technology. The vehicles have
s which run on rolling pads inside guide bars for traction, as well as traditional railway steel wheels with deep
as well as guidance in case a tyre fails. Most rubber-tyred trains are purpose-built and designed for the system on which they operate.
s on tyres', and compared to rubber-tyred metros. See also rubber-tyred trams,
German occupation of Paris, the Metro system was used to capacity, with relatively little maintenance performed. At the end of the war, the system was so worn out that thought was given as to how to renovate it. Rubber-tyred metro technology was first applied to the
, who provided the vehicles. Starting in 1951, an experimental vehicle, the MP 51, operated on a test track between Porte des Lilas and Pré Saint Gervais, a section of line not open to the public.
was the first line to be converted, in 1956, chosen because of its steep grades. This was followed by Line 1
in 1967, converted because they had the heaviest traffic load of all Paris Métro lines. Finally, Line 6
was converted in 1974 to cut down noise on its many elevated sections. Because of the high cost of converting existing rail-based lines, this is no longer done in Paris, nor elsewhere; now rubber-tyred metros are used in new systems or lines only, including the new
.
rubber-tyred trains. A few more recent rubber-tyred systems have used automated, driverless trains; one of the first such systems, developed by
. The first automated rubber-tyred system opened in
in February 1981. It is the Portliner linking Sanomiya railway station with Port Island.
, with power supplied by one, or both, of the guide bars, which thus also serves as the third rail (the current is not picked up through the horizontal wheels, but through a separate lateral pickup shoe). The return current passes through a return shoe to the top of one, or both of the rails, or to the other guide bar, depending on the type of system.
The type of guideway used on a system varies between networks. Two parallel rollways, each the width of a tyre are used, either of
). As on a railway, the driver does not have to steer, because the system relies on a redundant system of railway steel wheels with flanges on steel
. The Sapporo system is an exception as it uses a central guidance rail only. The VAL system used in Lille and Toulouse has conventional track between the guide bars.
On some systems (such as Paris, Montreal, and Mexico City), there is a regular railway track between the rollways and the vehicles also have railway wheels with larger (taller) than normal
s, but these are normally at some distance above the rails and are used only in the case of a flat tyre and at
. In Paris these rails were also used to enable mixed traffic with rubber-tyred and steel-wheeled trains using the same track, particularly during conversion from normal railway track. Other systems (e.g. Lille and Toulouse) have other sorts of flat tyre compensation and switching methods.
The essential differences between rubber-on-concrete and steel-on-steel are that rubber-on-concrete generates more
Advantages of rubber-tyred metro systems (compared to steel wheel on steel rail):
The higher friction and increased rolling resistance cause disadvantages (compared to steel wheel on steel rail):
are not exclusively rubber-tyred; many have since been built using conventional rail technology, such as London's
, the Disneyland Resort Line which uses converted rolling stocks from non-driverless trains, as well as
with local subway and commuter trains. Most
| Country/Region |
City/Region |
System |
Technology |
 Canada |
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
|
Montreal MetroThe Montreal Metro is a rubber-tired metro system, and the main form of public transportation underground in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada....
|
Michelin Michelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tyre brands...
|
 Chile |
SantiagoSantiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
|
Santiago MetroMetro de Santiago is South America's most extensive metro system with 5 lines, 108 stations and 103 kilometres of track making it the second longest in Latin America after that of Mexico City. The metro system serves the city of Santiago, Chile. Three of the lines are rubber-tyred...
(Lines 1, 2 and 5) |
Michelin |
 Early Modern France |
Laon Laon is the capital city of the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-History:The hilly district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance...
|
Poma 2000The Poma 2000 in Laon, France, is an automated guideway transit, a cable-driven people mover which runs between the railway station and the city hall ....
|
Cable-drivenA cable car or cable railway is a mass transit system using rail cars that are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required...
|
LilleLille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
|
Lille MetroThe Lille metro is a driverless metro in and around Lille, France. The system was inaugurated on 25 April 1983 and was the first to use VAL system....
|
VAL 206, 208 |
LyonLyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
|
Lyon MetroThe Lyon metro, in Lyon, France, first opened in 1978 and now consists of four lines. It is part of the Transports en Commun Lyonnais system of public transport, and is supported by a network of tramways....
(Lines ALine A of the Lyon Metro was constructed using the cut-and-cover method, and went into service on May 2, 1978...
, BLine B of the Lyon Metro was constructed using the cut-and-cover method, and went into service on May 2, 1978...
, and DLine D of the Lyon Metro, with automatic trains running on tires and with no driver, and also known as MAGGALY commenced operation under human control on September 4, 1991, between Gorge-de-Loup and Grange-Blanche...
) |
Michelin |
MarseilleMarseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
|
Marseille MetroThe Marseille metro serves the City of Marseille. It is a rubber-tyred metro derived from the technology developed by the RATP for Paris Metro and opened at the end of 1977...
|
Michelin |
ParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
|
Paris MétroThe Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
(Lines 1Paris Métro Line 1 is one of the sixteen lines composing the Paris Métro . It connects the La Défense – Grande Arche and Château de Vincennes stations. With a 16.5 km length, it constitutes an "East-West" route transportation important for the City of Paris...
