MONO-RAIL GUIDED TRANSPORT

The transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth century marked the birth of mono-rail guided transport technology in India and Germany.

The Kundala Valley Railway in India, a road borne railway system, was built in 1902 and operated between Munnar and Top Station in the Kannan Devan Hills of Kerala. It operated with mono-rail guided bullock-cart vehicles rolling on one side with steel wheels on a mono-rail and balanced on the other side by a larger cart-wheel on a cart road, built to transport tea and other goods. This mono-rail was based on the Ewing System.

The second Ewing System in India had been the Patiala State Monorail Tramway (PSMT):

It had been hauled by a steam engine, and it was running from 1907 to 1927 in south-east Punjab. A steam locomotive and a coach of PSMT have been restored and are exhibited in the Indian National Rail Museum, New Delhi, in running condition.

1901 had been the opening year of the Wuppertal suspended Mono-Rail for public urban transport in Germany. Since that time it rolls now over 100 years with electric powered two-flange steel wheels on an elevated right-of-way steel mono-rail supported by a girder construction, floating over roads and river.

In the 21st century, centre Mono-Rail guided People Movers have entered global level as Road Buses and Automated People Movers (APM), latter running with inflated rubber tires on right-of-way roll-ways. They might also come to India as innovative automated people movers in the smart cities and technology parks meeting the demands of Mobility as a Service (MaaS).
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