Véhicule Automatique Léger

This article is about thepeople moversystem. For other uses, seeVal (disambiguation).

Véhicule Automatique Léger(lit. 'automatic light vehicle') orVALis a type of driverless (automated),rubber-tyred,medium-capacity rail transport system(people mover). The technology was developed at theLille University of Science and Technology,was marketed byMatra,and first used in the early 1980s for theLille Metrosystem, one of the world's first fully automated mass-transit rail networks, preceded only by thePort Island Linein Kobe, Japan.The VAL technology is now marketed bySiemens,which acquired Matra in the late 1990s.

VAL 206(right) andVAL 208(left) as used onLille Metro.

Interior of VAL 256 with manufacturer's decal.

A total of 11 lines in 8 systems based on the VAL technology are currently in operation worldwide. The current version of the VAL product is marketed asNeoVal(with a distinction betweenAirValfor airport environments andCityValfor more conventional transit environments).

The name is abackronym,with the first project to use the technology nicknamed VAL after the routing of the line:Villeneuve d'Ascq à Lille(lit. 'Villeneuve d'Ascqto Lille').

Technology

Original VAL

VAL-style track point as used on theTaipei Wenhu Line.

The VAL system uses a fully automated elevatedguideway,which may be metal or concrete depending on prevailing weather conditions. Primary suspension is by rubber tires, with pairs of horizontal tires to provide lateral guidance. Electrical power at 750 V DC is collected by shoes from the guidebars.

The vehicles are lightweight 2-car sets (VAL 206orVAL 208) with 124 total capacity, or twin sets (VAL 256) with 80 seated and 160 standing capacity. All axles on these vehicles are motored with 150 kW (201 hp) electrical motors. The system detects the location of trains on the guideway by the use of ultrasonic sensors.VAL uses fixed-block signalling.

VAL can cope with unanticipated demand by inserting additional trains into the network as required by remote command from the control center. The control center computer system automatically speeds up or slows down trains in order to maintain a timetable. The VAL system can handle headways as small as 60 seconds, and the Lille VAL system rapidly proved itself with a 99.8% availability.

In contrast to another early driverless metro system, theVancouverSkyTrain,the VAL design uses platforms that are separated from the rollways by a glass partition, to prevent waiting passengers from straying or falling onto the rollways.Platform screen doors– produced bySwissglass door manufacturerKaba Gilgen AG– are embedded in these partitions and open in synchrony with the train doors when a train stops at the platform.The original platform-edge doors were manufactured and installed by PLC Peters inHayes, Middlesexand were used on the first line.

In addition to the trains being driverless, the station platforms are unstaffed in normal operation. In the originalLille metrosystem, they are monitored by a large closed-circuit television system with 330 cameras and 24 television monitors in a remote control room.

NeoVal

CityVal for Rennes Metro Line B

In 2006 the NeoVal project, successor of the VAL, was announced. It featuresregenerative braking.40% of the 62 million Euros set aside for the programme will come from theAgence de l'innovation industrielle(the technology-supporting project agency formerly known as the AII). The program is managed bySiemens Mobility,in association withLohr Industrie.The NeoVal will be guided by a single central rail, similar to that of theTranslohr,and will be able to operate without any electrical supply between the stations (no third rail oroverhead lines), making the cost of infrastructure much lower.

The NeoVal is offered in two versions:

• the CityVal version designed for conventional transit environments (car width 2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)) with the first implementation onLine B of the Rennes Metro;
• the AirVal version designed for airport environments (car width 2.80 m (9 ft 2 in)) with the first implementation on theSuvarnabhumi Airport Automated People MoveratSuvarnabhumi Airport,Thailand.

VAL systems

Active systems

As of July 2021there are a total of 12 lines in 8 systems operating with VAL technology:

VAL 208cars on theCDGVALatParis CDG airport.

VAL 256cars onTaipei Metro'sWenhu Line

• Lille Metro(two lines), since 1983,VAL 206andVAL 208cars
• Paris Orlyval,since 1991, VAL 206 cars
• Toulouse Metro(two lines), since 1993, VAL 206 and VAL 208 cars
• Taipei Metro Wenhu (Brown) line,since 1996, largerVAL 256cars using the MAGGALY technology fromLyon Metro Line Dand Bombardier signaling
• Rennes Metro(two lines), since 2002, VAL 208 and CityVal cars
• Turin Metro,since 2006, VAL 208 cars
• Paris CDGVAL(two lines), since 2007, VAL 208 cars
• Uijeongbu U Line,since 2012, VAL 208 cars with air conditioning, locally designated the U100
• Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport,since 2023 - 6 2-car AirVal trains

Future systems

• Frankfurt Airport SkyLine(rehabilitation of existing people mover system) - 24 2-car AirVal trains

Defunct systems

• Airport Transit SystematChicago'sO'Hare International Airport(opened in 1993 and replaced by aBombardiersystem in 2019 and reopened in 2021)
• Jacksonville, Florida,had a VAL line inaugurated in 1989; it was shut down in December 1996 and replaced by a monorail, theJacksonville Skyway.The rolling stock was sold to O'Hare.

Medium-Capacity Transport System

When VAL was introduced toTaipei,the termmedium-capacity rail transport systemwas coined by railway planners to differentiate VAL fromheavy rail(metro).Since then, this term has begun to be applied on similar capacity transit systems–mainly in Asian cities–even when the systems are not based on VAL's technology. OnSiemens' official website, VAL was during a certain time advertised as the "first fully automated light metro", in which the term "light metro"can be traced back to theMoscow Metro'sButovskaya Line.Siemens now rather uses the terms "medium-capacity metro" or simply refers to VAL as a "people mover".

See also

• Automated guideway transit
• Rubber-tyred tramandRubber-tyred metro
• Transport in France

Competing systems:

• Bombardier Innovia APM
• Crystal MoverfromMitsubishi Heavy Industries

External links

• Presentation of the NeoVal system on the official Siemens website
• "Documentation technique du VAL 206 [dont le VAL 208 en est l'évolution]"(PDF).traction-electrique.ch(in French).Retrieved7 February2023.