Trams and Monorails

I was flicking through the Stockholm Metro newspaper the other day and came across an article about SL (Stockholm Public Transport) making the decision to extend the Tvärbana tramway. Currently it starts at Alvik, a lakeside town in West Stockholm and goes through Liljeholmen, the Årsta industrial area, the Globe Arena, the Gullmarsplan interchange, and ending at the brand new coastal/skiing town of Hammarby Sjöstad. They want to extend it northbound through Bromma Airport and Bromma Center to a residential/shopping town called Solna. This would be really cool because then you would be able to get through Stockholm's nearby outskirts so easily - because the tram is connected to many underground stations.



Talking of trams, I think they make any city look really cool - and they're also great for the environment; carrying many people on an electric line. There are loads of cool trams around the world. Starting in my home town - London has the Croydon tram. It's nothing exceptional but it is a great achievement for London - the inner-to-outercity Crossrail has been planned since the 1970's, and the newest date for the completion is 2018. It's been delayed time after time. But London's going to go through a major rejuvenation for the 2012 Olympics - it's going to be great!

You can see some other cool tram and monorail systems from around the world above in the slideshow. There's the double-decker Hong Kong tram, which travels all over the islands and you can get some good views. You use the multi-pupose Octopus card on them - they are top-up pay as you go cards like London's 'Oyster card', but you can use the contact-less cashless cards at most shops and libraries too! The second one is Bordeaux's super-cool glassy, shiny tram system. Germany's Wuppertaler Schwebebahn ('Wuppertal Suspension Railway') has a really intresting design - it is a hanging monorail which transports residents and tourists through the small German town (and river) of Wuppertal. Sydney's monorail is fantastic - it has the coolest look and runs over the ground on a viaduct through the city centre! But the winner has to be Shanghai's maglev train. Maglev stands for magnetic levitation; the train doesn't actually touch the track - it hovers, or levitates above it! I would really like to go on this amazing train one day - with a maximum speed of 500 km/h! It takes you 30 km - from the airport to the city centre - in just 8 minutes! This must be the coolest!

I love all tram and monorail transportation systems - they are so modern and efficient! I hope to see more popping up all over the place!