48) Seating capacity in each car: 8 seated, 12 standing Tare weight of a train: 22 tonnes Weight of a fully loaded train: 33 tonnes Maximum frequency of service with 6 monorails: every 1.98 minutes Number of Monorail stations: 6 initially, later 8 Length of Monorail station platforms: 27 metres
PRODUCTION
Notes
The fleet of six Mk III Sydney Monorail trains was built by Von Roll Transportsysteme AG, of Industriestrasse 2, Thun, Switzerland. The cars were manufactured in a factory located at Olten, about 45 km west of Zurich and delivered to Sydney by ship in 1987. They were the first Mk III type to be constructed by Von Roll. The Von Roll firm had been established in 1810 by Ludwig Freiherr von Roll (1771-1839) and Jakob von Glutz as an ironworks. They became prosperous with the increased industrialisation of Europe and railway building. Their business went on to become one the most successful in Switzerland, reaching its peak in the 1970s with over 10,000 employees. They later manufactured insulation products and systems for the electrical machinery industry but it was their amusement park rides for which they are said to be best remembered, especially the Sky Ride which was built in over 100 theme parks around the world. The Sydney Monorail was one of four monorail systems built by Von Roll in Australia during the 1980s. Mk II systems were opened in the Sea World theme park on Queensland's Gold Coast in 1986 (in 2013 it was still operating) and temporarily during 1988 at Brisbane's World Expo 88 site around Southbank. A Mk III system opened at Broadbeach, also on the Gold Coast. It still operates today (2013) linking a shopping centre with a casino. Around the world a Von Roll monorail was built in Vancouver, Canada, for Expo 86 (this was sold to the Alton Towers theme park in England) and two in Singapore on Sentosa Island in 1982 and the Jurong Bird Park in 1991. Both of these have closed. Von Roll's last monorail was opened at Newark International Airport, New Jersey, USA, in 1996. It was completed by Adtranz (later Bombardier), to whom Von Roll had sold their monorail technology in 1994.
HISTORY
Notes
Planning The redevelopment of the Sydney Darling Harbour area was announced in May 1984 by the Labor Premier, Neville Wran. It comprised the $200 million transformation of a 50-ha site of derelict railway sidings and industrial buildings around Cockle Bay, west of Sydney's CBD. In early 1985 the Darling Harbour Authority received over 20 expressions of interest for a people mover proposed to link the city with the redevelopment. A shortlist of entrants was then invited to submit their plans which in the end came down two proposals. On 28 October 1985 the NSW Minister for Public Works, Laurie Brereton, officially announced that Sir Peter Abeles' TNT company, a logistics giant, won the contract for its proposal of a driverless, single track, elevated monorail to be built at no cost to the government. (The other proposal was a two-way light rail which would have connected Pyrmont, Circular Quay and Central stations.) Contracts for the Monorail project were signed in March 1986 at a projected cost of $60 million. Clearly, Wran and Brereton had not consulted an "Encyclopaedia Britannica" (1980) readily available in every local library. If they had they would have read that "the money savings achieved by building elevated lines has been shown to represent false economy in the long run because of the damaging effects of elevated structures on business and residential streets. Though arguments have been advanced that aesthetically pleasing and quiet monorail lines could be built in city streets, present experience is not favourable. Though most fairs of recent years have had monorail systems, and Dallas has a short line connecting the airport parking area to one passenger terminal, no successful system has been built for a central business district." Darling Harbour became Australia's premier urban redevelopment project which opened in 1988 for the Australian Bi-Centenary. At the time it was envisaged to be focal point for the city's leisure activities for both Sydney's visitors and workers. The Monorail was seen as a vital connection between major cultural and tourist venues including the Powerhouse Museum, Australian National Maritime Museum, Entertainment Centre, Sydney Convention Centre, city hotels, Paddy's Markets, Chinatown and the Harbourside Festival Markets. The Monorail was promoted as beginning an exciting era in rapid transit as passengers could glide effortlessly above street congestion and avoid crowded city thoroughfares on their way to the festive atmosphere of Darling Harbour. It was argued that by building "a quiet, electric monorail this contributed to the serenity of Darling Harbour…[and] enabled planners to leave large sections…as open space for the safety and enjoyment of pedestrians at Darling Harbour." Protest In protest against the planned construction of the Monorail, Sydney Citizens Against the Proposed Monorail (SCAPM) was formed in December 1985 with its legal adviser, the solicitor and sustainable house owner, Michael Mobbs. During 1986 SCAPM appealed to the public in newspaper advertisements to support its stand and held anti-monorail protest meetings and fundraising concerts at the Sydney Town Hall and marches through the streets attended by thousands. The protest group made submissions to public inquiries held to determine the course of the elevated track and wore protest badges promulgating their objections: 'QVB yum - Monorail yuk'; 'No Monorail'; 'Stop the Monsterail'; 'Who needs a