Английская Википедия:Chester Zoo monorail

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Файл:Approaching the Elephant Bridge at Chester Zoo (geograph 5095715).jpg

The Chester Zoo monorail

The Chester Zoo monorail was an internal transport system at Chester Zoo that operated from 1991 to 2019.

Description

Файл:Chester Zoo monorail map, 2012.png

Map showing monorail in 2012

The system was Шаблон:Convert long and travelled on a single track elevated guideway, a straddle beam monorail, to give views of the zoo grounds – the track crossed Flag Lane twice on its one-way circular route. The two halves of the zoo were connected by the system and there was one station in each part, one near the lion enclosure (Jubilee Square station) and one near the monkey building (Tsavo station, formerly known as Monkey Island station from 1991 until 2015).

The system operated four trains. Each train on the system could seat 24 passengers between its four cars and a full tour took around fifteen minutes. The layout had a separate depot and control room and carried approximately 2,000 passengers per day.

T&M Machine Tool Electronics upgraded the monorail's drive system and electrics in 2009, including conversion from DC to AC electrical operation and automation improvements involving the laying of over Шаблон:Convert of cabling, at a cost of £300,000. The upgraded system used pairs of Шаблон:Convert AC motors for each carriage, with remote monitoring managed over a 5 GHz wireless link.

History

Файл:Chester Zoo, Jubilee Square Monorail Station (geograph 5022261).jpg

Jubilee Square station in 2016

The monorail was built and installed by Computerised People Mover International at a cost of $4 million and then opened by the Duchess of Kent in 1991. During its first trip around the zoo, one train suddenly broke down while the Duchess and everyone else were still on it.

Following the major improvements in 2009, the monorail was re-launched by music producer Pete Waterman during a visit on 23 July 2009, when Waterman drove the first loop of the new system. One week later a power failure occurred, requiring the first eight visitors of the day to be escorted off the monorail using a hydraulic lift.

On 17 May 2012, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip took a tour of Chester Zoo in a specially redecorated monorail set painted in a Union Flag theme for their Diamond Jubilee tour of the north-west of England.

About 2017, Redcroft Management Ltd conducted a "Monorail Future Options Appraisal & Viability Assessment" project to evaluate the commercial and practical viability of extending, replacing or closing the monorail, with options of funding by the North of England Zoological Society.

Файл:At Chester Zoo 2023 062.jpg

The remains of the monorail in 2023

In June 2019, Chester Zoo announced that it would be closing the monorail as it had become unreliable and now covered less than half the zoo because of expansion to over Шаблон:Convert. The zoo also stated that it "no longer fits our vision for a world-class modern zoo". The system closed on 3 September 2019.

List of trains

Train no.	Image	Paint theme	Theme years	Notes
1		Blue band on white	1991 [1] Шаблон:Endash 2010 [2]
		Giraffe coat	2010 [3] - 2016
	Файл:Monorail (40624529130).jpg	Elephants	2016 [4] Шаблон:Endash 2019 [5]
2	Файл:Chester zoo train.jpg	Green band on white	1991 - 2010
	Файл:Monorail at Chester Zoo 1.jpg	Snake skin	2010 [6] Шаблон:Endash 2016
	Файл:Chester Zoo Monorail (geograph 5022143).jpg	Cheetah	2016 - 2019
3	Файл:Aa 2006 05 10 train closeup.jpg	Yellow band on white	1991 [7] Шаблон:En dash 2010
		Zebra coat	2010 [8] Шаблон:Endash 2012 [9]
	Файл:Monorail at Chester Zoo 2.jpg	Union Jacks	2012 Шаблон:Endash 2016 [10]	The royal visitors used this train on 17 May 2012. It was repainted in this theme to commemorate this.
	Файл:Chester Zoo (geograph 5184863).jpg	Penguins	2016 Шаблон:Endash 2019
4		Red band on white	1991 - 2010 [11]
		Tiger coat	2010 - 2016 [12]
	Файл:Capybara and monorail at Chester Zoo (geograph 6128774).jpg	Ants	2016 [13] Шаблон:Endash 2019