In brief: PRT @ LHR

Posted on April 6, 2009 by Matthieu Desiderio

This year the world’s first Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system will open at London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR). The system will comprise some 4 kilometers of track and will link one station in Terminal 5 to 2 remote stations in the Business car park. This simple application may later be expanded to include around 30 kilometers of track, 350 vehicles and 50 stations serving Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5 and linking them to office blocks and hotels in the vicinity of the airport. The system selected for this first application is the ULTra System conceived by Martin Lowson. It comprises small, light, rubber tyred, battery powered vehicles which run nonstop from the boarding station to the alighting station carrying 1-4 passengers and their luggage.

PRT is currently being installed and tested at Heathrow with the majority of the infrastructure now complete. There will be a chance to view the infrastructure and vehicles during the course of the conference.

PRT systems are likely soon to have urban and suburban applications. PRT’s great strength will be its ability to compete with the private car in the dispersed suburban travel markets which have largely been created by the car. There are already proposals for urban PRT systems in the UK, while overseas there have been feasibility studies of regional and even national systems.

The object of the conference is to allow delegates to view the ULTra system at LHR, to inform them about progress being made here and elsewhere and to consider the future roles and significance of PRT. On the third morning of the conference, delegates will additionally be able to hear presentations from the European project CityMobil, which has been exploring other ways that 21st Century technology may transform urban transport.