science

Skymetro

Skymetro is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Skymetro rather than just read about it. In short: The Zurich Airport Skymetro is an underground airport people mover at Zurich Airport in Switzerland. The 1.1 km (0.68 mi) long system connects the airport's main Airside Center, Gates A, B and D with its mid-field Gates E, passing underneath Runway 10/28.

Key takeaways

Skymetro belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Skymetro to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Skymetro from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Zurich Airport Skymetro is an underground airport people mover at Zurich Airport in Switzerland. The 1.1 km (0.68 mi) long system connects the airport's main Airside Center, Gates A, B and D with its mid-field Gates E, passing underneath Runway 10/28. The line opened on 1 September 2003, and was constructed by the Otis Elevator Company. As of 2010, Skymetro was carrying 6.73 million passengers per year, and is claimed to be the most used cable way in Switzerland. With a cost of 176 million Swiss francs it is also the most expensive cable car system and one of the most complex with high safety standards. The tunnels of the Skymetro were equipped with Zoetrope-like films displayed on the sides which ran from 2006 to 2019, with each film consisting of a series of still frames in rapid succession, accompanied by matching sound effects played over the vehicles' public address system. Various films have been shown, including ones based around the fictional character Heidi and the Matterhorn mountain. However, these films are no longer displayed since 2013. Instead, two new films have been made for the system. The first of the two new films has shown a mid-aged woman (holding a crossbow), and her younger son (holding an apple) appeared from late 2013 to 2019, while the other replacement film shows a man waving the flag of Switzerland. However, for the first time since 2005, as of July 2019, the Zoetrope-like films have been removed. On 30 January 2020 they implemented a new voice and film which is shown on 432 vertical pixel rows outside the skymetro. The technology was made by Adtrackmedia.

History Construction of the Skymetro tunnels started in 2000 and was completed in 2001. The first test run was undertaken in November 2002, and the line became operational in September 2003. As built, the line used three trains, each made up of two cars. In 2009, the Skymetro was remodeled as part of a construction project known as Zurich 2010, which mainly involved the centralization of security control. With the trains expanded from two to three cars, passengers are segregated according to whether they have been screened to EU aviation security standards (whether in Zurich Airport or at their departure airport), and transported in separate cars. Glass dividers enforce this segregation at the station platforms. For the expansion Swiss cable car companies were used: the three new chassis derived from Bartholet in Flums, the cabins from Gangloff in Bern, and Altdorfer SISAG company supplied the electrical controls. When the Skymetro opened, the audio featured a recorded female voice, however, the original voice was retired in 2008 when the current male voice debuted.

Technology Vehicles on the parallel 1,138 m (3,734 ft) long guideways are drawn by steel cables and float on an approximately 0.2 mm (0.0079 in) thick air cushion generated by on board air compressors, running over a smooth concrete guide way as in other Otis Hovair installations. Service is provided by a total of nine cars, which operate in three trains of three cars each, with each train carrying up to 157 passengers. Trains can run in a pinched loop configuration, with trains reversing direction at each end onto the opposite track. Alternately a shuttle service can be operated, with a single train shuttling backwards and forwards on one track, or a double-shuttle service with one train on each track. In order to allow this flexibility, the traction cables are arranged into five loops: one in each of the main tunnels driven by 465 kW motors, one in each of the reversing lines driven by 266 kW motors, and one in the maintenance siding driven by a 55 kW motor. The trains can engage with, and switch between cables using hydraulic horizontally movable clamps. The maximum speed of a Skymetro train is 47.9 km/h (29.8 mph), and the journey time between Airside Centre and Terminal E is 3 minutes. Locations:

Airside Center: 47.452431°N 8.560281°E / 47.452431; 8.560281 (Airside Center, Skymetro) Dock E: 47.4611°N 8.5550°E / 47.4611; 8.5550 (Dock E, Skymetro)

References

External links Media related to Skymetro at Wikimedia Commons YouTube Video of the Train #1 (Old Audio) YouTube Video of the Train #2 (New Audio W/Heidi 2004–2013) YouTube Video of the Train #3 (Audio W/new Heidi 2013–2019)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Skymetro

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Skymetro claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Skymetro before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Skymetro ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Skymetro

In research: Skymetro appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Skymetro in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Skymetro is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Airport people mover systems, Cable car railways in Switzerland, Hovair people movers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Skymetro outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Skymetro in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Skymetro means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Skymetro out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Skymetro in simple terms?

Why does Skymetro matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Skymetro?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Skymetro.