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110-513: The Las Vegas Monorail is a 3.9-mile (6.3 km) automated monorail mass transit system located adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip in Clark County, Nevada , United States. It connects several large casinos in the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester , but does not enter the city of Las Vegas proper. Built at a cost of $ 650 million, it was privately owned and operated by

220-415: A printed circuit board housed in an aluminum frame, with the panels manufactured in 780 different geometric shapes with an edge-to-edge tolerance of 0.8 millimetres (0.031 in). Due to its curved shape and the propensity for pixels to disappear near the poles, the screen uses an adaptive pixel pitch . It was also designed to be acoustically transparent, allowing sound from the speakers mounted behind

330-423: A railroad double-crossover . Vehicle specifications are generally not open to the public, as is standard for rolling stock built for public services. An alternative to using a wye or other form of switch, is to use a turntable , where a car sits upon a section of track that can be reoriented to several different tracks. For example, this can be used to switch a car from being in a storage location, to being on

440-443: A $ 98.4 million loss as of the end of the third fiscal quarter of 2023. Sphere is 366 feet (112 m) high and 516 feet (157 m) wide at its broadest point. It is the largest spherical building in the world at 875,000 sq ft (81,300 m ). It includes seating for 18,600 people, and all seats have high-speed internet access. The venue can accommodate 20,000 people in standing capacity. Seating does not wrap around

550-520: A Christmas snow globe, and advertisements. The internal and external displays of Sphere are powered by 150 RTX A6000 graphics processing units by Nvidia , each featuring more than 10,752 cores and 48 gigabytes of memory. Media is streamed from external sources via Nvidia BlueField data processing units and ConnectX-6 DX network interface controllers using Nvidia's Rivermax media streaming software. Sphere's sound system , dubbed "Sphere Immersive Sound", features spatial audio capabilities and

660-481: A disassembled state, the crane was transported across the Atlantic Ocean from Zeebrugge , Belgium to Port Hueneme, California . The crane then required 120 tractor-trailers to transport it to Las Vegas. A separate crane was required to assemble the main crane, a process which took 18 days. In March 2020, construction reached the widest point of the spherical structure, the 516-foot (157 m) diameter, located at

770-556: A faulty monorail from a confidence trickster at a wildly inflated price. The Monorail Society, an organization with 14,000 members worldwide, has blamed the episode for sullying the reputation of monorails, to which Simpsons creator Matt Groening responded "That's a by-product of our viciousness...Monorails are great, so it makes me sad, but at the same time if something's going to happen in The Simpsons , it's going to go wrong, right?" The 2005 feature film Batman Begins features

880-630: A load-bearing single rail and an external wheel for balance. A highspeed monorail using the Lartigue system was proposed in 1901 between Liverpool and Manchester. In 1910, the Brennan gyroscopic monorail was considered for use to a coal mine in Alaska. In June 1920, the French Patent Office published FR 503782, by Henri Coanda, on a 'Transporteur Aérien' -Air Carrier. One of the first monorails planned in

990-544: A manually operated monorail of limited but sufficient capacity for the transport of small timber and firewood in the Northern Surabaya forest district. In later years, this idea was further developed by L. A. van de Ven, who was a forester in the Grobogan forest district around 1908–1910. Monorails were built by plantation operators and wood processing companies throughout the mountains of Central Java. In 1919/1920, however,

1100-801: A monorail, constructed by Bruce Wayne's father through Gotham City, that is part of the climax of the film. The monorail is also included in the spin-off video game . Blaine the Mono is a train featured in Stephen King 's The Dark Tower series of books and first appears in The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands . Monorails have also appeared in a number of other video games including Transport Tycoon (since 1999), Japanese Rail Sim 3D: Monorail Trip to Okinawa by Sonic Powered , SimCity 4: Rush Hour , Cities in Motion 2 , Cities: Skylines in

1210-885: A narrow guide way. Monorail vehicles are wider than the guideway that supports them." Monorails are often elevated, sometimes leading to confusion with other elevated systems such as the Docklands Light Railway , Vancouver SkyTrain , the AirTrain JFK and cable propelled systems like the Cable Liner people mover which run on two rails. Monorail vehicles often appear similar to light rail vehicles, and can be staffed or unstaffed. They can be individual rigid vehicles, articulated single units, or multiple units coupled into trains. Like other advanced rapid transit systems, monorails can be driven by linear induction motors ; like conventional railways, vehicle bodies can be connected to

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1320-668: A partnership between the Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) and Las Vegas Sands Corporation . Sphere is just off the Las Vegas Strip and east of the Venetian resort , which was opened by Las Vegas Sands in 1999. Las Vegas Sands contributed the 18-acre (7.3 ha) site for the project. Apollo Global Management purchased the Venetian in 2022 and became MSG's new partner on the Sphere project, replacing Las Vegas Sands. As part of

1430-480: A semi-arch about 25–30 feet (7.6–9.1 m) above the stage, making it the world's largest loudspeaker array. Elsewhere, the sound system has 28 environmental arrays for immersive coverage (each one comprising five MD96 and five MD80-S modules), 6 effects arrays (each one comprising 24 MD96 modules), 71 surround arrays behind the audience, 12 delay arrays under the main balcony, 10 side-fill arrays, and 6 low-fill arrays. The sound system also can deliver sound through