monorail? I've got feet!'; 'Sydney Citizens Against the Proposed Monorail'; and after it was built, 'Dismantle the Monorail'. Some of the more high profile protesters included the country's cultural elite, Peter Carey, Leo Schofield, Jim McClelland, Margaret Roadnight, Ruth Cracknell, Ita Buttrose, Mike Carlton, Nick Greiner and Patrick White who described the proposed monorail as "one of the many autocratic farces perpetuated by the powerful on our citizens." Urban activist, Jack Mundy, said it "represented the rape of the city." Many architects and planners were also against the Monorail, as were some government officials. Clover Moore, then an Independent MP, called it "the most offensive structure to assault our city since the Cahill Expressway" whilst architect, Harry Seidler, announced "it was the most tragic thing that happened to the urban fabric of Sydney". The National Trust of Australia (NSW) argued that numerous historic buildings in the City were damaged during the Monorail's construction and the whole system was visually at odds with Sydney's historic streetscape. Ironically when it opened the Monorail was promoted as the ideal way to see some of Australia's finest historical architecture including the Queen Victoria Building, Sydney Town Hall and Pyrmont Bridge. Testing and Opening Testing of the Monorail began in May 1988 and the system officially opened to the public on 21 July 1988. It was originally intended for the Monorail trains to be driverless and for the system to operate automatically. After a number of breakdowns due to problems with the sensitive electronic controllers perceiving obstacles such as leaves on the track it was decided to have human eyes monitoring the track so operators permanently occupied the first carriage. Initially, the operators had to stand up, and then were given a stool and later still a chair. Once operators occupied the cab this car was no longer open to the travelling public. After its opening there was an enthusiastic flurry of monorail proposals for other routes around Sydney including above the major road arteries of the Hume Highway, Victoria Road, Barrenjoey Road, Military Road and Parramatta Road as well as a spur line from the proposed new airport at Badgerys Creek and even over the top of the arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge! Operation The trains operated simultaneously in the same anticlockwise direction along the single elevated track. Initially six trains ran at a frequency of every 2 minutes between services. The trains stopped at stations for about 40 seconds, which included time to decelerate, board passengers and accelerate. A complete circuit of the 3.6 km loop took 12 minutes and the operating speed was 33 kph. The system had a total capacity of 5000 passengers per hour with each train seating 48. Ron Ward was the general manager of TNT Harbourlink and ran the Monorail for the first 10 years. There were five operational managers, Wayne Ferguson, Greg Glancy, Rob Butterworth, Paul Ivers and Warwick Talbot. Ferguson became the Monorail's first marketing manager and developed a Smartcard for regular Monorail users. It was the first debit card fare system in Australia. His inspiration for it was the magnetic strip on his library card. Vending machines were installed at the Monorail stations for passengers to purchase cards and top them up. This was years before the Opal card was introduced in parts of Sydney in 2013. The operation of the Monorail system was controlled from a control room located above the maintenance facility in Pyrmont. A control panel operator oversaw the operation of the system via a computer mimic panel known as a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. This showed the real time position and performance of each train around the track. The controller was able to talk to each driver by two-way radio and also had voice contact with each car in each train. By the end of its operational life the cost of the Monorail was a very expensive form of public transport. A blanket fare of $5.00 was charged to travel to only one station or the entire circuit. As token vending machines were unreliable tokens were purchased from a ticket office or kiosk at each station and fed into turnstiles to admit passengers onto the platform. The operating hours were from 7 am to 10 pm Monday to Saturday and 8 am to 10 pm on Sunday. The Monorail operated every day of the year except Christmas Day. There was no actual timetable but with four trains operating the wait between services was only a few minutes. The Monorail's Eight Stations The Monorail was accessed initially from six but later by eight stations. These were all fully enclosed constructions of steel and glass. The platforms were designed to accommodate one train, approximately 27 metres in length, and accessed and exited by turnstiles. All stations were furnished with public address systems and, for security reasons, were supervised by closed circuit television surveillance cameras viewed in the central control room at Pyrmont from where public announcements could also be made. The stations comprised: Harbourside- this station was located at the western end of Pyrmont Bridge next to the Harbourside shopping centre in Darling Harbour. Convention - this station was located on the western edge of Darling Harbour and served the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. Paddy's Markets - this station was located beyond the southern end of Darling Harbour near the Entertainment Centre and Paddy's Markets. It was originally named Haymarket but later changed