Bombardier Advanced Rapid Transit

Advanced Rapid Transit or ART is the current name given to a rapid transit system manufactured by Bombardier Transportation; it was originally named ICTS (for ‘Intermediate Capacity Transit System’), and is sometimes referred to generically as ‘advanced light rapid transit’. It is used by metro lines in Vancouver, Toronto, Detroit, New York, and Kuala Lumpur. A future system in Yongin, near Seoul, South Korea is to use the technology as well. It was proposed for Bangkok, Thailand’s Skytrain, but dropped in favour of standard metro technology.

Technology

The technology was developed in the 1970s by the Urban Transportation Development Corporation, a Crown corporation of the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was among the first to make use of linear electromagnetic propulsion. ART is not, however, a magnetic levitation system; 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, essentially pulling itself along without requiring a motor with moving parts.

ART trains are also capable of running under computer control, without drivers, and have steerable axles, allowing them to turn tighter corners than most trains of the same length. They are also lighter than most conventional metro trains, and can run on smaller elevated guide-ways and in narrower tunnels.

While its linear motors and steerable axles are relatively rare, the ART has a number of competitors in the field of automated metros, including the VAL (first used in Lille, France) and the "Meteor" technology (used by Line 14 of the Paris Métro). All current ART lines are predominantly elevated, but there is nothing in their design to prevent them from performing equally well underground, and eg. Kuala Lumpur's Kelana Jaya Line has a long underground section.

The original Mark I cars are 12m (40ft) long. The second generation Mark II cars are 18m (60ft) long each and come in articulated pairs.

ART and similar technologies are sometimes referred to as "light rail", especially in Asia. Because of their use of automated operation and third-rail power, however, they are unsuitable for the unprotected street-level tramways that the term usually indicates in Europe and North America.

Metros using ART technology

Vancouver

The SkyTrain is the largest ART system in operation, and consists of two lines; the Expo Line and the Millennium Line. The Expo Line opened in late 1985. Vancouver’s SkyTrains have operated from the start in fully automated mode. With the opening of the Millennium Line in 2002, Vancouver added to its original Mark I fleet the longer, articulated ART Mark II trains first used in Kuala Lumpur, which allow for significantly greater capacities. Vancouver is currently planning a further line connecting the Millennium Line to Coquitlam in the north-east known as the Evergreen Line. Although at one point the Evergreen Line was proposed to be a street-level LRT system that would not use ART technology, in 2008 plans were changed back to full integration with SkyTrain using ART trains.

Construction is presently underway in Vancouver on the Canada Line, a metro line which will run in subway tunnels through downtown and central Vancouver and then rise above ground to two elevated branches to the suburb of Richmond and Vancouver International Airport. The Canada Line will not use ART technology, instead running on conventional electrical engines. Rotem, a division of the Hyundai Motor Group, will be supplying automated metro trains for the Canada Line.

Toronto

In 1981, the Toronto Transit Commission was planning to build a streetcar line serving the city’s eastern district of Scarborough, but the Ontario provincial government convinced it, by agreeing to pay for the line, to use the then-new ICTS technology instead so that it could act as a demonstration system for other transit operators considering buying the trains. The six-station Scarborough RT line opened in 1985. Although its ICTS Mark I trains are capable of driving themselves, the TTC chose to run them semi-automatically with operators on board in order to keep peace with their main union.

The future of the line is uncertain; it has proven expensive to run, and has never been extended. Only two of its stations are used on a level comparable to those of the TTC’s conventional subway lines, and most passengers see it merely as an extra transfer they must make in order to get onto a higher-volume line running downtown. Its Mark I fleet will soon be due for replacement, and it would be expensive to either resume production of the old models, or upgrade the line to handle the longer Mark II trains. [http://transit.toronto.on.ca/archives/weblog/2005/06/25-editorial.shtml]

Detroit

The thirteen-station Detroit People Mover is a fully automated system, using the same ICTS Mark I trains as Toronto and Vancouver.

New York

AirTrain JFK, opened in December 2003, is an automated ART service with Mark II rolling stock. Its two branches connect the New York City Subway and Long Island Rail Road to the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. This service uses non-articulated Mark II cars in trains of one or two cars.

Kuala Lumpur

The Kelana Jaya Line in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (formerly Putra-LRT) is fully automated, and opened in 1998. There are plans for extension of the line. It introduced the longer, articulated Mark II version of the ART train.

The alignment starts from the Depot in Subang and ends at Terminal Putra in Gombak totaling to 29 km in length with a total of 24 stations.

Its first operation commenced on 1 September 1998 between the Lembah Subang Depot to Pasar Seni Station and section two, between Pasar Seni to Terminal Putra in June 1999.

In 2002, the system carried its 150 millionth passenger, with an average of 160,000 passengers riding the system daily. Today, it carries over 170,000 passengers a day and over 350,000 a day during national events.

In 2006, an order was placed with Bombardier for 22 new 4-car units, with an optional 13 to be ordered if necessary. Delivery is expected in 2008

In 2007, the 2006 order was extended with additional purchase of 52 train sets. Delivery is expected to be in 2010.

Beijing

The Airport Line of the Beijing Subway, opened in July 2008, uses ART technology, with a fleet of 40 locally manufactured Mk II vehicles. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2006_March_20/ai_n16110525] The route is 28 km long and has four stations.

Yongin

The EverLine Rapid Transit System is an ART line, currently being built in Yongin. The line will connect the city to the Everland theme park, with an extension of the Seoul Subway now under construction. [http://www.bombardier.com/index.jsp?id=1_0&lang=en&file=/en/1_0/1_2/1_2_2_1_1_4.jsp]

Demo cars

Two demostrator/prototype cars were built and used to test the ICTS technology at the UTDC facility at Millhaven, Ontario. The cars lacked doors at either end of the vehicle. The lead car had windows in the centre and driver side, while the trailer car only had a centre window. The paint scheme on the lead car was orange and white, while the trailer was grey and orange.

On the inside there were no seats and the overall interior was unfinished. Only the trailer car remained on the facility as of 2000 and the fate of this car set is unknown.

A mock-up an ICTS car was stored at the Toronto Transit Commission Wychwood Carhouse by Disney Displays.

ALRT car

The ALRT car was a proposed rapid-transit vehicle for Greater Toronto's GO ALRT in the early 1980s. The car was longer, used a pantograph and was an articulated version of the Scarborough RT car. The ALRT car was capable of high speeds needed for interurban operation. The design was never produced, as the ALRT program was cancelled in 1985.

Car allocation

* Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - 210 cars (150 Mark I and 60 Mark II, 48 Mark II on order)
* Detroit, Michigan, USA - 12 cars (Mark I)
* Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 35 cars (Mark II); 52 more cars on order
* AirTrain JFK, New York, New York, USA - 32 cars (Mark II)
* Yongin LRT South Korea - 32 cars (Mark II)
* Scarborough RT, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - 28 cars (Mark I)
* UTDC Millhaven Test Facility, Millhaven, Ontario, Canada - 2 cars (Mark I prototype)

Movie appearances

A scene in the 2003 movie "Paycheck" shows Ben Affleck running in front of a Mark II train in the Vancouver SkyTrain system. It can also be seen numerous times in "Smallville", and in other shows filmed in Vancouver.

See also

* Medium capacity system

External links

* [http://www.bombardier.com/en/1_0/1_2/1_2_2_1_1.jsp Bombardier ART official site]