Gadgetbahn

Gadgetbahn is a neologism that refers to a public transport concept or implementation that is touted by its developers and supporters as futuristic or innovative, but in practice is less feasible or reliable, and more expensive than traditional modes such as buses, trams and trains. It is a portmanteau of the English word "gadget" and the German word Bahn, meaning "railway".^[2][3]

The monorail (the São Paulo Metro Line 15 pictured) is frequently regarded as a gadgetbahn.^[1]

History

The term originated in the 21st century,^[4][5] mainly used within the online public transport sphere on Twitter and YouTube.^{[6][better source needed]} However, such systems existed even before the term was coined. See individual articles for systems for details.

Mumbail Monorail Bhakti Park station

Mumbai Metro Kandarpada station

The problems about cost effectiveness and reliability can be researched with systems that have already been built. The Heathrow Ultra pods report that the elevated guideway cost £30 million for 3.8 kilometres instead of the projected £3 million per kilometre. The study on the Detroit People Mover shows that cost per passenger mile exceeded $3, while Detroit's busses operated at $0.82. Problems with reliability can occur as extended teething problems, as well as with the limited supply of maintanance parts for the specialized vehicles. Studies on the Mumbai Monorail problems led to abandoning all other monorail projects in India.

When proposing an evelated guideway system to avoid the cost of an underground deployment, systems easily get called gadgetbahn when an elevated railway on standard gauge tracks and light rail tram vehicles would have been feasible as well.^[7] Comparing the mentioned Mumbai Monorail with the elevated Mumbai Metro shows that construction is not much different as both use pillars in the central median of main roads to ease development in an existing urban environment.^[8][9]

Examples

Modes of transport that have been cited as gadgetbahns include:

• Gondola lift^[10]
• Hyperloop^[11]
• Monorail^[12]
  • Cabinentaxi^[13]
  • Shweeb^[14]
• Personal rapid transit^[12][15]