SAFEGE
Encyclopedia
SAFEGE is an acronym for the French
consortium Société Anonyme Française d' Etude de Gestion et d' Entreprises (French Limited Company for the Study of Management and Business) and is pronounced SAY-fij in English
.
The consortium, consisting of 25 companies, including the tire
-maker Michelin
and the Renault
automotive company, produced an aerial railway
technology. The design team was headed by Lucien Chadenson. Today the company is a subsidiary
of Suez Environnement
and specialises as a consultancy
in water and environmental engineering.
-tire
d wheel carriages of the type used more conventionally in the Paris Metro
. The carriages are enclosed and supported by a box-like track or beam, with an opening in the bottom. The rubber wheels of the train run inside the track, supported by flanges on the bottom of the beam.
Unlike previous suspended monorails like the Schwebebahn
in Wuppertal
, Germany, the tracks are not exposed to inclement weather
, and do not need any cleaning or ice
-removal systems. This advantage enables them to run in cities where ice and other conditions would impair the reliability of the system.
-designed ALWEG
system, in which the vehicles run on top of, and straddle, a solid beam.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
consortium Société Anonyme Française d' Etude de Gestion et d' Entreprises (French Limited Company for the Study of Management and Business) and is pronounced SAY-fij in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
The consortium, consisting of 25 companies, including the tire
Tire
A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...
-maker Michelin
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...
and the Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
automotive company, produced an aerial railway
Monorail
A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...
technology. The design team was headed by Lucien Chadenson. Today the company is a subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of Suez Environnement
Suez Environnement
Suez Environnement S.A. is a French-based utility company which operates largely in the water treatment and waste management sectors. Formerly an operating division of Suez, the company was spun out as a stand-alone entity as part of the merger to form GDF Suez on 22 July 2008. GDF Suez remains...
and specialises as a consultancy
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
in water and environmental engineering.
Design concept
The design of the system entails suspending passenger cars beneath rubberRubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
-tire
Tire
A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...
d wheel carriages of the type used more conventionally in the Paris Metro
Paris Métro
The 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 ...
. The carriages are enclosed and supported by a box-like track or beam, with an opening in the bottom. The rubber wheels of the train run inside the track, supported by flanges on the bottom of the beam.
Unlike previous suspended monorails like the Schwebebahn
Schwebebahn Wuppertal
- Current modernisation :The Wuppertal Schwebebahn nowadays carries up to 82,000 passengers a day through the city. Since 1997, the supporting frame has been largely modernised, and a lot of stations have been reconstructed and brought technically up to date...
in Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land...
, Germany, the tracks are not exposed to inclement weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
, and do not need any cleaning or ice
Ice
Ice is water frozen into the solid state. Usually ice is the phase known as ice Ih, which is the most abundant of the varying solid phases on the Earth's surface. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white color, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions...
-removal systems. This advantage enables them to run in cities where ice and other conditions would impair the reliability of the system.
Market position
SAFEGE systems are the leading type of suspended railway currently in transit use, though this consists of very few systems. Its chief and more numerous competitor in modern monorail applications are variations of the GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-designed ALWEG
ALWEG
Alweg was a transportation company known for pioneering straddle-beam monorails.-History:Alweg was founded by Swedish industrial magnate Dr. Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren in January 1953 as Alweg-Forschung, GmbH , based in Fühlingen, Germany, a suburb of Cologne...
system, in which the vehicles run on top of, and straddle, a solid beam.
SAFEGE monorails in the world
- There are two SAFEGE-type suspended railways in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. One is the Chiba Urban Monorail in ChibaChiba, Chibais the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is located approximately 40 km east of the center of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. Chiba City became a government designated city in 1992. Its population as of 2008 is approximately 960,000....
and the other is the Shonan MonorailShonan MonorailThe is a suspended SAFEGE monorail located in the cities of Kamakura and Fujisawa in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the , the line opened March 7, 1970, and was the first monorail of its kind in Japan....
which runs from Ōfuna StationOfuna Stationis a railway station in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company .-Lines:Ōfuna Station is served by the Tōkaidō Main Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Negishi Line , Yokosuka Line as well as the Shonan Monorail....
in KamakuraKamakura, Kanagawais a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
to Shōnan-Enoshima StationShōnan-Enoshima Stationis a monorail train station on the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line located in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is the southern terminus of the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line and is located 6.6 kilometers from the northern terminus at Ōfuna Station.-History:...
in FujisawaFujisawa, Kanagawais a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 407,731 and a population density of 5,870 people per km². The total area is 69.51 km²-Geography:...
. - The test track built in France by SAFEGE in 19591959 in rail transport-January events:* January 4 - Passenger service resumes on the Strasburg Rail Road for tourists.* January 5 - Foulridge railway station closes on the Midland Railway in Lancashire.-February events:...
, is a 1.4 kilometre monorail line featured prominently in the 1966 movie adaptation of Fahrenheit 451Fahrenheit 451 (1966 film)Fahrenheit 451 is a 1966 film directed by François Truffaut, in his first colour film as well as his only English-language film. It is based on the novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury....
, directed by François TruffautFrançois TruffautFrançois Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
. Although the track was dismantled not long thereafter, the original car survived longer. - Two Siemens SIPEMH-BahnThe H-Bahn in Dortmund and Düsseldorf is a suspended, driverless passenger monorail system. The system has been developed by Siemens, who call the project SIPEM ....
lines exist in Germany.