1540-407: A stop over the next two weeks following the announcement. In August 2020, MSG Entertainment announced that construction had resumed on the project, with the opening rescheduled for 2023. Over the subsequent 15 months, construction would be focused on concrete, followed by steel erection and then the 13,000-ton steel-domed roof, the most complex part of the project. In October 2020, crews completed

1650-457: A wooden platform (in the full-scale project the trestle would have been concrete). A model train, built to 1/5 scale to test the vehicle concept, was capable of reaching speeds of up to 70 km/h. The full-scale project was expected to reach speeds of up to 300 km/h. In the latter half of the 20th century, monorails had settled on using larger beam- or girder-based track, with vehicles supported by one set of wheels and guided by another. In

1760-588: Is 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), although that speed is only reached during one short straight segment of the line. Phase 2, a 2.3-mile (3.7 km) long extension along Main Street to Downtown Las Vegas was planned, with new stations at the Stratosphere Hotel , Charleston Boulevard , Bonneville Avenue, and Main Street Station . Construction was planned to begin in 2005 with service starting in 2008. However,

1870-495: Is based on Holoplot's X1 Matrix Array of speakers. The sound system comprises 1,586 permanently installed speakers and 300 mobile modules, with 99 percent of the system being hidden behind the LED screen. Each X1 array comprises a MD96 and a MD80-S sound module, equipped with 96 and 80 drivers respectively. Through a matrix of drivers within each speaker module and a matrix of modules per array, Holoplot's system offers more control over

1980-438: Is because Chongqing is criss-crossed by numerous hills, mountains and rivers, therefore tunneling is not feasible except in some cases (for example, lines 1 and 6 ) due to the extreme depth involved. Today it is the largest and busiest monorail system in the world. In July 2009, two Walt Disney World monorails collided , killing one of the drivers and injuring seven passengers. The National Transportation Safety Board found

2090-637: Is built to the " ALWEG " track standard. For the first seven years, the line only ran as the MGM Shuttle, between MGM and Bally's stations. During this time, two ex- Walt Disney World Mark IV monorail trains were used. Though the Las Vegas and related train equipment appear superficially similar to the original ALWEG design (as exemplified by the Seattle system ), their suspension and propulsion systems differ substantially. A Seattle train may be walked end-to-end which

2200-507: Is impossible on a Las Vegas or Florida train. The ALWEG Mark VI system used in Las Vegas Monorail consists of two inline large truck tires per car that support the load over the concrete guideway with a rectangular cross section and eight guide tires that straddle the guideway from both sides. The total capacity of the four-car trains is roughly equivalent to two articulated buses at 80 seated and 160 standing passengers. The maximum speed

2310-472: Is speeding towards a stricken bridge. The James Bond film franchise features monorails in three movies, all belonging to the villain. In You Only Live Twice (1967) there is a working ground level monorail inside the SPECTRE volcano base. During Live and Let Die (1973), a prop monorail is shown in the villain's lair on the fictional Caribbean island of San Monique. In the 1977 The Spy Who Loved Me there

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2420-477: Is the straddle-beam, in which the train straddles a steel or reinforced concrete beam 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 m) wide. A rubber - tired carriage contacts the beam on the top and both sides for traction and to stabilize the vehicle. The style was popularized by the German company ALWEG . There is also a historical type of suspension monorail developed by German inventors Nicolaus Otto and Eugen Langen in

2530-465: Is to place a moving apparatus on top of a sturdy platform capable of bearing the weight of vehicles, beams and its own mechanism. Multiple-segmented beams move into place on rollers to smoothly align one beam with another to send the train in its desired direction, with the design originally developed by ALWEG capable of completing a switch in 12 seconds. Some of these beam turnouts are quite elaborate, capable of switching between several beams or simulating

2640-559: Is under construction in Wuhu and several "Cloudrail" systems developed by BYD under construction a number of cities such as Guang'an , Liuzhou , Bengbu and Guilin . Monorails have seen continuing use in niche shuttle markets and amusement parks. Modern mass transit monorail systems use developments of the ALWEG beam and tyre approach, with only two suspended types in large use. Monorail configurations have also been adopted by maglev trains . Since

2750-682: Is using the BYD SkyRail design. Other significant monorail systems are under construction such as two lines for the Cairo Monorail , two lines for the MRT (Bangkok) and the SkyRail Bahia in Brazil . Modern monorails depend on a large solid beam as the vehicles' running surface. There are a number of competing designs divided into two broad classes, straddle-beam and suspended monorails. The most common type

2860-543: Is working monorail on the villain's supertanker (submarine dock). In 1987, Lego released a monorail among the Futuron Space line. Despite being the most expensive Lego set of its time (due to being massive and including electrical elements), it was very popular, with Lego releasing a Town themed monorail in 1990 and another Space monorail in 1994 among the Unitron line, as well as additional track. The monorail system

2970-647: The Eugen Langen One-railed Suspension Tramway (Einschieniges Hängebahnsystem Eugen Langen). Monorails have found applications in airport transfers and medium capacity metros. To differentiate monorails from other transport modes, the Monorail Society defines a monorail as a "single rail serving as a track for passenger or freight vehicles. In most cases, rail is elevated, but monorails can also run at grade , below grade, or in subway tunnels. Vehicles either are suspended from or straddle

