Looks interesting.
Monorail plan for capital
29 November 2006
BY GARETH VAUGHAN
SkyCabs International, an Auckland company hoping to float on the stock exchange, wants to build a monorail in Wellington.
Hugh Chapman, SkyCabs' chief executive, said a monorail from Johnsonville through the cbd and on to the airport could be economically feasible.
SkyCabs wants to raise $31.2 million from investors to pay for a 600-metre demonstration track in Auckland and marketing of its unproven monorail technology.
Mr Chapman said SkyCabs' cabs could run in opposite directions on both sides of the beam - instead of on the top as standard monorails do - at speeds of up to 80kmh and carrying 4800 people an hour in each direction.
He suggested a monorail around Evans Bay and Oriental Bay would blow tourists' minds. SkyCabs was "a real opportunity" for New Zealand to sell its engineering overseas.
"Potentially, if we can prove it works, the market is about US$17 billion (NZ$25.4 billion) a year." SkyCabs is investigating a possible site for a demonstration track at Auckland's Rainbow's End theme park.
Greater Wellington regional council spokesman Andrew Cutler said SkyCabs had briefed some council staff on its ideas.
However, given the council and Government recently committed to a $50 million upgrade of the Johnsonville rail line, SkyCabs would certainly not be constructing a Johnsonville-to-city monorail, he said.
- The Dominion Post
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