ON 12th MARCH 2020, Wellington City Council’s Policy and Strategy committee heard of a Mass Rapid Transit option seemingly overlooked by Let’s Get Wellington Moving. Stephen Moore and Dr Peter Dodwell, for a group called FASTR-Wellington, outlined the benefits of Suspension Monorail (SM), a less publicised variation of monorail.

MOORE, a government procurement specialist, said elevated systems are unique in achieving both greater safety and also reliably shorter journey times than other MRT options. Among other examples overseas, the Shonan Rail SM had been operating successfully in Japan for 50 years. [click photo below for video clip, mp4 format; 29MB]

CONVENTIONAL LIGHT RAIL (LR) had flourished in sprawling cities with wide streets, level terrain, and multiple through-routes, but genuine LR does not transfer well to cities like Wellington, with many hills, narrow streets, and only 2-3 through-routes. SM shines in such conditions, and in Wellington would require no tunnels, while the current ‘LR’ proposal included 3 tunnels. SM capacity is similar to light rail, with a three-car configuration carrying 228 seated, to a total of 498 including standing passengers.

ASKED OF POSSIBLE DIFFICULTIES in boarding, Moore responded that this was actually one of the greatest advantages of SM. Having sheltered stations above road level freed up footpaths, and allowed space for ticketing machines and turnstiles. This meant no queues on crowded pavements,  and no waiting while customers found change or had problems “tagging on”. Instead, boarding and alighting could be very swift, reducing total journey time.

DODWELL, an occupational and environmental medicine specialist for 35 years with experience in transport safety, said the higher safety arose because of total separation of SM from ground-based traffic, hence no danger involving pedestrians, cyclists and scooters. This allowed SM to accelerate up to 70 km/hour. A route from Central Station to airport, even with 12 stops, could be covered in under 20 minutes. An overhead system, independent of traffic congestion and accidents below, reliably achieves such speeds even at rush hour or during road congestion from major city events. 

COMPARED WITH THE PROPOSED ‘LIGHT RAIL’, construction could be completed sooner and with less disruption to retailers and residents, because pylon footings were the only element requiring on-site construction. With these spaced at flexible locations 35 m apart, there was no need to dig up existing underground services to permit later maintenance, a downside of LR.  Construction of a Wellington SM system, from airport to Central Station, could be completed in three years, faster than stage 1 of the current ‘LR’ proposal, and with immediate, greater benefits afterwards in safety and speed.

OVERHEAD SM TRACKS can navigate narrow streets not available to LR,  thus retaining popular routes such as the Golden Mile and Miramar Cutting. For disabled passengers there would be lifts to the stations, with level access for boarding.

PARTICULAR ASSETS would be the option of an SM station above the Central Railway Station platforms, capable of serving fans arriving and departing the regional Stadium; level, sheltered access to the Regional Hospital; a station combined with, and sheltering, the present Kilbirnie bus hub; and a station above the roundabout beside the Evans Bay Sports Centre, which could integrate with a pedestrian overpass for Cobham Drive.

“SM IS ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY”, said Moore. It is non-polluting, electric and quiet, running on rubber tyres, with noise levels of 65 dB at 15m, which is the same as normal conversation levels. He stated that concerns about visual impact can be mitigated, adding “We believe the city will embrace and celebrate SM as a visible symbol of our city’s commitment to green mass transport”.

Sean Rush, Councillor for the Eastern Ward, concluded “This option must be considered”.

Click here for a PDF, or here for a PowerPoint (with video)
of the FASTR-Wellington presentation to WCC.