3080-579: The 1964–1965 World's Fair . This high-cost perception was challenged most notably in 1963 when the ALWEG consortium proposed to finance the construction of a major system in Los Angeles County, California , in return for the right of operation. This was turned down by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors under pressure from Standard Oil of California and General Motors (which were strong advocates for automobile dependency ), and

3190-458: The 2021–2023 global supply chain crisis and the 2021–2022 inflation surge . With a final expected cost of $ 2.3 billion, it is the most expensive entertainment venue in Las Vegas history, beating out the $ 1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium . A groundbreaking ceremony was held on September 27, 2018, and was attended by approximately 300 people, including Las Vegas Sands' Sheldon Adelson and Nevada governor Brian Sandoval . In November 2018, it

3300-449: The Bradford and Foster Brook Railway was built in 1877 and ran for one year from January 1878 until January 1879. Around 1879 a "one-rail" system was proposed independently by Haddon and by Stringfellow, which used an inverted "V" rail (and thus shaped like "Λ" in cross-section). It was intended for military use, but was also seen to have civilian use as a "cheap railway." Similarly, one of

3410-804: The COVID-19 pandemic and in December a deal was finalized to transfer ownership to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority . The monorail (Phase 1 of the overall project) begins at the MGM Grand near the south end of The Strip , and runs roughly parallel to the Strip on its eastern side. The monorail passes next to the Convention Center and the Westgate Las Vegas , both with stations, before ending at

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3520-522: The Centennial Monorail demonstrated in 1876, in 1877 the Bradford and Foster Brook Railway began construction of a 5 mi (8.0 km) line connecting Bradford and Foster Township, McKean County in Pennsylvania . The line operated from 1878 until 1879 delivering machinery and oil supplies. The first twin-boiler locomotive wore out quickly. It was replaced by a single boiler locomotive which

3630-508: The Changsha Maglev Express ). However, it is argued that the larger width of the guideway for the maglevs makes it not legitimate to be called monorails. Some early monorails (notably the suspended monorail at Wuppertal , Germany) have a design that makes it difficult to switch from one line to another. Some other monorails avoid switching as much as possible by operating in a continuous loop or between two fixed stations, as in

3740-536: The Interstate Highway System . Monorails in particular may have suffered from the reluctance of public transit authorities to invest in the perceived high cost of un-proven technology when faced with cheaper mature alternatives. There were also many competing monorail technologies, splitting their case further. One notable example of a public monorail is the AMF Monorail that was used as transportation around

3850-589: The Lartigue Monorail , used steam locomotives. Magnetic levitation train (maglev) systems such as the German Transrapid were built as straddle-type monorails. The Shanghai Maglev Train runs in commercial operation at 430 km/h (270 mph), and there are also slower maglev monorails intended for urban transport in Japan ( Linimo ), Korea ( Incheon Airport Maglev ) and China ( Beijing Subway Line S1 and

3960-546: The Las Vegas Monorail Company until their 2020 bankruptcy when it was sold to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority , a local government agency. In 2022, total annual ridership was roughly 4.3 million, down from a pre- Great Recession peak of 7.9 million in 2007. The monorail is a registered not-for-profit corporation , allowed under Nevada law since the monorail provides a public service. The State of Nevada assisted in bond financing, but no public money

4070-665: The Las Vegas Strip . Designed by Populous , the project was announced by the Madison Square Garden Company in 2018, known then as the MSG Sphere . The 18,600-seat auditorium is being marketed for its immersive video and audio capabilities, which include a 16K resolution wraparound interior LED screen, speakers with beamforming and wave field synthesis technologies, and 4D physical effects. The venue's exterior also features 580,000 sq ft (54,000 m ) of LED displays. Sphere measures 366 feet (112 m) high and 516 feet (157 m) wide. The arena cost $ 2.3 billion, making it

4180-788: The Lausanne Metro has grades of up to 12% and the Montreal Metro up to 6.5%, while VAL systems can handle 7% grades. Manufacturers of monorail rolling stock with operating systems include Hitachi Monorail , BYD , Bombardier Transportation (now Alstom ), Scomi , PBTS (a joint venture of CRRC Nanjing Puzhen & Bombardier), Intamin and EMTC. Other developers include CRRC Qingdao Sifang , China Railway Science and Industry Group , Zhongtang Air Rail Technology, Woojin and SkyWay Group . François Truffaut 's 1966 film adaptation of Ray Bradbury 's 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 contains suspended monorail exterior scenes filmed at

4290-532: The Mass transit expansion pack of 2017, Planet Zoo and a rideable elevated monorail system in the 2020 video game Cyberpunk 2077 . From 1950 to 1980, the monorail concept may have suffered, as with all public transport systems, from competition with the automobile . At the time, the post–World War II optimism in America was riding high and people were buying automobiles in large numbers due to suburbanization and

4400-474: The Seattle Center Monorail . Current monorails are capable of more efficient switching than in the past. With suspended monorails, switching may be accomplished by moving flanges inside the beamway to shift trains to one line or another. Straddle-beam monorails require that the beam moves for switching, which was an almost prohibitively ponderous procedure. Now the most common way of achieving this

