Why Monorails Are A Bad Idea

Just build regular rail, but call it the "hyper-rail" and paint the tracks with luminescent paint, or put RGB leds on there, and voilà, a futuristic marketable rail system for the lovers of fake-futurism.

Monorails have one purpose: eventually Tom Scott will show up and make a video about it.

If this channel has taught me anything, it's that every form of transportation that sounds cool and futuristic is basically just a shittier version of a train

Don’t forget about the positives . Monorails put Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook on the map. They can also inspire an entire town to do a musical number.

You missed one thing: monorails can climb/descend much steeper gradients than conventional rail, making them useful in some industries (eg mining) and in cities built on hills, such as Chongqing

Monorails make sense for one particular circumstance: When you don't have space for a surface light rail, and you don't want the claustrophobic cave-like feeling of a traditional elevated line above you (nor do want to spend for a subway). This video missed one other big disadvantages for monorails- if there's an emergency, the passengers have no place to go.

Monorails are okay, but definitely only worthwhile in a few niches. Still they seem pragmatic as hell after looking at those Tesla/Boring Company loops.

they can be used in specific situations. Those things are scenic and light. The Issue is that if you can build regular rail it's ok but if you cannot well... you must adapt. Elevating a light rail is harder than elevating a mono. So it is basically that the utility. Also the degree that can turn is a bit better than regular trains and also the traction that has and it is a lot less noisy. That is basically perfect for downtown loops between the skyscrapers, because the elevation doesn't occupy too much space creating huge bridges or shadowing the streets making it look like Gotham. For the rest they are a bad idea.

1- Create a non existent problem 2- Sell an expensive solution

Chongqing NEEDED a monorail because the city is literally built on top of a mountain and having mono rails running along the cliffs is much easier than conventional rail. Furthermore, there are a lot of elevation changes so having a monorail is also more practical in that regard.

Adam, after watching this video I still feel misinformed about monorails. You spent very little time talking about the benefits of monorails, so for people like me who don't already know why they exist, we only have one side of the story. For people who do know the advantages of monorails, they're going to discredit the video by pointing out all the benefits you failed to address.

Pretty disingenuous to not look at the Tokyo monorail line or the Disney monorail system - places where the system made sense and it's been utilized to a great deal of success - but overall the points raised here are pretty straightforward and correct about why monorails are not utilized in most situations.

I'm pretty sure monorails were meant for places like Disneyland and not cities.

That's the problem with monorail designers: they all have such a one-track mind.

Despite all their flaws, all my cities in cities skylines have several times more feet of monorail track compared to passenger rail or subways, simply because they're the only ones that have integrated road types, and I like being able to see the monorails running around the city.

I like monorails as a within-city transportation. Anything beyond that is much better suited for a conventional rail system.

The reason monorail worked well in Chongqing is that the City is extremely mountainous and is known as a '3D city' in China. It has extreme elevation changes within a very small area so a lot of the infrastructure already need to be elevated. There are bridges connecting the top of a building to the ground floor of another. Surface rail and metro could only serve part of the city. It is one of the very few places in the world where monorails make sense.

Fully agreed. Moscow monorail is working in "tourist mode" for years

There’s no magic or mystery here - a monorail is just an elevated train. Build it to move 20 people and it will move 20 people. Build it to move 20 million people and it will move 20 million people. The Sydney monorail was never intended to move many people. And the monorails in China move just as many people as the application called for. It’s not like there are some people who for some reason can’t get on the train! Monorails are for dense, highly populated city applications where ground interference and right-of-way is an issue, and where high-speed is definitely not feasible. They cruise about the city at 40 mph tops - so they don’t need fast switches. And, yes, you’re right, you definitely aren't going to send any old “Bob” out with a sledgehammer to whack on a switch. Monorails are insanely quiet - like an electric car rolling by your house at 20 mph. The wheels are tucked up inside so sound is virtually nonexistent. Perfect for a city setting. Like anything, monorails have their application. If they don’t fit the problem, then go with something else. But if you’re talking about transit for a dense and crowded city with no room to sprawl track on the ground, then monorails might be the perfect solution. Hundreds of thousands of people from all socio-economic statuses ride monorails every day. Monorails futuristic? That's funny, Wikipedia says they've existed since 1820. Monorails offer transit that’s clean, quiet, and that won’t roll over you while you’re out for a walk. They're perfect for many city applications.

As someone who operated both a monorail and a train for a theme park, they are far more problematic then a conventional train, not to mention when compared to a train they feel more one time use so to speak, where if they break down thats it for it till it's repaired, whereas trains can have the engine swapped out and everything still work just fine