Back in October, when we invited members to a behind the scenes tour of Heathrow Terminal 5's automated people moving systems, the response was so overwhelming that it was inevitable a lot of people would be disappointed. Imagine our delight when Heathrow very generously offered to host a second tour in November.

Both visits were a huge success and gave members a great insight into the airport's two innovative methods of transporting passengers. These are the Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) PODCAR system which gets passengers from the car park to Terminal 5 and the Track Transport System (TTS) which runs between the terminal building and the arrival and departure gates.

We were welcomed by Mike Bradley, who gave a very comprehensive and fascinating overview covering the two systems, their history and plans for future enhancements to meet the need for increased capacity. Mike is Head of Rail Governance Engineering and Asset Management at Heathrow Rail which maintains and operates the rail infrastructure at Heathrow.

Our tour began by going airside to take a ride on the TTS, a light underground rail system that has been running at Heathrow for ten years. linking the main terminal building to satellite terminal buildings and connecting passengers to and from their flights.

Terminal 5 handles over 25 million passengers a year and, as we made our way onto the busy TTS platform, it was evident that there is a high passenger demand. Mike told us it gets much more crowded and that the system is operating at capacity and, at peak times, beyond. To accommodate the growth in passenger numbers Heathrow is planning an extensive upgrade.

This will include the installation of additional cars and changes in the mode of operation to support a dynamic operating system that will provide greater service frequency, flexibility and resilience. The immediate aim is to reduce crowding and provide a seamless transfer. In the much longer term, with the integration of surface and rail transport, the ultimate goal is for this to be door to door.

The TTS, built by Bombardier Transportation, comprises 10 cars that can move up to 6,000 passengers an hour. The trains depart every 90 seconds, running at 31 mph with a journey time of 45 seconds. With plans for 20 cars, capacity will double.

Moving block technology enables the cars to communicate continually with an antenna that is fixed along a guideway, so the train knows exactly where all the vehicles are on the system at all times. This means that the vehicles can operate safely and at speed much closer to each other than on the fixed block system that other trains use.

We hopped off the TTS to go behind the scenes and take a look at the tracks as well as the maintenance depot where Heathrow's engineers talked us through the complexities of keeping the system running and patiently answered our endless questions.

Returning landside, the next part of the tour was a taste of the future with a ride on the driverless PODCAR system. The system, was the brainchild of Martin Lowson, an aeronautical engineer and CEO of Advanced Transport Systems (ATS). Lowson passionately believed that the development of PRT systems would give people living in urban areas freedom of movement provided by a car without problems such as traffic jams and finding parking space. ATS was integrated into Heathrow Rail in 2015 and the PODCAR system is now fully owned by Heathrow.

The system, which cost £30 million to build, opened in 2011 and comprises 21 vehicles running on a route of 2.4 miles from the car park to he Terminal Building.

Passengers can summon the PODS on demand with the touch of a button. We waited just a few seconds and, apparently, 85 per cent of passengers experience no waiting time at all. The PODCAR runs on guideways, navigating by lasers on each of the wheels and is controlled by central technology. It knows what it's doing and thinks for itself but passengers can connect with the manned control room if needed.

The system has been hugely successful and is acknowledged as a very direct, dependable and highly reliable travel method. It is environmentally friendly too in that it is battery-powered, quiet and has zero emissions saving 100 tonnes of CO2 every year. Much better for the atmosphere than the buses that were previously used to get to the terminal and avoids getting stuck in he perimeter traffic too.

And it's far more comfortable and less crowded than the bus.

The system is modular and can be built in phases and modified and moved fairly quickly. The system capacity can also be increased by adding more vehicles to the existing infrastructure. The system has now been connected to the adjacent Thistle Hotel accommodating an additional 70,000 passengers. Since its launch the net uplift from the higher rate of PODCAR parking is over £1 million per annum.

The PODCAR features in the upgrade programme too and possible expansion plans include connections to other car parks within the airport complex and cross airport and transfer links.

The PRT has a bright future and Heathrow has entered into a number of partnerships to develop the Heathrow POD concept further and is providing technical support for the design of POD systems in China and the US.

We alighted at the Control Centre where we got the chance to talk to the operator who makes sure that everything literally runs on track and deals with any situations that might occur, such as breakdowns, and adjusts the running of the system where needed.

Our last stop was a peek at the POD maintenance centre where engineers dealt with yet more of our questions. The PODS are in complete control and even know when to head for the maintenance depots for repair or service. In the unusual event of a complete breakdown, the engineers can switch the POD to a manual system to drive it back to the depot and they showed us how this is done when they expertly parked the de-icing vehicle for the night.

Nearly three hours have whizzed by and, with so much walking around the terminal, we have worked up quite an appetite. So the tea and sandwiches kindly provided by Heathrow while networking with other members was the perfect way to round off the afternoon.

Here are a few comments from our members.

“Great to go behind the scenes at the depot and understand how the systems work.”
“A well organised, interesting tour “
“A fantastic behind the scenes tour of the pod and transit systems. All the Heathrow staff were so welcoming and resourceful”
“Great to get an insight on how the systems work and plans for the future”
“A really interesting and fun afternoon”.