4510-670: The Transrapid and Linimo . Maglevs differ from other monorails in that they do not physically contact the beam while moving. The first monorail prototype was made in Russia in 1820 by Ivan Elmanov . Attempts at creating monorail alternatives to conventional railways have been made since the early part of the 19th century. The Centennial Monorail was featured at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. Based on its design

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4620-526: The United States Department of the Interior , and McCarran International Airport director, died in 2003, a few months before the system's scheduled opening. The Las Vegas Monorail Company is the company's official corporate name. The Las Vegas Monorail generates revenue from ticketed passengers and from corporate sponsors. Branding rights for the seven stations and the nine trains are available, and

4730-494: The elevated train systems of New York, Chicago, and elsewhere, a monorail beamway casts a narrow shadow. Conversely, monorails can be more expensive than light-rail systems that do not include tunnels. In addition, monorails must either remain above ground or use larger tunnels than conventional rail systems, and they require complex track-switching equipment. Under the Monorail Society's beam-width criterion, some, but not all, maglev systems are considered monorails, such as

4840-514: The 1880s. It was built in the twin cities of Barmen and Elberfeld in Wuppertal, Germany, opened in 1901, and is still in operation. The Chiba Urban Monorail is the world's largest suspended network. Almost all modern monorails are powered by electric motors fed by dual third rails , contact wires or electrified channels attached to or enclosed in their guidance beams, but diesel-powered monorail systems also exist. Historically some systems, such as

4950-566: The 1950s, a 40% scale prototype of a system designed for speed of 200 mph (320 km/h) on straight stretches and 90 mph (140 km/h) on curves was built in Germany. There were designs with vehicles supported, suspended or cantilevered from the beams. In the 1950s the ALWEG straddle design emerged, followed by an updated suspended type, the SAFEGE system. Versions of ALWEG's technology are used by

5060-532: The 1980s, most monorail mass transit systems are in Japan , with a few exceptions. Tokyo Monorail , is one of the world's busiest, averages 127,000 passengers per day and has served over 1.5 billion passengers since 1964. China recently started development of monorails in the late 2000s, already home to the world's largest and busiest monorail system and has a number of mass transit monorails under construction in several of cities. A Bombardier Innovia Monorail -based system

5170-511: The 2000s, with the rise of traffic congestion and urbanization, there has been a resurgence of interest in the technology for public transport with a number of cities, such as Malta and Istanbul , today investigating monorails as a possible mass transit solution. In 2004, Chongqing Rail Transit in China adopted a unique ALWEG-based design with rolling stock that is much wider than most monorails, with capacity comparable to heavy rail . This

5280-820: The Edge . Sphere is part of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit . MSG had initially stated that it intends to build other Sphere venues around the world. A similar MSG Sphere was planned to be built in Stratford, East London . However, in November 2023, Sphere's planning permission was rejected by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan , primarily over concerns about potential light pollution . The Tees Valley Mayor , Ben Houchen , suggested Teesside in North East England as an alternative venue for Sphere. In December 2023, MSG

5390-585: The French SAFEGE test track in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire near Orléans , France (since dismantled). The Thunderbirds February 1966 episode " Brink of Disaster " is about the financing and building of a high speed driverless cross-country monorail project. Two of the Thunderbirds-crew find themselves trapped on board the a monorail train, and with no possibility of escape, when it is discovered it

5500-635: The Las Vegas Monorail Company. On November 1, 2005, the County Commission approved a study into the feasibility of an airport extension. On January 13, 2010, the Las Vegas Monorail filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection . The filing did not affect system operations and had no impact on the monorail's hours of operation or service to its customers. On March 11, 2011, the Sahara announced that it would close its doors May 16, 2011. Closure of

5610-494: The Las Vegas sphere and future spheres. MSG Sphere Studios sought to collaborate with filmmakers and musicians to create some of the content for the Las Vegas sphere. Ted King, who previously worked on Star Trek: The Experience , is among those who will create visual content for Sphere in Las Vegas. The studio will also produce content in association with the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix , which will travel past Sphere. The spherical studio facility, nearly 100 feet (30 m) tall,

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5720-619: The Madison Square Garden Company in 2020 in order to focus on its professional sports assets) spun off its "traditional" live events business under the Madison Square Garden Entertainment name in order to insulate them, retaining Sphere and its regional sports network businesses under the new name Sphere Entertainment . The MSG name was subsequently removed from the venue, which was officially renamed "Sphere". Sphere opened on September 29, 2023, with

5830-648: The Sahara has been cited as one of the significant reasons for ridership dropping in 2012. In 2014, a new hotel casino, the SLS Las Vegas, took over the Sahara, and ridership increased from 2012 levels. An infill station at the Sphere was planned but put on hold in 2020. A report in 2022 confirmed that talks about constructing the station wouldn't resume until after the venue's opening. The Las Vegas Monorail again filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2020, amid

5940-407: The Sahara hotel at the north end of the Strip. The ride takes about fifteen minutes to travel its total distance of 3.9 miles (6.3 km). The monorail generally runs behind the eastern Strip side hotels and casinos, a long block away from the Strip. Usually, it requires a walk through a casino to get to the Strip, emerging upon the Strip in front of the property. This lack of a direct presence on

