Ropeless elevators are set to transform the way people use metro systems, according to experts at a panel discussion held in London last month. Architect Chris Williamson, partner at Weston Williamson + Partners, said innovations such as ThyssenKrupp’s Multi could be used to reduce congestion at tube stations in London. He added: ‘For most commuters, it is as important to swiftly and comfortably access the deepest platform as it is to move quickly from station A to B.’
The Multi system does away with cables by borrowing the linear motor technology from Maglev train systems to move cars horizontally as well as vertically. Lauren Sager Weinstein, head of analytics and customer experience at Transport for London (TfL), was enthusiastic about the technology. She said: ‘In the same way Manhattan was transformed by the lift, this could revolutionise cities.’
Engineers in the audience saw the technology’s potential use for step-free access and in congested stations with little room for vertical shafts. For more on ropeless lifts see Lift off, CIBSE Journal, January 2016.
