Automated People Mover – VAL

Automated People Mover: VAL systems

Smart people-moving for cities and airports 

To meet the growing demand for more transportation, modern cities are increasingly in need of high-performing and energy-efficient feeder lines and medium-capacity metro infrastructures that can quickly adapt to changing transportation conditions. Airports also require more efficient, accessible and reliable connections between terminals and intelligent intermodal transportation systems. With Cityval and Airval, cities and airports can benefit from a new generation of Automated People Mover (APM) trains, which offer a high degree of efficiency and availability for the lowest total cost of ownership. These VAL systems from Siemens Mobility are designed with the latest automation and monitoring technology for optimized everyday operation. They also can be streamlined to align with civil works and are able to quickly adapt to sudden changes in operating conditions or unexpected events.

Our Automated People Mover experts would be happy to advise you:

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All about the VAL system

Automated People Mover with great passenger experience

Cityval and Airval, the latest generation of the proven and dependable VAL platform, have been designed to offer the greatest value for investments in cities and airports. With a streamlined civil work infrastructure that includes tracks, platforms, and tunnels and a modern vehicle design, the VAL system is designed to optimize the total cost of ownership over the entire life cycle of the transportation system.
The new generation of Automated People Movers

A highly scalable, energy-efficient transportation system with optimized total cost of ownership

Modified for urban environments with Cityval and airport environments with Airval for airports, the new-generation VAL automated people mover is highly scalable to respond to the unique and ever-changing needs of these complex settings. Urban and airport transportation operators benefit from an optimized total cost of ownership: for example, the track is equipped with a single-rail central guidance system, and the electrical braking down to 0 km/h reduces energy consumption by up to 15%. Both Cityval and Airval are also capable of navigating steep gradients up to 8% and tight curves down to 30 m. Their interior design maximizes space so that more passengers can be transported in smaller vehicles. Smaller platforms and storage facilities are now sufficient.

Flexible operation and enhanced passenger experience

  • More space onboard and spacious gangways for easy circulation between cars
  • Width of 2.65 m or 2.80 m and unobstructed floors, even under the seats
  • Large doors enable a fast passenger exchange at the station.
  • Interactive displays with real-time information and passenger WiFi
  • The system is highly flexible: The number of cars can be quickly changed to respond to high and low traffic conditions.

High safety and performance

  • Outstanding availability up to 100%
  • Reduced designed headways less than 60 seconds
  • Maximum speeds of up to 80 km/h with adjustable acceleration
  • A fully automated, driverless metro equipped with best-in-class Trainguard MT communication-based train control (CBTC) system
  • Evacuation options through one central or two side-walkable paths along the concrete running surfaces
  • Through data collection digitalization enables efficient maintenance including predictive maintenance
Learn more about our Communications Based Train Control system:

Visit our CBTC website

Our promises for the new Automated People Mover generation

Intelligent system and services

Intelligent system and services

  • Machine learning based on data collection for predictive maintenance and virtual test track aims for 100% availability
  • Advanced data analytics for enhanced performance and reduced operating costs
  • Large panel of services for operation and maintenance and technical assistance
  • Built-in cybersecurity solution
Sustainable value over the entire lifecycle

Sustainable value over the entire life cycle

  • Electrical braking down to 0 km/h reduces energy consumption and guarantees low particle emission
  • 95% recyclability of rolling stock
  • Green depot design: rubble and waste management, demolition, and disposal
  • Reduced noise and vibration levels
Enhanced passenger experience

Enhanced passenger experience

  • Real-time information and entertainment; on-board WIFI
  • Passenger comfort: floor to ceiling glazing, generous lighting, reduced noise and vibration, air-conditioning, wide interior spaces, and flexible seat configuration
  • Wide entrance doors: 1.95 m
  • No steps for boarding or inside the train
  • No technical equipment in the cars
Guaranteed availability

Guaranteed availability

  • Outstanding availability up to 100%, 24/7 service
  • Best-in-class Trainguard MT CBTC system used on all GoA4 Siemens Mobility automation projects
  • Reduced designed headways less than 60 seconds
  • Highly flexible design allows for train configurations between two and nine cars
  • It can navigate steep gradients of up to 8% and tight curves (down to 30 m in line) including on viaducts and in tunnels

People mover train configurations from two to nine cars

Automated people-mover design

Automated people-mover train configurations

Technical data

Vehicle data

  • Length: 22.40 m for a 2-car train
  • Width: 2.65 m or 2.80 m  
  • Train configurations from 2 to 9 cars 
  • Number of doors per car: 2 
  • Number of seats per car: up to 24 
  • Trainguard MT CBTC technology

Acceleration and speed

  • High acceleration (1.3 m/s²)
  • Maximum speed: 80 km/h
  • Electrical braking down to 0 km/h (energy savings; no particle emission)

Sustainability

  • Cityval/Airval are 95% recyclable
  • Green factory and depot design
  • Operation between -25° C and +55° C
  • Heated track

Rubber tires

  • Higher-performance capacity/axle load
  • Low noise and vibration levels
  • Run-flat included

Streamlined design

  • Lower weight
  • Single-rail central guidance
  • Rationalized switching footprint
  • Minimized cabling
  • Reduced energy consumption

At home in cities and airports

  • Suited to tunnel, viaduct, and ground-level environments
  • Flexibility across different operating modes
  • Easily scalable for complex and fluctuating traffic conditions
  • Maximized interior space
Cityval and Airval

Discover the new VAL generation for cities and airports

Cityval: Perfectly suited to urban environments

The Cityval is a rubber-tired light metro system perfectly suited to handle the infrastructure requirements of high-density city environments. It offers solutions for tracks over viaducts, on ground-level, and in tunnel conditions alike. The Cityval adapts seamlessly to changing transportation capacity requirements and is easily scalable without disrupting the network. What's more, the new generation offers a lighter and more streamlined design with single-rail central guidance. This allows for optimized operating and maintenance costs as well as simplified civil works.