6050-596: The Sprint Nextel Corporation terminated its sponsorship contract. The Las Vegas Monorail was designed by Gensler of Nevada, engineered by Las Vegas-based Carter & Burgess (now Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. ) and constructed by Granite Construction, Inc. of Watsonville, California , one of the largest civil contractors in the United States. The Las Vegas Monorail vehicles and signal systems were developed by Bombardier Transportation . The technology for

6160-482: The Strip along with ticket prices has been a factor in the rather slow acceptance of the monorail. The Las Vegas Monorail was named the Robert N. Broadbent Las Vegas Monorail in honor of Robert N. Broadbent, whom Las Vegas officials credit with gaining the support from the public and officials needed to bring the monorail to fruition. Broadbent, a former Boulder City mayor, Clark County commissioner, assistant secretary of

6270-750: The UNLV campus. The monorail company announced in May 2015 that it is proposing instead an extension to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and an infill station at the Sands Expo & Convention Center . Subsequently, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada announced that a new underground light rail system under the Las Vegas Strip, which would connect Downtown Las Vegas with

6380-493: The United States was in New York City in the early 1930s, scrubbed for an elevated train system. The first half of the 20th century saw many further proposed designs that either never left the drawing board or remained short-lived prototypes. One of the most interesting projects created on the layout was the ball-bearing train by Nikolai Grigorievich Yarmolchuk. This train moved on spherical wheels with electric motors embedded in them, which were located in semi-circular chutes under

6490-520: The actual positions of speakers. Software algorithms compensate for any transmission loss caused by the obstruction from the LED screen. Integrated into the Holoplot X1 modules are several technologies by Powersoft, including 16-channel amplification, "Integrated Powered Adaptive Loudspeaker" for subwoofers , and energy-efficient solutions such as pulse-width modulation and " power factor correction". Sphere contains 4D features , including scent and wind, along with haptic technology in 10,000 of

6600-429: The airport form a major portion of their business. Several hotel and casino owners on the Strip supported the project, and were more supportive of an extension to the airport than one to downtown Las Vegas. On December 7, 2006, Clark County commissioners granted permission for the proposed extension to Harry Reid Airport. Funding had not yet been identified. On September 9, 2008, the monorail company provided details of

6710-431: The airport, is in the long-term planning phase. In March 2018, the Clark County Commission approved a proposed extension to Mandalay Bay, putting the monorail closer to Allegiant Stadium . The monorail company planned to start construction on the extension in June 2018 and have it completed by September 2020, in time for the completion of the stadium and Las Vegas Raiders inaugural season in Las Vegas. In November 2018 it

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6820-461: The anticipated funding from the federal government was not allocated in 2004, so the plans were put on hold. On January 27, 2005, the federal government announced that it would not provide money for the $ 400-million project. The plan was to open the system in January 2004 and for it to cover its debts and operating expenses by attracting 19 to 20 million riders. Since the system was not only delayed in opening, but later shut down for four months, income

6930-417: The basement. In December 2019, the spherical structure reached 65 feet (20 m) in height with the completion of a fourth level, out of eight above-ground floors. In February 2020, the world's fourth-largest crane, a Demag CC-8800 crawler crane, was set up on the site's northeast side for the purpose of lifting heavy construction materials. The crane is capable of standing up to 580 feet (180 m). In

7040-445: The beam via bogies , allowing curves to be negotiated. Monorails are sometimes used in urban areas alongside conventional parallel railed metro systems. Mumbai Monorail serves alongside Mumbai Metro , while monorail lines are integrated with conventional rail rapid transit lines in Bangkok's MRT network. Unlike some trams and light rail systems, modern monorails are always separated from other traffic and pedestrians due to

7150-489: The cause of the accident to be human error by both the driver and controller, contributed to by a lack of standard operating procedures. São Paulo , Brazil, is building two high-capacity monorail lines as part of its public transportation network. Line 15 was partially opened in 2014, will be 27 km (17 mi) long when completed in 2022 and has a capacity of 40,000 pphpd using Bombardier Innovia Monorail trains. Line 17 will be 17.7 km (11.0 mi) long and

7260-483: The closing of the monorail for nearly four months. It reopened on December 24, 2004. A number of repairs were made to the monorail cars during this shutdown. Each time the monorail system required major engineering changes, it underwent a lengthy "commissioning" process to confirm the effectiveness and safety of the repairs. Officials reported that each day the monorail was down cost the system approximately $ 85,000 in lost fares. Transit Systems Management officials cited

7370-486: The dispersion of sound in horizontal and vertical directions. In total, the sound system comprises 167,000 speaker drivers, amplifiers, and processing channels, and it weighs 395,120 pounds (179,220 kg). The main coverage of the sound system is provided by the "proscenium array", located in Sphere where a traditional theatre proscenium would be built. It comprises 464 Holoplot X1 speakers (272 MD96 modules and 192 MD80-S modules) organized into 14 clusters and arranged in

