Express Monorail Beam Closed Today for TCS(Automation) testing with Monorail Coral.

[MonorailLover]

We join the crowd that doubts the automation is primarily being pursued to increase efficiency and/or to enhance safety. We suspect the primary motivation is to reduce personnel expense. If they really wanted to improve efficiency, simply adding newer, more, or higher capacity trains would provide a higher throughput. Here's hoping for an actual improvement.

Higher capacity trains will only create problems with needing to extend all stations, which wont happen. The TCS system is a step in the right direction, decreasing separation between monorails on the same line, especially while one is requiring clearance, while allowing the monorails to run while a switch is in use, which isn't possible at this time.

The main part of this upgrade is to improve safety, and we all know it. No one else wants a July 5th, 2009 again.

 

[peachykeen]

I'm just glad I got into the department in time to actually drive the trains manually. I can also say I've driven all 14 colors, from all 24 (or I guess technically 26) cabs!

 

[marni1971]

Are Thales still involved?

 

[MaryJaneP]

Decreasing separation only improves efficiency if it simultaneously equals more trains on beam. Unlikely in our estimation. As far as safety is concerned, we agree that avoiding another accident is desirable. We just doubt that automation is going to provide it. Prior system went over 30 years without a major accident.

 

[MonorailLover]

Decreasing separation only improves efficiency if it simultaneously equals more trains on beam. Unlikely in our estimation. As far as safety is concerned, we agree that avoiding another accident is desirable. We just doubt that automation is going to provide it. Prior system went over 30 years without a major accident.

So you're saying that even if a monorail looking for clearance, which is closer parked behind another monorail at lets say The Polynesian, isn't more efficient? It may be minuscule, but I believe that if its parked closer to the station, it'll enter that station quicker than a monorail parked farther away, hence being somewhat more efficient.

 

[peachykeen]

Does someone in the department know if the automation will help decrease station times? For example, will the train automatically start the door close procedure at 2 minutes in station, or something similar?

Granted I haven't been in the department in years, but inconsistent, extended station times were what killed efficiency. It could either be the "nice guy" Cast Member who wanted to get every single person who was within eyesight of the platform on the train and would wait there for 4-5 minutes, or it could be the Guest who was having trouble reversing their wheelchair out of the car and down the ramp. Every minute the train sits at the station, it gets farther and farther behind (assuming the other trains on the beam are operating normally). Say a Monorail sits at the Contemporary for 4 minutes, loading. The 3 Monorails behind it will start to stack up. In the worst case, you can actually have the Monorail in front of the Monorail stopped in the Contemporary holding just outside the Magic Kingdom, waiting to come in.

That starts the vicious cycle of the TTC, Poly, and GF stations getting packed with people because there is a large gap between the "last" and "first" Monorail, and the train originally stopped at the Contemporary requires laps and laps to get caught up because it needs to load a lot more people at each station. What is then required to catch that train up is short station times, which means people waiting on the platform will be stopped from getting on, even if there is room left for them. It takes a "tough" Cast Member to be able to cut the line early like that, but that is really the key to efficiency.

 

[Figment2005]

For some reason, gold has always been my favourite. I would love to see it back in use. Has anyone really been able to determine the amount of time it takes for a monorail to have tcs installed?

I have high hopes for this system... But I know it won't really actively improve the consumers experience, except for a little bit more efficiency, and, you know... The safety part...

Gold has been out for about 2 months for the installation. The process is getting quicker as they learn, so it should progressively shorten the duration as time goes on.

On the guest experience standpoint. Many complaints occur because of our holding patterns. This new system will allow the trains to continually move towards their destination by adjusting the speed. So, while the guest may be arriving in the exact same time as before, they feel they kept making forward progress, ergo a better guest experience.

 

[Figment2005]

Does someone in the department know if the automation will help decrease station times? For example, will the train automatically start the door close procedure at 2 minutes in station, or something similar?

Granted I haven't been in the department in years, but inconsistent, extended station times were what killed efficiency. It could either be the "nice guy" Cast Member who wanted to get every single person who was within eyesight of the platform on the train and would wait there for 4-5 minutes, or it could be the Guest who was having trouble reversing their wheelchair out of the car and down the ramp. Every minute the train sits at the station, it gets farther and farther behind (assuming the other trains on the beam are operating normally). Say a Monorail sits at the Contemporary for 4 minutes, loading. The 3 Monorails behind it will start to stack up. In the worst case, you can actually have the Monorail in front of the Monorail stopped in the Contemporary holding just outside the Magic Kingdom, waiting to come in.

That starts the vicious cycle of the TTC, Poly, and GF stations getting packed with people because there is a large gap between the "last" and "first" Monorail, and the train originally stopped at the Contemporary requires laps and laps to get caught up because it needs to load a lot more people at each station. What is then required to catch that train up is short station times, which means people waiting on the platform will be stopped from getting on, even if there is room left for them. It takes a "tough" Cast Member to be able to cut the line early like that, but that is really the key to efficiency.