, 4Line 4 is one of the sixteen lines of the Paris Métro rapid transit system. Situated entirely within the boundaries of the City of Paris, it connects Porte de Clignancourt in the north and Porte d'Orléans in the south, travelling across the heart of the city. As a result, it is sometimes called...
, 6Line 6 is one of the sixteen lines of the Paris Métro rapid transit system. Following a semi-circular route around the southern half of the city above boulevards formed by ancient city walls , it runs from Charles de Gaulle – Étoile in the west and Nation in the east.Opened between 1900 and 1906...
, 11Paris Métro Line 11 is one of 16 Paris métro lines. It links Les Lilas in the North East of the city to Châtelet in the center of Paris. It is the shortest of the 14 metro lines having independent management...
, and 14Line 14 of the Paris Métro system connects the stations Saint Lazare and Olympiades on a north-west south-east diagonal across the centre of Paris. It is the twelfth busiest of sixteen lines on the network, and as of 2011, the only one to be operated completely automatically; the second such line...
) |
Michelin |
| Paris (Orly) |
Orlyval Orlyval is a small automatic metro which runs a shuttle service to Paris's Orly Airport from the RER network, with which it connects at Antony station on line RER B.It was opened on 2 October 1991, the second line to use the VAL automatic metro....
|
VAL 206 |
Paris (Charles-De-Gaulle AirportParis-Charles de Gaulle Airport , also known as Roissy Airport , in the Paris area, is one of the world's principal aviation centres, as well as France's largest airport. It is named after Charles de Gaulle , leader of the Free French Forces and founder of the French Fifth Republic...
) |
CDGVAL CDGVAL is a free automatic shuttle rail service at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport consisting in two lines : a first line which opened on 4 April 2007 and a second on 27 June 2007...
|
VAL 208 |
RennesRennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
|
Rennes MetroOpened on 15 March 2002, the metro in Rennes is based on the Siemens Transportation Systems VAL technology. There is one line, the 9.4-km A Line, which runs north-west to south-east from J.F...
|
VAL 208 |
| Toulouse Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
|
Toulouse MetroThe Toulouse metro serves the city of Toulouse, France, and some of the surrounding area. The city's public transport system was initially managed by Société d'économie mixte des voyageurs de l'agglomération toulousaine , which was a company that was 80% owned by local government bodies and 20%...
|
VAL 206, 208 |
 Italy |
TurinTurin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
|
Metrotorino |
VAL 208 |
 Hong Kong |
Chek Lap Kok Airport |
Automated People MoverHong Kong International Airport Automated People Mover is a driverless people mover located within Hong Kong International Airport. It operates in two "segments" and depends on the direction of travel....
|
Mitsubishi, or MHI, is a Japanese company. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group.-History:In 1870 Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of Mitsubishi took a lease of Government-owned Nagasaki Shipyard. He named it Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, and started the shipbuilding business on a full scale...
/ Ishikawajima-Harima, formerly known as , is a Japanese company which produces ships, aero-engines, turbochargers for automobiles, industrial machines, power station boilers and other facilities, suspension bridges and other transport-related machinery....
|
 Japan |
Kobe, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
|
Kobe New Transit is the third-sector semipublic company that runs Port Island Line and Rokkō Island Line automated guideway transit systems in Kobe, Japan...
(Port Island Line / Rokkō Island LineThe , commonly known as is an automated guideway transit system in Kobe, Japan. Operated by Kobe New Transit, it connects the man-made Rokkō Island to Sumiyoshi Station on the JR Kobe Line.-Stations:*Sumiyoshi...
) |
Kawasakiis the rolling stock production division of Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Since beginning operations in 1906, the company has produced more than 90,000 railroad vehicles.- Products :...
|
Hiroshimais the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
|
Hiroshima Rapid Transit is a Japanese transportation company based in Hiroshima, Japan.Hiroshima Rapid Transit operate the People mover called "Astram Line" in Hiroshima.The company will accept PASPY, a smart card ticket system, from spring, 2009.-External links:*...
(Astram LineThe is a new transit system operated by Hiroshima Rapid Transit in Hiroshima, Japan.-History:*August 8, 1994 - Opened for the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima...
) |
Kawasaki / Mitsubishi, or MHI, is a Japanese company. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group.-History:In 1870 Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of Mitsubishi took a lease of Government-owned Nagasaki Shipyard. He named it Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, and started the shipbuilding business on a full scale...
/ Niigata Transys |
Saitama' is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture in Japan, situated in the south-east of the prefecture. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance...
|
New Shuttle |
|
| Sapporo |
Sapporo Municipal Subway The is an underground rapid transit system in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is operated by the Sapporo City Transportation Bureau.-Lines:The system has 3 lines; the first, the Namboku Line, was opened in 1971 prior to the 1972 Winter Olympics.-Technology:...
|
Kawasaki |
Tokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
|
Yurikamome , formally the is an automated guideway transit service operated by the Tokyo Waterfront New Transit Corporation, connecting Shimbashi to Toyosu, passing through the artificial island of Odaiba in Tokyo, Japan, a market in which it competes with the cheaper Rinkai Line.The line is named after the...
|
Mitsubishi / Niigata Transys / Nippon Sharyo, , formed in 1896, is a major rolling stock manufacturer based in Nagoya, Japan. In 1996, it abbreviated its name to "日本車両" Nippon Sharyō. Its shortest abbreviation is Nissha "日車". It was a listed company on Nikkei 225 until 2004. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Nagoya Stock Exchange...