7480-407: The entire sphere, instead covering approximately two-thirds of the interior while the stage takes up the remainder. Approximately 800 seats in the venue's premium, lower-level 100 section have obstructed views of the wraparound video screen due to the overhang of the second level. Sphere has nine levels, including the basement, where a VIP club is located. A total of 23 suites are included, across

7590-409: The existing route, doubling the length of the system. When the monorail company announced details of the extension in September 2008, the airport extension was to be built with private funds and was expected to be built by 2012. However, as of March 2011, the Las Vegas Monorail Company was still in the planning phases of the proposed extension to Harry Reid International Airport with a proposed stop on

7700-399: The exosphere, took place on May 24, 2022. This was followed by installation of the interior and exterior LED screens. The latter was illuminated for the first time on July 4, 2023, during Independence Day celebrations. Sphere soon went viral for its display of images. On April 20, 2023, the venue's owner Madison Square Garden Entertainment (which had, in turn, been spun off from

7810-464: The financial impact of the pandemic. The film Postcard from Earth , directed by Darren Aronofsky , debuted on October 6, 2023. The show is preceded by the "Sphere Experience", a demonstration of the venue's capabilities that utilizes animatronic robots and holographs. V-U2 An Immersive Concert Film , which documents U2's residency at Sphere, was released on September 5, 2024. It was directed by Morleigh Steinberg and her husband, U2 guitarist

7920-579: The first monorail locomotive was a 0-3-0 steam locomotive on this line. A high-speed monorail using the Lartigue system was proposed in 1901 between Liverpool and Manchester. The Boynton Bicycle Railroad was a steam-powered monorail in Brooklyn on Long Island , New York . It ran on a single load-bearing rail at ground level, but with a wooden overhead stabilising rail engaged by a pair of horizontally opposed wheels. The railway operated for only two years beginning in 1890. The Hotchkiss Bicycle Railroad

8030-478: The first systems put into practical use was that of French engineer Charles Lartigue, who built a line between Ballybunion and Listowel in Ireland, opened in 1888 and lasting 36 years, being closed in 1924 (due to damage from Ireland's Civil War). It used a load-bearing single rail and two lower, external rails for balance, the three carried on triangular supports. It was cheap to construct but tricky to operate. Possibly

8140-553: The floorboards. Using beamforming capabilities, the Holoplot X1 speakers can digitally aim sound at specific spots in the audience and deliver a consistent volume to every seat in the venue, even over long distances; in Sphere, the system offers 110 metres (360 ft) of sound coverage to reach the furthest seats. The Holoplot X1 arrays can also use wave field synthesis to create a virtual point of origin for sound waves and to place them in precise spatial locations, regardless of

8250-564: The geometry of the rail. They are both guided and supported via interaction with the same single beam, in contrast to other guided systems like rubber-tyred metros , such as the Sapporo Municipal Subway ; or guided buses or trams, such as Translohr . Monorails can also use pantographs . As with other grade-separated transit systems, monorails avoid red lights, intersection turns, and traffic jams. Surface-level trains, buses, automobiles, and pedestrians can collide each one with

8360-626: The hand-operated monorails gradually disappeared and were replaced by narrow-gauge railways with steam locomotives as forest utilization changed. In the 1920s the Port of Hamburg used a petrol powered, suspended monorail to transport luggage and freight from ocean-going vessels to a passenger depot. Sphere (venue) Sphere (also called Sphere at the Venetian Resort ) is a music and entertainment arena in Paradise, Nevada , United States, east of

8470-474: The heaviest lift up to that point, with the installation of two 240-ton steel girders. MSG took over as general contractor in December 2020, although AECOM continued to provide support. A 170-ton steel compression ring was added in February 2021, marking the heaviest lift of the entire project. Due to its size, the ring had to be assembled at the construction site. Work crews spent three weeks welding and bolting

8580-547: The interior. It was designed and manufactured by SACO Technologies, a Canadian company based in Montreal specializing in LED video displays and lighting. With a 16,000 × 16,000 resolution , it is the highest-resolution LED screen in the world, according to Sphere Entertainment. In describing the number of pixels on screen, media sources have reported figures ranging from 189 to 254 million diodes to 268,435,456 pixels. The screen consists of 64,000 LED panels, each controlled by

8690-534: The later proposed subway system faced criticism by famed author Ray Bradbury as it had yet to reach the scale of the proposed monorail. Several monorails initially conceived as transport systems survive on revenues generated from tourism , benefiting from the unique views offered from the largely elevated installations. Monorails have been used for number of applications other than passenger transportation. Small suspended monorail are also widely used in factories either as part of moveable assembly lines. Inspired by

8800-491: The legacy systems in use today. However, monorails gained little foothold compared to conventional transport systems. In March 1972, Alejandro Goicoechea-Omar had patent DE1755198 published, on a 'Vertebrate Train', build as experimental track in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. Niche private enterprise uses for monorails emerged, with the emergence of air travel and shopping malls , with shuttle-type systems being built. From

8910-409: The main line. The now-closed Sydney Monorail had a traverser at the depot, which allowed a train on the main line to be exchanged with another from the depot. There were about six lines in the depot, including one for maintenance. Rubber-tired monorails are typically designed to cope with a 6% grade . Rubber-tired light rail or metro lines can cope with similar or greater grades – for example,