to Powerhouse Museum before changing to Paddy's Markets. Chinatown - this station was originally proposed to be called Darling Walk, then Gardenside. It ended up being called Garden Plaza but was later renamed Chinatown. Between 26 July 2004 and 18 December 2006 the station was closed all together. In 2010 its hours of operation were only between 7 am and 9 am on weekdays. Word Square - this station was located in Liverpool Street between Pitt and George Streets. It was originally proposed to be called City South. A temporary station was in use from late 1988 until 2005 when the station was rebuilt into the new adjacent building. Galeries Victoria - this station was originally proposed to be called Town Hall but was named Park Plaza instead. A temporary entrance was provided from the opening of the service in 1988 until 2000 when the station was incorporated into the new adjacent building. City Centre - this station was near the corner of Pitt and Market Streets. It was only a temporary one from opening in 1988 until mid-1989 during construction of the City Centre shopping arcade. The temporary station was partly suspended above Pitt Street. Darling Park - this station was near the eastern end of Pyrmont Bridge and was originally proposed to be called Casino but Sydney's casino was eventually built in Pyrmont. Power Distribution System Operating power for the Monorail system was derived from an 11 KV feed provided by the local electricity authority at a substation near the maintenance and control facility at Pyrmont. Propulsion power and "housekeeping" power around the system were provided by substations along the route and fed from the main 11 KV substation. Power for the trains was distributed along the track over plastic sheathed aluminium collector rails fitted to the sides of the track just below the running surface. Copper collector shoes on sprung arms fixed to the rear carriage bogie ran inside the collector rails to draw off power. Each train had its own power back-up batteries to ensure the continued operation of selected vital equipment such as emergency communications and carriage ventilation. In the event of a loss of substation power, an automatically-activated diesel-powered emergency generator in the maintenance facility applied sufficient capacity to the system to bring stranded trains safely into stations one-by-one. Communication All communication with trains was by radio. Bi-directional data and voice communications was achieved over three duplex channels. One channel carried "transmit" and "receive" voice signals to all carriages in all trains. This allowed one passenger to speak to the control room at a time, with others being put automatically into a queue. The other duplex channels were dedicated to gathering data from and distributing data to trains, with one channel allocated to train Nos 1, 2 and 3 for transmission reception and the other to train Nos 4, 5 and 6. The Australian firm, AWA, undertook the original voice communication system for the Monorail. As more and taller city buildings were constructed the direct line of sight was broken and the communication system developed black spots. Operating Monorail Trains Monorail trains could operate in three modes: Automatic, Semi-automatic, and Manual. In Automatic mode an unattended train could be pushed onto the track loop by the traverser at the depot. The Control Operator in the control tower closed the doors and dispatched the train which was then meant to travel around the loop automatically, docking at stations and collecting and unloading passengers. All operations were performed automatically including door opening and closing, speed, time spent at stations and other functions. A train in "Semi-Automatic" mode had an operator in Car No.1 who manually gave the door "close" command and the train the "go" command. Beyond this the train operated automatically. The semi-automatic mode assisted in maintaining a safe operating distance between trains, automatically adjusted the train's speed and stopped it when the distance to the train ahead was reduced to below the pre-determined limit of 100 m. Operating the train in semi-automatic removed a number of risks associated with driver error. (The Autopilot operated the same regardless of the train being in automatic or semi-automatic). In "Manual" mode a driver was required to manually control the speed and other functions of the train. Manual driving was repetitive with frequent braking and control tasks to be completed at each station. It was generally used for only a small part of the day's operation which was mostly spent in semi-automatic mode. A keyboard switch on the consol in the leading car was used by the driver to switch between the modes as instructed by the Control Operator in the control room. The Sydney Monorail system was originally designed to operate in fully automatic mode. Not only were stations and substations meant to be unstaffed but trains were supposed to operate by themselves including stopping at stations, opening and closing doors, departing from stations, accelerating, intelligent speed control, decelerating, anti-collision and anti-bunching control without the need for human intervention. Even so, the leading car was still fitted with a control consol for putting the trains into and out of service and during maintenance. However, from the start, the Automatic mode of operating was plagued with problems.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Transport for NSW, 2014
Acquisition Date
29 January 2014
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