TABLE OF CONTENTS Monorails have sometimes been referred to as a solution in search of a problem. They are, indeed, interesting and workable devices, but it is not so easy to identify many situations where they would be a clearly superior choice, compared to other rapid transit possibilities. While they have been around for more than 100 years, actual operating systems are rare. They are a distinguishable variation of rapid guideway (rail) transit, and they enrich the total inventory of transit options, but they respond well only to specialized situations.
There are many variations among monorails, but their one common element, of course, is a single rail, beam, or channel that supports or carries the passenger container. [1] The vehicle may be large comparable to a subway car or small a cabin for a few passengers. The principal difference is whether the passenger compartment hangs from an overhead beam or channel, representing a suspended monorail, or sits atop a single horizontal beam, representing a straddling monorail. In almost every other respect, a monorail behaves exactly like any other rail-supported system, and service delivery and capacity are comparable to like-sized regular public transit modes.
[1] Another definition of monorails is that the vehicles are wider than the supporting structure.
It does not take particularly great imagination and engineering skill to visualize and build a transportation device in which a wheel runs atop an overhead rail or along a channel, from which goods or a passenger compartment can be suspended.