9020-574: The monorail car. A surviving suspended version is the oldest still in service system: the Wuppertal monorail in Germany. Also in the early 1900s, Gyro monorails with cars gyroscopically balanced on top of a single rail were tested, but never developed beyond the prototype stage. The Ewing System , used in the Patiala State Monorail Trainways in Punjab, India , relies on a hybrid model with

9130-495: The monorail featured showgirls from Bally's famed show, Jubilee! , helping groups to the monorail. Characters from The Wizard of Oz greeted the groups on the MGM side. The two trains each ran back and forth on each beam, and were stored at a maintenance building near the Bally's station (this building still stands today, but it has been severed from the beam). In 2002, the original system

9240-415: The monorail suffered several malfunctions that delayed the start of passenger service for almost a year. The most serious of these problems related to parts falling from the monorail to the ground under the tracks. After many delays, the finished Las Vegas Monorail opened to the public on July 15, 2004 with the completion and testing of "Phase 1". On September 8, 2004, more problems with falling parts led to

9350-621: The monorail vehicles came directly from the well-tested monorail systems running in Walt Disney World . Bombardier constructed Mark VI Monorail trains for the Walt Disney World Monorail System and for Las Vegas. Stations listed from north to south: The monorail uses nine fully automatic Bombardier MVI trains, each consisting of four cars. These are very similar to the six-car Mark VI monorails at Walt Disney World (which were operated by pilots until 2014). The guideway

9460-523: The most expensive entertainment venue built in the Las Vegas Valley. Sphere opened on September 29, 2023, with Irish rock band U2 beginning a 40-show residency called U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere . Director Darren Aronofsky 's docu-film Postcard from Earth opened on October 6, 2023. The project, known then as the MSG Sphere, was announced in February 2018. The project was initially

9570-411: The opening of U2 's concert residency U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere . It marked the group's first live show since 2019. Sphere plans on hosting four to six residencies each year. The company also debuted its first feature film, Postcard from Earth by director Darren Aronofsky , at Sphere on October 6, 2023. The venue will employ up to 3,000 people. Since opening, Sphere has operated on

9680-488: The other, while vehicles on dedicated, grade-separated rights-of-way such as monorails can collide only with other vehicles on the same system, with much fewer opportunities for collision. As with other elevated transit systems, monorail passengers receive sunlight and views. Monorails can be quieter than diesel buses and trains. They obtain electricity from the track structure, whereas other modes of transit may use either third rail or overhead power lines and poles. Compared to

9790-456: The prefabricated steel pieces together, and the crane was then used to lift the ring into place. The dome's roof required 3,000 tons of steel. The roof started to take shape in March 2021, as crews began the installation of 32 trusses , each one weighing 100 tons. Truss installation reached the midway point in May 2021, and the crane had to be moved to the southern side of the property to install

9900-453: The proposed expansion to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board. The intended airport extension would begin at the new Terminal 3, with the first stop near Terminal 1, turn north on Swenson Street, then continue west on Tropicana Avenue before turning north at Koval Lane to meet up with the existing system behind the MGM Grand. This route was proposed to be built with private funds and would have added approximately four miles to

10010-458: The remainder. Because of its size, the crane's relocation took two days. The dome was topped off on June 18, 2021, and work was already underway on an external exosphere which would be built around the dome. The exosphere is made of LED light panels which are visible from several miles away and is 30 percent taller than the dome. Work on Sphere's interior began in August 2021. Upon completion of

10120-496: The roof's steel frame, 6,000 cubic yards (4,600 m ) of concrete were then pumped onto the roof. This formed a layer measuring 10 inches (250 mm) in thickness, and weighing approximately 10,000 tons. The roof was finished in October 2021. Crews then turned their focus to the 730-ton steel interior frame which supports the LED screens and audio system. Work on the interior frame continued into 2022. A second topping out, for

10230-491: The sale, the land beneath the Venetian Resort and Sphere was purchased by Vici Properties . The sphere-shaped project was designed by Populous , with an interior that includes the world's largest LED screen. MSG initially estimated the project cost at $ 1.2 billion. In February 2020, the company said the cost had increased to $ 1.66 billion as a result of design changes consisting of guest enhancements. The cost continued to increase, eventually surpassing $ 2 billion due to

10340-403: The screen to pass through. The building's exosphere features a 580,000-square-foot (54,000 m ) LED display also designed by SACO Technologies; it was the world's largest at the time the venue opened. It comprises 1.23 million puck-shaped LEDs spaced 8 inches (20 cm) apart, each containing 48 diodes. Visuals displayed on the exosphere have included a Halloween jack-o'-lantern,

10450-624: The site for construction. AECOM was named as the general contractor in June 2019. The project had 400 construction workers. This number was expected to eventually reach a peak of 1,500. Construction of the basement was underway in July 2019. By October 2019, construction crews had completed the 80,000 sq ft (7,400 m ) basement as well as the first ground level of the venue. The basement area will be used as public space for events. Excavation went as deep as 21 feet (6.4 m) for construction of

10560-403: The sixth level and 108 feet (33 m) above ground. The project had been scheduled to open in 2021. However, MSG announced on March 31, 2020, that construction would be suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The project experienced a disruption in its supply chain, a result of the pandemic, and this hindered construction progress. All construction work on the project was expected to come to

