Fresh look for Alton Towers attraction
Alton Towers in England has revamped its 1987 monorail with the help of the London-based design firm Sarner. The people-moving system is used to transport guests on a loop between the park’s car park, main entrance and two hotels and at the height of the season can transport 4,800 people every hour.
Sarner’s makeover involves an 360° “wrap” design and carefully co-ordinated coloured interiors and an audio soundtrack inside each of the eight trains, some of which have themes inspired by the park itself and others by nature.
“The monorail had become a little tired over the years and it needed a facelift,” explains Sarner art director, Matthew Ringland. “The brief was to transform it into a fun and memorable attraction as it not only welcomes guests into the park, it’s also their last ‘ride’ at the end of an exciting day. The emphasis needed to be on bold, large scale motifs that could be viewed from a distance but also had levels of detail that were fun to view close up.”
The new design certainly achieve that. Those trains in detail are as follows: Caribbean, based on the Alton Towers’ Cariba Creek waterpark; Pirates, dedicated to the Mutiny Bay area; Explorer, fitting in with the theme of the original Alton Towers Hotel; Moo-norail, a cow theme exploiting the shape of the train for maximum impact; Celebration, featuring balloons, disco balls and fireworks; Daisy Train, covered with beautiful flora; Strawberry Fields, decorated as an enormous punnet of summer berries; and Jelly Bean, the train for those with a sweet
tooth
