The monorail ‘revolution’ of the 1950s and 1960s and its legacy

Abstract

The paper uses a variety of primary and secondary sources to analyse why monorail proposals initiated by Goodell, Alweg, Lockheed and other manufacturers during the 1950s and 1960s failed to gain preference among transport planning authorities over alternative modes of transport such as conventional rail, subways, buses and eventually light rail. The article examines the ways in which improved versions of the monorail models developed during these two decades. In time, these changes led to a more dynamic market in which monorails continued to be built not only for use in amusement parks and exhibitions but also as ‘intermediate-capacity’ transit, airport commuting and other special-purpose applications.