10670-535: The sponsorship prices are in the millions of dollars. Hansens Beverage sponsored the first monorail train, featuring its Monster Energy drink. Nextel Communications created a totally themed pavilion by branding the largest station, adjacent to the Las Vegas Convention Center. Since the Sprint-Nextel merger in late 2005, Nextel Central was rebranded as Sprint Central. However, in late February 2008,

10780-437: The successful handling of crowds during the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show as proof that the system could handle a major convention. On July 8, 2005, Transit Systems Management announced that it would shut down, turning over its responsibilities to the Las Vegas Monorail Company, the system operator. Curtis Myles, a former deputy general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada , became President of

10890-438: The third and fifth floors. The arena will primarily host award shows and concerts, in addition to other entertainment events. Though not designed to fit a traditional arena layout for sports such as basketball and ice hockey, it can host ring sports events such as boxing and mixed martial arts , as well as esports tournaments. The venue is equipped with a 160,000-square-foot (15,000 m ) LED screen that wraps around

11000-725: The two largest monorail manufacturers, Hitachi Monorail and Bombardier . In 1956, the first monorail to operate in the US began test operations in Houston, Texas. Disneyland in Anaheim, California , opened the United States' first daily operating monorail system in 1959. Later during this period, additional monorails were installed at Walt Disney World in Florida , Seattle , and in Japan . Monorails were promoted as futuristic technology with exhibition installations and amusement park purchases, as seen by

11110-469: The venue's seats. The property includes 304 parking spaces, while additional spaces will be available at the parking garages for the nearby Venetian, Palazzo , and Venetian Expo . A 1,000-foot (300 m) pedestrian bridge connects Sphere to the expo, and there are plans to build a new Las Vegas Monorail station to serve Sphere and the Venetian. However, these plans were put on hold in April 2020, due to

11220-477: Was a monorail on which a matching pedal bicycle could be ridden. The first example was built between Smithville and Mount Holly , New Jersey, in 1892. It closed in 1897. Other examples were built in Norfolk from 1895 to 1909, Great Yarmouth , and Blackpool , UK from 1896. Early designs used a double- flanged single metal rail alternative to the double rail of conventional railways, both guiding and supporting

11330-534: Was also prominent in the unreleased Seatron Space line and prototype Wild West sets. Its popularity has still endured over thirty years later, where Lego has paid homage in promotional sets and fans have manufactured compatible components. The fourth season of the American animated television show The Simpsons features the episode " Marge vs. the Monorail ", in which the town of Springfield impulsively purchases

11440-599: Was closed to begin its conversion to the current Las Vegas Monorail system. The beam was extended from Bally's station (now the Horseshoe & Paris station) north to the Sahara Hotel and Casino . The track was extended south beyond the MGM station to provide for track switching for the trains, as well as a starting point for a potential future southern extension. The original trains were replaced with nine new Bombardier Mark VI monorail trains. During testing and commissioning,

11550-487: Was confirmed that two new Monorail stations would be built; one at Mandalay Bay and another at the Sphere with completion by 2021. In May 2019, lack of funding delayed the start of construction on a Mandalay Bay extension. As of March 2020, there is no timetable to begin construction on an extension nor a completion date. Monorail The term possibly originated in 1897 from German engineer Eugen Langen , who called an elevated railway system with wagons suspended

11660-823: Was discussing building of a new venue to be used for K-pop concerts in Hanam , South Korea . After discussions stalled for South Korea and also Saudi Arabia, MSG was in talks with developers in United Arab Emirates to build a second location in Abu Dhabi . On October 15, 2024, Sphere Entertainment confirmed that a second Sphere, identical to the one in Las Vegas, would be built in Abu Dhabi. Sphere Studios, originally MSG Sphere Studios, opened in Burbank, California , in May 2022. The facility handles production and post-production work for

11770-467: Was not as great as organizers had hoped. This reportedly is a contributing factor for the government's denial of Phase 2 funding. Phase 2 was revised to instead extend the monorail system south from the MGM Grand Station to Harry Reid International Airport . Providing monorail service to the airport has been an unpopular idea with limousine and taxicab operators in the city, as trips to and from

11880-482: Was reported that the MSG Sphere would be built along with new bars, private suites, a museum and retail space. AECOM began working on the site in February 2019, through a preliminary agreement. AECOM had worked on several other stadiums, including the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Excavation was underway in March 2019. Approximately 110,000 cubic yards (84,000 m ) of dirt and caliche were excavated to prepare

11990-457: Was too heavy and crashed through the track on its third trip. The third locomotive again had twin boilers. On a trial run one of the boilers ran dry and exploded, killing six people. The railway was closed soon after. Monorails in Central Java were used to transport timber from the forests of Central Java located in the mountains to the rivers. In 1908 and 1909, the forester H. J. L. Beck built

12100-648: Was used in construction. The Las Vegas Monorail began service as the MGM Grand-Bally's Monorail in 1995. This system ran between the MGM Grand and Bally's hotels using two used Mark IV monorail trains that had operated on the Walt Disney World Monorail . Built through a partnership between the two hotels, the MGM-Bally's system's construction was contracted to VSL Corporation. The grand opening party for

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