New Urban Transport System for Middle East Monorail System for Dubai Palm Jumeirah Transit System
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Hitachi Review Vol. 59 (2010), No. 1 47 New Urban Transport System for Middle East Monorail System for Dubai Palm Jumeirah Transit System Nobuhiko Kimijima OVERVIEW: Since first gaining experience with the Inuyama Monorail that Hikaru Takahashi commenced operation in 1962, Hitachi has been a supplier of key monorail Iko Kawabata system products both in Japan and overseas including vehicles, track switches, transformer systems, and automatic train supervision systems. Shigehiro Matsuo The Palm Jumeirah Transit System is a monorail system designed based on the track record and experience that Hitachi has built up over many years. Entering operation in April 2009, the system is the first monorail to be installed in the Middle East and the first guided transportation system to be operated in the United Arab Emirates, and as a new symbol for Palm Jumeirah island, the system is in active use as a means of transportation for island residents and tourist visitors. INTRODUCTION FEATURES OF VEHICLE SYSTEMS PALM Jumeirah is an artificial island of approximately The vehicles consist of three cars per set. The 6.16 km 2 constructed off the coast of the United following sections describe the main features of the Arab Emirate of Dubai, a nation that has focused on vehicles. developing its tourism industry in recent years. The construction of the island itself and the development Design Concept of business on the island are the responsibility of the Based on a vehicle concept suitable for a resort area, government-owned development company Nakheel both the exterior and interior use designs based on the PJSC (1). The island is the site of many hotels, theme keynote colors of blue and white to reflect the island’s parks, condominiums, and villas, and the construction beaches and sky, and numerous curved shapes are used of shopping malls, high-rise buildings, and other throughout to convey a soft image (see Fig. 3). infrastructure is planned. Palm Jumeirah Transit System was constructed to provide access to the island from the mainland as well as Atlantis Aquaventure Station transportation around the island and consists of 5.4 km of double-tracked line. The line has a total of four stations, of which one is on the mainland and three on the island, and an associated depot for vehicle storage, Palm Mall Station inspection, and other activities is located at Gateway Station on the mainland (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). Trump Tower Station Nakheel placed a high value on Hitachi’s capabilities including its vehicle designs and many years of experience in the supply of monorail system components (see Table 1) used in Japan and elsewhere and contracted the company to supply the vehicles, Gateway Station automatic train supervision system, and other key system components for the Palm Jumeirah Transit Fig. 1—Palm Jumeirah Transit System Track Map. (2), (3), (4) The line runs from Gateway Station on the mainland to System (see Table 2) . This article gives an Atlantis Aquaventure Station at the far end of the island, overview of various system components in the Palm with intermediate stations at Trump Tower and Palm Mall Jumeirah Transit System. where high-rise buildings and shopping malls respectively are planned for construction. Monorail System for Dubai Palm Jumeirah Transit System 48 Fig. 2—Monorail Vehicle for Palm Jumeirah Transit System. The monorail vehicles are the first to use a double-skin structure based on the A-train concept. Carbody Structure Although carbody structures made in the past used Fig. 4 shows the vehicle trainset and dimensions a single-skin structure because of the need for monorail and Table 3 lists the main specifications. vehicles to consider restrictions such as the vehicle weight, by choosing to use lighter weight components without compromising strength, the special-purpose TABLE 1. Past Monorail Projects vehicles for the Palm Jumeirah Transit System are the Hitachi has supplied eight monorails in Japan and three first monorail vehicles to use a double-skin structure. monorails overseas. Year Number Distance of first Monorail name of Remarks ABLE (km) T 2. Products Supplied to Palm Jumeirah Transit System operation stations Hitachi integrated the vehicles and wayside equipment and Inuyama Monorail Shutdown in 1962 1.4 3 supplied these as a system. (Japan) 2008 Carbody Yomiuri Land Monorail Shutdown in 1964 3.1 4 (Japan) 1978 Bogie 1964 Tokyo Monorail (Japan) 17.8 10 On-board electrical equipment (propulsion device, Vehicles propulsion motor, etc.) Only operated Osaka Expo Monorail 1970 4.3 7 during Osaka Brakes (Japan) Expo Air conditioning Kitakyushu Urban Monorail 1985 8.8 13 (Kitakyushu Monorail, Japan) ATS Osaka Kosoku Tetsudo Track switch 1990 28.0 