Passenger pods without a driver are almost ready for take-off at Heathrow

By rjohnson

FOR most of us, holidays which involve flying tend to get off to a pretty inauspicious start as we wait with our cases at some rain-lashed shelter in an airport car park waiting for a bus.

But from May, passengers using Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 will be able to travel in style as a trial begins of the ULTra.

ULTra, or Urban Light Transport, is described as a personal rapid transit system.

In basic terms, they are driverless, electrically-powered "taxi pods", that run on their own infrastructure, similar in principal to a monorail.

They were conceived in Cardiff but have never been installed on a commercial basis.

If the BAA trial is successful it is highly likely we will start seeing the ULTra used in a number of situations, not just at airports.

David Gordon is one person who hopes the pilot scheme is a success.

In his office at Friar Gate Studios in Derby, David came up with the futuristic design of the ULTra.

Some would say that it looks like something out of a science fiction film. That is the idea to some extent, because if the ULTra is going to be around for years to come, its design will have to withstand the test of time.

David said: "If you take something like the Intercity train; that design has been with us for around 40 years and although train design has moved on, it still does not look totally out of place today.

"Of course, with any design, as well as being functional it has to look aesthetically pleasing. But you also have to consider how it will look a few years down the line.

"The ULTra has been a great project to work on. I really hope it succeeds. If it can prove its worth then it could be enormous; if it isn't then it could go the same way as the Sinclair C5.

"If it does take off then it's highly likely it will be used in other scenarios, such as large businesses, college campuses and in certain towns."

The ULTra was conceived by Martin Lowson and his design team at Advanced Transport Systems, in Cardiff, with Lowson himself ploughing £10m into the project.

Its origins can be traced back to the 1950s when the concept of personal rapid transit (PRT) was developed to move commuters in areas where the population was too low to pay for the construction of a conventional metro system.

Numerous PRT systems were designed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but they never took off due to cost.

The ULTra idea first emerged in the 1990s but has never been available for public use.

Five years ago there was talk the system could come to Derby as the city council looked at different ways to solve traffic congestion.

One of the issues with the ULTra is that it has to run on a purpose-built track, an open guideway, which keeps the vehicles on course.

A 2.4-mile track linking the business passenger car park with Terminal 5 has been built at Heathrow on which 21 ULTras will run.

If all goes to plan, travellers will wait an average of 12 seconds with 95% of passengers waiting for less than a minute for their private pod, which will travel at up to 25mph.

BAA has indicated it will extend the service throughout the airport and to nearby hotels using 400 pods if the pilot scheme is successful.

A major selling point of the system is its environmental credentials. ATS said the ULTra offered low emissions, a high level of service, efficient use of space and good value for money.

The ULTra is mostly put together with off-the-shelf technologies. The vehicles are battery-powered, which means there is no need for electrification along the track. Instead, the vehicles recharge when parked at stations.

But the fact the vehicles have to be a certain weight also presents its design challenges.

David said: "Basically, we are responsible for the design of everything the public will see on these vehicles, both the interior and the exterior.

"There are all kinds of variables to consider when you sit down to design something like this.

"There are a number of health and safety regulations to think about, which can govern little things such as where you put the grab handles.

"You also have to think about how many people will be travelling in the ULTra. The pods have the capability of seating four people, who will also have luggage to stow.

"But sometimes there will be only one passenger in the pod, so you need to make sure you're making maximum use of the space you have to play with.

"You've also got to ensure the ULTra is easy to use for disabled passengers.

"The design needs to reassure passengers. After all, this is an unmanned vehicle. It has to be safe and clean. It also has to fit in with the overall Heathrow experience."

During the design process, David had to carry out a number of tests to ensure his design was practical and functional.

He said: "You can design something on the computer, but to ensure it works in real life you have to do some physical tests.

"For example, we did a test to see whether there would be enough headroom, particularly for taller passengers.

"So we got a tall person and used blocks of foam to simulate to curve in the roof.

"We also made a full-scale prototype."

David applied years of his design experience for the ULTra project, experience which began with BREL in the 1980s, which would later become Bombardier. David still does design work for Bombardier, but more with the firm's Germany site than the one in Derby.

He said: "The work with Bombardier in Germany has led to us designing trains all over the world, including China.

"It's extremely satisfying work, particularly when you design the nose of the train because people consider that as the face of the vehicle.

"I'd love to design some of the new UK trains that are due to be built over the next few years."