Multi-vehicle testing at Heathrow

This video shows the ongoing testing of multiple ULTra Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) vehicles in the T5 Business Car Park at London Heathrow Airport. As part of this test, vehicles were required to travel simultaneously between all three stations and eight station berths in the Heathrow network. This and other recent tests have demonstrated full integration between the central control system, the individual vehicles, and station hardware such as the automatic berth doors, the vehicle charge points, and the passenger destination selection kiosks.

"With this round of tests, we have completed the last of the major technical challenges at Heathrow," said Phil Smith, COO of Advanced Transport Systems, makers of ULTra. "However, we know that ULTra must be more than a clever technology -- it must offer a first-class user experience under all circumstances, with unsurpassed reliability. Therefore, going into 2010, we will be progressing through a comprehensive series of confidence-building passenger trials, as we move towards the commencement of public operations in the first half of the year."

Upon completion, the ULTra  Personal Rapid Transit system at Heathrow will provide on-demand transportation, offering fast, non-stop, pollution-free travel at the push of a button. This pioneering system is the first of its kind, anywhere in the world, and will usher in a new era of efficiency and convenience at Heathrow.