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LA TRANSPO - Los Angeles Metro’s plan for the Sepulveda Pass Corridor Project is probably the most important important transit project of today. It would radically change, and improve, transit options to the teeth grinding gridlock of the San Diego/405 Freeway between the San Fernando Valley and the UCLA/Westwood area, and then to LAX. This is a major project.
The plan has two alternatives of modes of transportation:
1. Monorail, a seldom used transit mode worldwide in such a heavily travelled corridor.
2. Heavy rail subway. Subways are long time transit workhorses, with histories of reliable service.
The first subway, or metro, was constructed in London in 1863, called “The Tube.” “The Tube” still operates with continuous services starting in 1890.
Currently there are 255 Metros in 195 countries. In 2019 the worldwide Metro system carried 190 million passengers a day.
Worldwide there are forty-two urban monorail systems. Many are in amusement parks, such as the Disneyland-California and Disneyworld-Florida parks. These are amusement park rides. A few monorails are in transit corridors with other viable transit options.
In the history of the world, that subways far outnumber monorails for transit options should lead to the conclusion that subways are superior.
The project as stated by Los Angeles Metro.
August 2021
Metro “The Source”
Metro has issued Notices to Proceed to two private sector teams to officially begin Pre-Development work on Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project concepts for a new, high-capacity transit line that will connect the San Fernando Valley with the Westside and eventually LAX.
Pre-Development Agreement (PDA) contracts have now been signed and will allow Sepulveda Transit Corridor Partners – Bechtel to further develop its proposed heavy rail transit concept and L.A. SkyRail Express to continue developing its proposed monorail concept.
The monorail option is backed by the neighborhoods of Bel Air and Sherman Oaks. The reasons shift. One is not wanting to look down upon the two rail heavy rail subway before it goes underground-which seems rather thin considering the numerous other neighborhoods in Los Angels which look at other transit corridors such as streets and boulevards, light rail, airports, and the world still turns for them.
Another reason from the two neighborhoods is the cost of constructing the subway, particularly the tunneling under the Santa Monica Mountains instead of going over the Sepulveda Pass. It is curious that these two neighborhoods are only now looking at the costs of Metro projects when there have been other projects going back decades.
The monorail faction has listed the supposedly lower costs of monorail, and that it is more efficient than subway.
However, recent developments show that two monorail projects in Brazil have not lived up to the hype, which sounds similar to the Los Angeles hype.
The first of three articles on the abandonment of monorail in Brazil is from Mainspring “Mainspring enables businesses to maximise their commercial potential in the Light Rail, Metro and Passenger Transport sectors.”
From Mainspring BACK TO INDUSTRY NEWS
Light Rail Replaces Monorail Plan in Salvador, Brazil
Posted on 6th February 2024 at 14:41
In 2018 Salvador (population 2.4M), the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia, revealed plans for a 24km monorail linking the city to São João and Acesso Norte, to be built under a PPP concession with the consortium led by Chinese company BYD. This was to replace a suburban rail service on the railway.
Work on SkyRail Bahia started in 2021 (resulting in the closure of the suburban rail service) and BYD announced the production of the first monorail train, but last year the project was cancelled over concern at increasing costs that had reached BRR 5.2bn. Residents have been complaining at the loss of their suburban rail service, with extended journey times needed on expensive minibuses.
In its place the Bahia Ministry of Urban Development has decided to tender for the three-line 36km light rail system (VLT Bahia), estimated to cost BRR 3.6bn. A 16.6km line will link the city centre with São João, then there would be a 9.2km branch to Águas Claras. Finally a 10.5km line will link Águas Claras to Bairro da Paz interchange on metro line 2.
Salvador has had a metro since 2014 and line 2 was opened in 2016 bringing the system to 41.8km.
The second is Bnamericas, a firm working as Industrial Equipment Supplier; Industrial Engineering; Rail Line; Metro; Light rail / Interurban Train, and raised issues about the São Paulo monorail.
Published: Friday, March 13, 2020
São Paulo State Terminates Monorail Construction Contract
The problems facing the São Paulo monorail line 15-silver are likely to favor future subway lines and light rail projects.
This week, prosecutors in São Paulo state opened an investigation into the halting of trains on the monorail line.
The line Brazil's first monorail and was built by a consortium formed by Bombardier and construction firms Queiroz Galvão and OAS, which started work in 2009. The monorail opened in 2015.
“This is the first Brazilian monorail, the first manufactured in Brazil and the largest monorail in the world,” said then state governor, Geraldo Alckmin at an event in 2013.
The project was considered cheaper than building a traditional subway line because of lower payments to expropriate the land and because a deep tunnel did not have to be built.
However, recent developments have led to the questioning of such a view.
“The problem with the monorail model is that it's a relatively new structure in the world. I prefer traditional subways and light rail because the technology and equipment implemented in those projects are well recognized across the globe and count with multiple suppliers and service providers,” Peter Alouche, a consultant specialized in rail systems, told BNamericas.
Local politicians also criticized the monorail model.
“Since the beginning of operations, the equipment has been failing, parts of the monorail have fallen onto public roads and, more recently, there have been two train crashes,” said Paulo Fiorilo, a state legislator who filed a request to open a parliamentary investigation.
The third is from "The Rio Times".
CCR Group Loses São Paulo Monorail Contract
From the article:
Initially planned in 2009 with 18 stations, the line stretches 26.6 kilometers. It aimed for completion by 2012 with a budget of R$ 6.4 billion, but delays occurred, and only a few stations opened by 2018.
Since its 2015 launch, Line 15-Silver has faced various operational issues. Incidents range from a severe concrete crack in January 2023 to a collision between trains in March, fortunately without passengers.
Additional mishaps include a falling component in September 2022 and a tire burst in February. A similar collision in January 2019, caused by human error, led to dismissals.
The Bel Air and Sherman Oaks neighborhoods, and their proposal for a monorail in the Sepulveda Pass Corridor instead of a subway, need to face reality that it is not up to the task.
Opinion polls show support for the heavy rail subway alternative. The two neighborhoods should not hold the project, nor Los Angeles, hostage to their self-interests.
Metro already tunneled under the Santa Monica Mountains for the B Line which travels from Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles to North Hollywood in the San Fernando Valley. Originally named the Red Line, the segment under the Santa Monica Mountains opened in phases in 1999 and 2000. I have ridden it. The ground did not collapse. Indeed, the now B Line continues to operate, as does its sister line the D Line, and the ground above the tunnels has not collapsed.
It is time for Los Angeles Metro to abandon the monorail alternative for the Sepulveda Pass Corridor and focus on a subway through the pass.
(Matthew Hetz is a Los Angeles native, a composer whose works have been performed nationally, and some can be found here. He is the past President of the Culver City Symphony Orchestra and Marina del Rey Symphony. His dedication to transit issues is to help improve the transit riding experience for all, and to convince drivers to ride buses and trains to fight air pollution and global warming. He is an instructor at Emeritus/Santa Monica College and a regular contributor to CityWatchLA.)
