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Kind: captions
Language: en

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There's a reason that the old, retro-futuristic
dreams of monorail travel didn't come true.

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Nowadays, monorails are mostly known as attractions
in theme parks,

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or short systems around airports,

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or as impractical, expensive boondoggles.

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Sydney, Australia, actually demolished theirs
a few years ago.

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Sure, monorails looked cool, but objectively,

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they're a pretty terrible idea.

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But in some places in the world: they do work.

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This is Wuppertal, in Germany,

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where they don't just have a monorail:

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they have a century-old suspended monorail
that still carries

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about 80,000 people a day along miles and
miles and miles of track.

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Never mind your 1980s dreams of World's Fairs:

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construction on this started in the 19th century,

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and it's been kept up to date ever since.

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It's like something out of 'Thunderbirds'.

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There's a fantastic story about it once carrying
an elephant --

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which panicked, fell out into the river, and
-- amazingly -- survived.

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So why are monorails such a terrible idea?

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Well, compared to other options,

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they generally fail on cost and reliability.

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First, you need a constantly elevated track
--

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the term is 'grade-separated' -- along the
whole route.

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Even in the rare case it's down at ground
level,

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you've got to put huge concrete blocks for
it to run on

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rather than just some rails. And given all
that cost,

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governments generally just build one track

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so if something breaks down, the whole system
fails,

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and passengers have to be evacuated from a
great height.

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You can solve exactly the same problems as
a monorail

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with light rail that doesn't always need an
expensive elevated track.

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Or a tram, that can run along existing streets

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with just some rails laid down.

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Or you could just use the simplest option:
a bus.

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Doesn't look as cool, though.

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