By connecting different airport facilities, the MiniMetro from Leitner and Poma provides users with integrated services for parking, travel, transit, shopping and accommodation -- making the airport a regional hub.
The MiniMetro solution provides international airports with quality, availability, reliability and a high-tech image. Miami, Pisa, Detroit, Frankfurt, Zurich, and Cairo have already chosen comfortable and reliable transportation with low environmental impact. By using several decades of experience in the industry, Leitner and Poma, the companies of the international group HTI, have become worldwide players in urban cable transportation, thanks to the MiniMetro system.
With outstanding cooperation, MiniMetro teams from the US and Europe are designing and building a fully automated people-mover at Miami Airport. The new MiniMetro will travel on rubber wheels and connect the Main Terminal with the Satellite E Terminal.
A challenging aspect of this project will be integrating the MiniMetro into the existing airport fixed facilities by merging a cable system onto the current guideway. The optimal exploitation of the synergies within the group has made it possible to realise this new project. Leitner-Poma's experience with other similar projects has also led to an additional 15-year contract for operating and maintenance. Operation is scheduled to begin in mid-2016.
During 2014, construction started on a MiniMetro in Pisa. The PisaMover will connect the airport with the railway station in the famous Italian city. The project encompasses the design, construction and, after completion, the operation of the MiniMetro, and a parking area that is integrated into the project. The nearly 2.0km (1.2 mile) route from the Galileo Galilei Airport to the Pisa Centrale railway station will be covered in only four minutes, including an interim stop at the commuter parking area that will have 1,200 parking places. The two cabins, which will travel at five minute intervals, are expected to carry two million passengers every year safely and comfortably in the period from 2015 to 2020. Beginning in 2020, an increase to 2.6 million passengers annually is envisioned.
The MiniMetro at Cairo International Airport with four stations and a 1.85km (1.15 mile) line has a transport capacity of 2,000 passengers an hour in each direction. A top speed of 50km/h (31mph) can be reached to generate 8.5 million transported passengers a year.
The latest air-cushion technology, also known as air-levitation technology, revolutionised the world of transportation. This innovative system has proven to be one of the best solutions in smooth mobility. Fewer vibrations and reduced noise ensure optimal comfort for passengers. This technology makes it possible for the carrier to slide along the track with almost no friction, thus reducing energy consumption during the trip.
MiniMetro links multistorey a car park to The Squaire at Frankfurt Airport. It is one of the biggest office buildings in the world, where technology plays a central role. Since February 2012, a MiniMetro system has linked the car park with the main building, thus demonstrating that comfortable and reliable passenger transport is possible at a low cost, and with a high level of environmental sustainability. This particular MiniMetro travels 16-18m above the A3 motorway, B43 federal road and the train line.
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is among the world's 20 largest airports. Since 2002, there has also been an air-cushion cableway located there for internal shuttle services. Since this express tram operates 6m (20ft) above the level of the passenger area, it is reached by escalator. There are three stations, with the central station also serving as the passing area for the route that is otherwise covered by a single track. Both trains consist of two cars that each hold 112 passengers. The system has a transport capacity of 4,000 passengers an hour in each direction.
