Ride on the World’s First Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) System At Heathrow

Fly to Heathrow Airport and ride on the World’s First Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) System

Congestion is not a new problem but bosses at Heathrow Airport believe they have a new solution.

You’ve already seen clean, quiet, electric vehicles. And the same goes for dedicated traffic lanes.

But when you arrive at London’s Heathrow Airport, you could be whisked from car park to terminal building on the world’s first commercial PRT (personal rapid transit) system.

Opening in 2010, the system comprises some 4 kilometers of “guideway” and will link one station in Terminal 5 to two remote stations in the Business car park.

You could find yourself sitting with friends, family or business colleagues…but no driver.

The driverless taxi (PRT) doesn’t run on rails. It actually drives itself along a network of guideways using lasers which work out where it is and a number of reference points so that it can work out how far on its journey it has progressed – and that’s how it knows exactly when to turn left and turn right, when to accelerate and when to slow down and when to arrive in a berth. Passengers will hail their cab using a touch-screen pc.

The system has been in development for 15 years, combining dozens of hi-tec systems into one new mode of transport. A fleet of 21 vehicles has been built for the Heathrow project.

The vehicles look like something from a science-fiction or James Bond movie, but with BAA (which owns and operates six British airports) investing more than £25million ($41million) to become the first organization anywhere to offer a personal rapid transport/PRT service.

Heathrow – often referred to as the world’s busiest airport as it handles flights to over 180 destinations in more than 90 countries – suffered a PR disaster when its newest building, Terminal 5, opened in March 2008 and the new baggage-handling system malfunctioned in a big way, so you can be assured that this new personal rapid transport/PRT service will be tested to the max.

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