/ Tokyuis a manufacturer of heavy rail cars in Japan. The company is based in Kanazawa Ward, Yokohama, Japan, and a member of Tokyu Group. Tokyu Car manufactures rail vehicles not only for Tokyu Corporation but for other Japanese operators, including various Japan Railways Group companies and...
|
| Nippori-Toneri Liner |
Niigata Transys |
| Higashimurayama is a city located in the western end of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 151,279 and a population density of 8,810 persons per km²...
/ Tokorozawais a city in Saitama, Japan. It is located in the central part of the Musashino plain, about 30 km west of downtown Tokyo. Tokorozawa can be considered part of the greater Tokyo area; its proximity to the latter and lower housing costs make it a popular bedroom community.-Location:Tokorozawa...
|
Seibu Yamaguchi Line The of Seibu Railway is a manually operated people mover that runs between in Higashimurayama, Tokyo and Seibu-Kyūjōmae Station in Tokorozawa, Saitama in Japan. The line has an official nickname Leo Liner, after 'Leo', the hero of Kimba the White Lion, who is also the mascot of Seibu Lions...
|
Niigata Transys |
| Sakura is a city located in northern Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of February 2011, the city had an estimated population of 172,176 and a population density of 1660 persons per km². The total area was 103.59 km².-Geography:...
|
Yamaman Yūkarigaoka Line |
|
Yokohamais the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
|
Kanazawa Seaside Line is a new transportation system line operated by and transits from Shin-Sugita to Kanazawa-Hakkei in Yokohama. It was opened on July 5, 1989.- Line Data :...
|
Mitsubishi / Niigata Transys / Nippon Sharyo / Tokyu |
Osakais a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
|
Nankō Port Town Line |
Niigata Transys |
| Komaki is a city located in Aichi, Japan. It is commonly associated with the former Nagoya Airport, which is partly located in the city. The other part is in the city of Kasugai. As of January 1, 2008, the city has an estimated population of 149,060 and the density of 2,370 persons per km²...
|
Peachliner The Peachliner, formally the was a people mover in the city of Komaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It operated from 1991 until September 30, 2006, when it became the first people-mover system in Japan to cease operations.-History:...
(abandoned) |
Mitsubishi |
 South Korea |
BusanBusan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
|
Busan SubwayThe Busan Subway , operated by the Busan Transportation Corporation is the subway system of Busan, South Korea. The subway network first opened in 1985 with seventeen stations...
Line 4Busan Subway Line 4 is a line of the Busan Subway network that connects part of Gijang-gun, Busan, and upper Haeundae-gu, Busan, into Dongnae-gu, Busan. It is operated by the Busan Transportation Corporation. Opened on March 30, 2011, the line is a rapid transit system consisting of 14 stations -...
|
|
 Mexico |
Mexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
|
Mexico City MetroThe Mexico City Metro , officially called Sistema de Transporte Colectivo, is a metro system that serves the metropolitan area of Mexico City...
|
Michelin |
 Singapore |
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
|
Light Rail Transit |
Bombardier / Mitsubishi |
 Switzerland |
LausanneLausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
|
Lausanne MetroThe Lausanne Metro system includes two lines in Lausanne, Switzerland, owned by two distinct companies and operated by a third. The Line M1 is a light metro, while the Line M2 is a fully automated metro which opened on 27 October 2008. A third line M3 is in planning...
Line m2 (2008) |
Michelin |
|
TaipeiTaipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
|
Taipei Metro Brown Line |
BombardierBombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
's INNOVIA APM 256
(formerly VAL 256) |
| Taoyuan Airport |
Inter-terminal Shuttle |
|
|
GuangzhouGuangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
|
Zhujiang New Town Automated People Mover System (2010) |
BombardierBombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
's INNOVIA APM 100 |
 United Kingdom |
Gatwick Airport |
Terminal-Rail Shuttle |
BombardierBombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
's INNOVIA APM 100 |
| Stansted Stansted usually refers to London Stansted Airport.Stansted may also refer to other places in England:*Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex*Stansted, Hampshire*Stansted, Kent*Stansted Park, West Sussex...
, EssexEssex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
(Stansted Airport) |
Terminal Trams |
BombardierBombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
's INNOVIA APM 100 |
 United States |
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, IllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
(O'HareChicago O'Hare International Airport , also known as O'Hare Airport, O'Hare Field, Chicago Airport, Chicago International Airport, or simply O'Hare, is a major airport located in the northwestern-most corner of Chicago, Illinois, United States, northwest of the Chicago Loop...
) |
Airport Transit SystemThe Airport Transit System is an automated people mover system at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The system began its operation on May 6, 1993, and can accommodate up to 2,400 passengers per hour.- Service :...
|
VAL 256 |