" wrote:
On 29/01/2011 22:08, Bruce wrote:
wrote:
On 28/01/2011 15:03, Basil Jet wrote:
On 2011\01\28 14:51, Recliner wrote:
From: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12306090

A planned cable car across the River Thames to link 2012 Olympic venues
has been approved by Greenwich Council.

Thanks. IIRC the exact same scheme was also approved in the run up to
the Millennium Dome, so I'll believe it when I see it.

Speaking of which, whatever happened to the T5 PRT project at Heathrow?


It has served its purpose - it was merely a ploy to gain planning
permission for a development in the Central Area. One the planning
permission was obtained, the PRT project was effectively abandoned.


It's not happening, then? I recently saw one of them running near T5,
though I am well aware that it was not carrying anybody.


Perhaps they are playing with it in the hope they will gain planning
permission for something else?

The basis for gaining planning permission for the new developments in
the Central Area was that the taxi tunnels would be converted to run
these PRT vehicles two abreast. It was about as fanciful a scheme as
you will ever see, and the proposal was not in the least convincing
from a technical point of view.

The proposed PRTs in the taxi tunnel would transport people between
the Central Area and both short and long term car parks located around
the airport perimeter. But it did the trick, because the local
authority wanted a drastic cut in the number of petrol and
diesel-engined vehicles entering the Central Area for reasons of air
quality and the PRTs would achieve that - on paper. BAA said that the
T5 scheme with PRTs connecting the Business Car Park with the terminal
would be a full scale demonstration of what could be achieved.

So, the local authority granted planning permission for the most
extensive redevelopment of the Central Area in Heathrow's history.

Naturally, once planning permission had been obtained, the pressure
was off BAA to get the PRTs to work. Not one fare-paying passenger
has been transported by these toy cars. I am not convinced that it
will ever work, but it has achieved the objective BAA set for it.