A trip down memory lane
The shape of things that never were; a model of an articulated UTDC ALRT vehicle.
An advert for ALRT, circa 1983. Sadly for Diane Edgecomb, the Detroit ICTS has been nothing more than a curiosity, which quickly earned the name the “Mugger Mover”.
Notice that the gap between the two MK.1’s have been ‘photo shopped’ to make them appear as one car, in order to compete with the emerging articulated light rail vehicles. Already, the management at the UTDC were aware that SkyTrain’s small cars were a disadvantage to sales.
Actually there was supposed to be a railway passenger car style diaphragm joining the door compartments which makes it look like its articulated. This was dropped by Transport Canada because they do not allow diaphragms between transit vehicles because passengers could hide in there, which violates several safety statutes.
Hey there. I know I’m a little late commenting to this article..
To add to the above mentioned bit about the small size of the ALRT cars being a disadvantage, when the GO ALRT trains were being designed they actually went through four different versions of rail vehicle design until the project was cancelled in 1985. A key part of the GO ALRT project was to help serve the city of Hamilton.
Of course just a year before GO ALRT had been announced in October, 1982, the city had just rejected plans for a ICTS SkyTrain line that would have linked downtown Hamilton with upper Hamilton.
It is a good thing that that project was not completed either since the train yard would have been built behind the Hunter St. GO Centre right where the GO Centre bus terminal is now.
Almost thirty years after the Ontario government dumped the UTDC, there is now much less emphasis on ridiculous ALRTs and more on neighbourhood friendly and neighbourhood building light rail transit.
As much as I was fascinated by the GO ALRT project as a teenager, light rail is probably the better route to take.
As for the advertisement saying the ICTS trains do no shake and rattle, I would welcome anyone to ride the worn and torn Scarbrough RT. I just rode it here to this beautiful new public library here at the Scarborough Town Centre that just opened a few days ago and yes indeed, Scarborough’s ICTS RT very muuch so has a good bit of shake and rattle to it along with speed restrictions.
I would say that the fantasy like transit dreams that were had for rapid transit back in the 1970s that gave rise to ALRT ICTS is something that belongs more in the past.
Here in 2015, everything old is new again. Light rail is indeed the future and today the Ontario government made another financial commitment to invest $1 billion in light rail expansion and GO Train expansion.
Meanwhile silly Personal Rapid Transit maglev toy trains of the 1970s shall be left as just another failed idea.
As they say, if it is not broke, it does not need fixing, and indeed there was never anything wrong ever with the tram or as it is called now light rail..
Until next time.
Jordan Kerim