18 (Osaka Monorail, Japan) SCADA Tokyo Tama Intercity 1998 16.0 19 Electricity distribution and feeder system (transformers Monorail (Japan) and power rail, etc.) Wayside Okinawa Urban Monorail 2003 13.1 15 equipment Communication systems (train radio, telephones, CCTV, (Yui Rail, Japan) clock systems, etc.) Chongqing Monorail 2005 19.2 18 Passenger information system (passenger information (Chongqing, China) display system, passenger announcement) Sentosa Express 2007 2.1 4 Station facilities (platform screen doors, intercom, etc.) (Sentosa Island, Singapore) Depot equipment (maintenance vehicle, car washer, etc.) Palm Jumeirah Transit 2009 System (Dubai, United 5.4 4 ATS: automatic train supervision system Arab Emirates) SCADA: supervisory control and data acquisition system CCTV: closed-circuit television Hitachi Review Vol. 59 (2010), No. 1 49 TABLE 3. Main Vehicle Specifications Monorail vehicles are available in small, middle, and large sizes, each of which has different dimensions and axle load, and the middle size model was selected for the Palm Jumeirah Transit System. Item Specification Vehicle type Straddle type middle size monorail Trainset Fixed three-car trainset (Tc-M-Mc) Passenger capacity Tc and Mc: 98, M: 106 Power feeding DC 1,500 V system Track beam width 800 mm Axle load 10 t (maximum) Fig. 3—Design of Front End of Monorail Vehicle. Maximum speed 70 km/h Sightseeing seats that give passengers a good view of the Acceleration 1.0 m/s2 (3.6 km/h/s) surroundings are located at the front end of the monorail Acceleration and Maximum in normal operation: 2 vehicles while the mid-sections of the vehicles are fitted with deceleration Deceleration 1.11 m/s (4.0 km/h/s) round seats where passengers can relax. Emergency: 1.25 m/s2 (4.5 km/h/s) Operation system ATO driverless with attendant Tc: trailer car with cab Mc: motor car with cab M: motor car DC: direct current ATO: automatic train operation Further, the extruded shapes of aluminum alloy that comprise the carbody structure are welded together using FSW (friction stir welding), a technique that leaves minimal deformation and stress in the welded able to withstand a fire for more than 30 minutes and components. ensure sufficient time for passengers to evacuate the vehicle safely in the event of a fire. As this is the first Vehicle Fire Prevention Measures monorail to be built with a fireproof floor structure, a Based on the National Fire Protection Association certified testing laboratory in the UK conducted tests (NFPA) 130 standard, the monorail is designed with on a model that replicated the floor structure used in a fireproof floor structure made of stainless steel the actual vehicles to verify the performance of the plate and fireproof doors to the gangways so as to be fireproofing. Wheelchair space 4,800 6,100 7,600 6,100 7,600 6,100 4,800 110 2,980 2,680 2,175 2,025 110 2,025 2,175 4,200 1,200 4,900 1,200 2,850 700 2,850 1,200 4,900 1,200 2,850 700 2,850 1,200 4,900 1,200 4,900 2,980 (maximum) Tc M Mc 2,900 Top surface of floor 382 2,490 2,345 2,727 2050 2050 3,807 3,570 5,237 ,080 1 1080 1080 710 2,510 1,430 1,500 Top surface of beam 2,500 3,350 9,000 2,000 2,000 9,000 2,000 2,000 9,000 3,350 350 14,350 700 13,000 700 14,350 350 43,800 (Unit: mm) Fig. 4—Vehicle Trainset and Dimensions. The monorail has a fixed three-car trainset with a total length of 43.8 m. A fireproof floor structure and fireproof doors to the gangways are adopted in case of a fire on the monorail. Monorail System for Dubai Palm Jumeirah Transit System 50 Environmental Measures Information Aggregation The design of each item of equipment took Because operation is fully automatic, surveillance account of the high temperatures and humidity that of the overall system and monitoring of various are characteristic of the Middle Eastern climate, and information needs to be carried out from the operation to prevent equipment failure due to high temperature, control center or elsewhere, and therefore the system is additional cooling systems using Peltier devices designed so that on-board equipment fault data, vehicle which have a simple cooling mechanism were status, and other information can be viewed at all fitted in particular to equipment that reaches high times on the monitor in the vehicle and also, via train temperatures(5), (6). radio, on the display terminals in the ATS operation console. Also, the SCADA (supervisory control and SYSTEM CONFIGURATION DESIGNED FOR data acquisition) operation console can display the FULLY AUTOMATIC OPERATION operating status of the wayside equipment required In commercial operation, the Palm Jumeirah for commercial operation and operate the electricity Transit System is a fully automatic system that does distribution equipment. not require manual operation by a driver or operation Other features include a video surveillance monitor control center staff (see Fig.