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2 unusual facts about Automated guideway transit


Automated guideway transit

The VAL (Véhicule Automatique Léger) system in Lille, France, opened in 1983, is often cited as the first AGT installed to serve an existing urban area.

The Getty Center in Los Angeles uses a unique vertically oriented AGT to bring visitors from a parking lot off Interstate 405 to the Center at the top of a hill in Brentwood; this system places the motor outside the vehicle at the top of the guideway to reduce the weight lifted up the hill and thus improve efficiency.


Port Island Line

When opened in 1981, the Port Liner was the first urban transport AGT in the world-a title disputed also by Lille's VAL which opened in 1983.


see also

Kobe Airport

On February 2, 2006, Kobe Airport Station (神戸空港駅) was connected to Sannomiya Station in central Kobe by an extension of the existing Port Liner automated guideway transit system, using 2000 series trains as well as some older 8000 series trains (older trains being gradually replaced by newer 2000 ones).