A Ride on the Clarian People Mover in Indianapolis

Today ( June 28th ) is the sixth anniversary of the start of regular service on the Clarian People Mover, a privately owned fixed-guideway transit system on the north side of Indianapolis. Earlier this month, while driving down to Columbus IN to check out the newly-reopened Zaharako's, I stopped off in Indy to take a ride on the line; it wasn't my first time but I hadn't done it in a couple of years. Since today is the people mover's "birthday", I thought that this would be a good time to share my photos of the round-trip ride with you.  

The people mover is an elevated, 1.4 mile-long automated line that is owned by Clarian Health, the company that operates the Methodist Hospital of Indianapolis, Indiana University Hospital and the James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children. The people mover connects these three facilities and transports employees and patients between them. In this first photo, you see the line's northern terminal at Methodist Hospital, with one of the line's two trains arriving at the station.

This colorful sign is the first thing that you see when you enter the elevated station. The people mover is open to the public, and all rides are free.

Each of the two trains is articulated and composed of three sections. Each section has just two bench-type seats, so it's mostly standing room.

And our mini-journey begins...      

Many people in Indianapolis, including some media types who should know better, refer to the people mover as a monorail, but, as this photo clearly show, the train is traveling on two parallel concrete "rails", instead of on a single beam as a monorail would. The trains are rubber-tired and electrically powered; you can see the "power rail" ( like a subway's third rail ) on the side of the guide beam, along with the rails that provide the operating signals to the totally automated train. This view is looking south towards downtown Indy. 

A short distance south of the northern terminal, the structure descends to a point where it is only about ten feet above street level. This is in order to pass under Interstate 65, which connects the Chicago area with Louisville and Nashville; the road terminates in Mobile AL. After passing under I-65, the structure returns to its normal height and then turns westward. 

Approaching the Canal station, the second of three stops on the people mover's route...

After this curve, the train is once again heading south towards the southern terminal. Please excuse the bit of unsightliness on the lefthand side of the picture.  ;~)       

This westbound curve leads into the southern terminal, which serves both the IU and Riley hospitals. 

The end of the line...

Cool pix, nocarolina.  I never would have expected a private one in the public right-of-way.  There is one in downtown Miami that is about 25 years old.  They are replacing the old cars with ones that look a lot like those in your post.

Thanks, MiamiDon. This people mover is the only privately-owned transportation system in the US that runs above public streets. There's been some talk in Indy about building a similar line to shuttle people around the downtown area.  

No club car?
Brad

Sorry, Brad, but they discontinued club car service at the same time that they pulled the dome car and the Pullman sleeping cars. It's the economy, you know.

Here's the interior of the IU/Riley station...

"Now arriving on track number one..." 

Beginning the return trip to Methodist Hospital...

... and back to where the trip started.

To my knowledge, the Clarian People Mover is the only operation of its kind in the US that's privately owned. Other American cities with similar systems include Morgantown WV, Chicago ( at O'Hare Airport ), Detroit and Miami.

So......there are no hamburger steaks or biscuits 'n gravy in Indianapolis?

Of course there are, but I wasn't in Indianapolis to eat. I was saving my appetite for eating at Zaharako's in Columbus, which is only about an hour south of Indy. On this particular day, Indy was strictly a train-ride stop.

Here's several photos of the automated people mover at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, whose five stations serve four airline terminals plus the parking lot at the far north end of the airport. While there are many similarities between this system and the one in Indianapolis, the guideway technologies of the two lines are very different. 

Very interesting, Bob.

It is interesting.  When was the O'Hare system put in?

Looks like both systems could stand some customers.....

I just Googled the O'Hare people mover, and, thanks to Wikipedia, I now actually know something about my subject matter ( that always helps when writing about something! ) The line's official name is the Airport Transit System ( ATS ), and it opened to the public on May 27th 1993. The line is 2.7 miles long, can carry up to 2,400 passengers per hour, and the trains operate at a maximum of fifty mph. The system uses French-based VAL technology, which means automated rubber-tired cars held in place by a center guiderail and powered by an electrified third rail. As far as a lack of "customers" is concerned ( all rides are free ) on both the O'Hare and Clarian lines, don't be fooled by my car interior pictures. In each case, I was the first one in the car, and took my pictures before the masses came rushing in. Believe me, neither of these systems has any shortage of riders.