The only aspect that will be automated is the driving. Have you seen the small covered consoles that have appeared on the platforms over the past year? Right now the department uses hand signals to close the doors and dispatch the trains. These new consoles will replace those methods. When the appropriate amount of guests have boarded, the platform operator will press the door button on the console. This will signal the driver in the train to close the appropriate doors. Once the doors a secure, the platform will dispatch the train and the driver will press the dispatch button in the train. At that point, the train is automatic until it reaches the next station and the cycle repeats. Does that help?

 

[Figment2005]

Are Thales still involved?

yes

 

[peachykeen]

The only aspect that will be automated is the driving. Have you seen the small covered consoles that have appeared on the platforms over the past year? Right now the department uses hand signals to close the doors and dispatch the trains. These new consoles will replace those methods. When the appropriate amount of guests have boarded, the platform operator will press the door button on the console. This will signal the driver in the train to close the appropriate doors. Once the doors a secure, the platform will dispatch the train and the driver will press the dispatch button in the train. At that point, the train is automatic until it reaches the next station and the cycle repeats. Does that help?

It does, thanks! Good luck with the testing.

 

[MaryJaneP]

Good that to increase efficiency, they are also gonna automate the cutting off of the line and the operation of wheelchairs/ECVs/Ramps. Everything sound so awesome. Yay progress.

 

[Victor Kelly]

Now is the time, now is the best time................

 

[draybook]

This testing couldn't happen over night or in September?

 

[Tom]

We join the crowd that doubts the automation is primarily being pursued to increase efficiency and/or to enhance safety. We suspect the primary motivation is to reduce personnel expense. If they really wanted to improve efficiency, simply adding newer, more, or higher capacity trains would provide a higher throughput. Here's hoping for an actual improvement.

It would a LOT of personnel-hours to pay for this upgrade. A LOT. And it will take a long time to get to a LOT since they'll still have CMs in the cabs. I'm not sure there will be any labor savings.

 

[nelsonj3]

At MK today with the family. Got here early to the TTC. We interestingly were sent to the resort line, as the express was inherently closed. Thinking nothing of it, we listened and just got on.

Now, at 12:40 local time, leaving the park, Monorail coral came into the MK station, both sides of the doors opened instantly, to close exactly 5 seconds later, and as it starts speeding away, I see the pilot with two other unknown Cast members in the back control car with two small vintage WDW monorail posters, printed on 8.5x11 paper with writing I could not read.

Now what I expect it to be is probably training, but I'm not sure. Could anyone confirm something is going on?

It seems like they wouldn't want to test it during the busy season and close down an entire monorail line making it even harder than usual to get to and from MK. Glad I'm not there today! I would guess that they're running buses to alleviate the congestion on the Ferry Boats and Resort Monorail.

 

[TP2000]

View attachment 103804 Here's the photo of the century.... No, just kidding. It is two crossed Mark I's with Walt, stating: train control system project team.

How cute that 21st century CM's out in Florida would reference the original Mark I trains from Disneyland in 1959, with a smiling photo of Walt for extra credit. That image is a caricature of this classic Disneyland scene of two monorails crossing over each other above the Submarine Lagoon, something that's been happening every few minutes at Disneyland since 1959, albeit with five car trains now.

 

[Clamman73]

Not sure which thread to put this in, but I was coral yesterday on the Epcot line and it seemed to be in auto mode. We did a few stops before getting to TTC and they didn't feel like how a human being would make a stop...also it seemed odd to make a couple stops where we did.

 

[Rinx]

Not sure which thread to put this in, but I was coral yesterday on the Epcot line and it seemed to be in auto mode. We did a few stops before getting to TTC and they didn't feel like how a human being would make a stop...also it seemed odd to make a couple stops where we did.

Interesting. But with my experience, Coral is a different animal compared to the other monorails. Coral doesn't always jerk you when the brakes are applied like most other trains. It's stopping time is a little longer because it tends to glide or coast to a stop. Were you stopped over the MK parking lot at all? There are hold points there for entrance to TTC. Also, other random stops could have been pilot error. If a pilot doesn't react within 3 seconds to a decrease in speed limit, the monorail will automatically stop itself and the pilot can't use any propulsion until it has hit zero speed.

 

[Clamman73]

Interesting. But with my experience, Coral is a different animal compared to the other monorails. Coral doesn't always jerk you when the brakes are applied like most other trains. It's stopping time is a little longer because it tends to glide or coast to a stop. Were you stopped over the MK parking lot at all? There are hold points there for entrance to TTC. Also, other random stops could have been pilot error. If a pilot doesn't react within 3 seconds to a decrease in speed limit, the monorail will automatically stop itself and the pilot can't use any propulsion until it has hit zero speed.

One hold was before the lot and another over the MK lot.

 

[Figment2005]

One hold was before the lot and another over the MK lot.

Do you know the time that this happened? Coral was not in auto as all the trains must be in auto on the beamway and blue doesn't have the system yet.