Re: Monorail expansion rumors resurface

Dillon Pyron wrote:
Thus spake Steve Preskitt <steve.preskittNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxx> :

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 20:29:06 -0500, Dillon Pyron
<dmpyronINVALID@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Anybody have any figures on what it costs to build a monorail? I
remember 25 years ago when the figure was a little over a million
dollars a mile. Now it's got to be closer to twenty-five. Operating
costs are still higher than busses and less flexible.

I don't know if anyone has any real numbers on the Disney operation,
but Las Vegas spent about $650 million for their 3.9 mile system, and
of that, $342.3 million was for actual capital expenses (beamway,
stations, trains, etc.). That works out to about $87.8 million/mile,
but Disney should be able to cut that down since they already own all
the land they'd be building on, and there are a lot of other expenses
incurred in the Las Vegas project that Disney wouldn't have to deal
with.

Vegas paid $189.7 million for the nine trains that run there now,
which is about $21 million per train. I frankly don't know if Disney
would want to run automated trains as LV does, but even if they didn't
I'd expect any savings there would be more than offset by the larger
trains that Disney would need unless they ordered a mix of sizes.

I've also heard the "million dollars per mile" number bandied about,
but I'd have to believe that Disney paid substantially more than that
to get the system they have now, even in 1970s/1980s dollars. A
million dollars per mile works out to $13.7 million, and from what
I've heard (which is nothing to treat as gospel, for sure), the 12
Mark VI trains cost more than that each. On the other hand, that
might have been only the cost for the beamway itself, so who knows?

Beamway is what I was thinking.

I now remember in the early 90's when Dallas (DART) was looking at a
rapid transit solution, monorails were suggested. The price tag for
construction was listed at $35 million a mile. I don't know if they
ever got beyond construction costs, it was all a pipe dream anyways,
courtesy of Mad Max.

Dillon,
I love keeping up with the transportation stuff at WDW (and that's easy
because Admiral Boom tells me almost everything that's going on). I
copied an earlier thread below, where Boom answers a similar question.
I know that Siemens made a proposal for an overhead rail system at WDW
and that the nature of the design would make it much cheaper than the
traditional monorails. I do have to agree with another poster though
that (using the pictures from the website Boom posted) they would not
really fit into the landscape around here. I can also tell you that
proposals and designs are submitted regularly so there is certainly no
evidence that anything will be happening THIS TIME either.

-Wire


So many different ways of looking at the cost. I have seen the $1
Million per mile figure mentioned on many web sites. It is a very old
estimate AND it was an estimate for the cost of the track ONLY (the
cost to pour the bean sections). In fact, looking back to 1985 when
the Mark VI trains were being researched, I THINK that might have been
the estimate for a new beamway at THAT time.

We have been updating those estimates every two years since. We
thought for sure that the new monorail extensions would be approved in
1996 when Disney's transportation bond issue matured. There was a big
push to add the Rovers to the plan in time for a big announcement
during the millennium press event (2000). This year, we reworked the
plans to include the TGV and airport rail stations.

By the time stations are added, a second maintenence facility and
additional engines are added, and road rework and resort changes are
added, the cost would be very close to $1 Million per SPAN (approx 100
feet) or close to $50 Million per mile. Still not prohibitive for
Disney but a risk, none the less.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Monorail expansion rumors resurface
    ... tour stated that the million a mile number was for beamway with out trains. ... He said "not cost ... I don't know if anyone has any real numbers on the Disney operation, ...
    (rec.arts.disney.parks)
  • Re: Monorail expansion rumors resurface
    ... dollars a mile. ... Operating ... I don't know if anyone has any real numbers on the Disney operation, ... Vegas paid $189.7 million for the nine trains that run there now, ...
    (rec.arts.disney.parks)
  • Re: Monorail expansion rumors resurface
    ... dollars a mile. ... costs are still higher than busses and less flexible. ... I don't know if anyone has any real numbers on the Disney operation, ... Vegas paid $189.7 million for the nine trains that run there now, ...
    (rec.arts.disney.parks)
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