Advanced light rapid transit
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Advanced light rapid transit is a generic name for the technology used in the metro systems (or parts thereof) in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, Detroit and New York, United States of America, Ankara, Turkey, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Skytrain in Bangkok, Thailand was originally also planned to use the same technology, but was after all based on standard light-rail technology.
The technology, originally named the Intermediate Capacity Transit System (ICTS), was developed in the 1970s by the Urban Transit Development Corporation, a crown corporation of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The technology is now owned by Bombardier, which calls it ART, and was among the first to make use of linear (electromagnetic) propulsion. It is not a maglev system, however: the train's weight is supported by the wheels even while in motion. The train is propelled by magnetic forces acting against currents induced in a conductive strip located between the rails.
Systems are listed below roughly in order of construction.
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Toronto (Scarborough RT)
In 1981, the Ontario provincial government convinced the Toronto Transit Commission to use the then-named ICTS instead of a private streetcar right of way for a new route to serve the eastern Toronto inner suburb of Scarborough. The six-station Scarborough Rapid Transit line (or SRT) opened in 1985. The "Mark I" trains are partially automated, but do have drivers to address safety concerns.
Vancouver SkyTrain
The Expo Line of the Vancouver SkyTrain opened in late 1985, using driverless, fully automated trains. THis system uses both the Mark I trains and the "Mark II" trains, which are longer and have a wider turning radius than the Mark I trains. A second line, the Millennium Line, opened in 2002, using the same second-generation vehicles as Kuala Lumpur's Putra LRT. The system is the largest ALRT-type system in operation. Two more lines—the Richmond-Airport-Vancouver Line and Northeast Sector Line—have been approved for construction and are projected to open in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Detroit People Mover
The Detroit People Mover is a fully automated system, using the same technology as the Vancouver system.
Kuala Lumpur Putra LRT
The Putra LRT system in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is fully automated, and opened in 1999.
Ankara Metro
The Ankara metro system, first opened in the mid 1990s, features various adaptations of the technology used in Toronto and Vancouver.
AirTrain JFK
AirTrain JFK connects John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to the New York City Subway and the Long Island Rail Road.
Competing technologies
The main challengers to this technology are the VAL, and the more costly to operate but cheaper to install light rail tram.
Movie trivia
- Kuala Lumpur's Putra LRT was featured in the closing scene of the 1999 Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones movie Entrapment.
- A scene in the 2003 movie Paycheck features Ben Affleck running in front of a train in the Vancouver SkyTrain system.