 

Cityval responds to urban transportation needs through:

  • Reduced designed headways less than 60 seconds
  • High commercial speed of up to 80 km/h
  • Flexible capacity ranging from 2 500 up to 20 000 pphpd
  • Easily handles sharp curves and steep gradients
Airval Automated People Mover train

Airval: Flexibility for airports

The Airval is an automated guideway transit (APM) system for heavy-traffic airport environments. Offering maximum flexibility across a number of operating modes, the Airval is designed to perform just as efficiently on airside as on landside, all with 24/7 availability. The streamlined design of the new generation features maximized interior space for the comfort of passengers with luggage. 

 

Airval meets the requirements of modern airports through:

  • 100% of interior space dedicated to passengers, with or without seats
  • Metro-level safety standards applied to airports 
  • Up to 100% availability across all references
  • High operating flexibility thanks to adaptable train length and reduced designed headways less than 60 seconds
The next-generation VAL in a nutshell:

Download the VAL brochure

Long-term experience

Smart people-moving since 1983

Great solutions often have a great background. This also applies to Cityval and Airval. The new generation of Automated People Mover systems can look back on a long and successful history of almost four decades of installed, reliable, and proven VAL systems.

Automated People Mover backed by over 30 years of experience

Over the decades, there have been many Automated People Mover systems from Siemens Mobility successfully set in motion around the world. Discover some of the important milestones, starting in 1983 in the French city of Lille with the original VAL (Véhicule automatique léger) platform for Line 1.

Timeline of the VAL system history
References

Cityval and Airval successful on the tracks

Running in many cities worldwide, the VAL has safely transported over five billion passengers worldwide without incident since 1983. We’re proud to maintain an availability up to 100% across all operational lines. Discover our newest Automated People Mover projects based on the Cityval and Airval platform around the world.
VAL for Toulouse
Tisséo Collectivités
Toulouse, France
VAL

Double capacity for Toulouse’s metro Line A

  • In 2015, the city of Toulouse decided to double the capacity of Metro Line A due to its success with passengers. This herculean project required 1,000 nights of work and was achieved without interrupting passenger service.

  • The new trains can now carry up to 320 people, increasing the daily capacity of Line A from 220,000 to 400,000 passengers.

  • The transportation system will eventually achieve an interval of 75 seconds between each train during peak hours.

Learn more
Cityval for Rennes Metro Line B
City of Rennes
Rennes, France
Cityval

Cityval for the Rennes B metro line

  • A network of a new metro generation ensures the utmost safety, flexibility, and comfort for the passengers in Rennes.

  • Line B features 25 two-car trains with an overall availability up to 100%; longer term, trains will be extended to three-car trains with reduced headways of 67 seconds at peak hours.

  • The Cityval offers real-time interactive passenger information, onboard WiFi, and video entertainment.

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Airval Automated People Mover for Bangkok Airport
Interlink Communication Public
Bangkok, Thailand
Airval

Six two-car Airval trains for Bangkok Airport

  • In 2017, a total of six two-car trains equipped with Siemens Mobility CBTC for fully automated operation were ordered to connect the current Suvarnabhumi Airport terminal with its new satellite terminal.

  • The one-kilometer line has four parallel tracks and two new stations.

  • The Airval trains for Bangkok will transport up to 3,590 passengers per hour and direction during peak hours.

Learn more
Airval Automated People Mover for German Frankfurt Airport
Fraport AG
Frankfurt a.M., Germany
Airval

12 two-car Airval trains for Frankfurt Airport

  • In 2018, the operator of the Frankfurt Airport ordered a fully automated Airval People Mover to connect Terminal 2 with the new Terminal 3 and the station at Terminal 1.

  • The line is 5.6 kilometers long and has two tracks and three stations.

  • The 12 two-car Airval trains will operate with a two-minute headway 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

     

    Link to press release

     

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VAL Automated People Mover for the city of Uijeongbu
Uijeongbu LRT
Uijeongbu, South Korea
VAL

VAL metro system with 15 vehicles for South Korea

  • In 2012, a fully automated VAL metro system was inaugurated in Uijeongbu; it was constructed in collaboration with six consortium partners as a turnkey project.

  • Siemens Mobility was in charge of the overall project management.

  • We also supplied 15 two-unit rubber-tired VAL 208 vehicles, the ATC, operations control center, depot, and line equipment along with the system engineering.

VAL for the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris
Charles de Gaulle Airport
Paris, France
VAL

VAL metro system for the Charles de Gaulle Airport

  • In 2007, a fully automated VAL metro system with 3.3 km long was inaugurated at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, Roissy.

  • The VAL connects terminals CDG 1, CDG 2, and CDG 3, the two main parking areas, and the regional and mainline railway stations.

  • It makes five stops every eight minutes, can achieve a four-minute interval at peak hours, and offers unparalleled safety and punctuality 24/7.

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Underground VAL for the city of Turin
Infra.To
Turin, Italy
VAL

Extension of the VAL metro system in Turin

  • In 2013, Siemens Mobility was commissioned to construct a 1.6-km-long extension of the fully automatic VAL type underground in Turin, Italy, which has been operating since 2006.

  • Turin's first underground line now serves 23 instead of 21 stations.

  • Metro services weren’t disrupted by the construction work.

Contact

Contact us with any questions about our VAL systems

For more information about the benefits, options, and technical specifications of VAL, Cityval, and Airval, please send an email to our international team of experts. They’ll be happy to help you.

Learn more about our Automated People Mover trains and systems:

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