HEATHROW is to develop a rapid transport link between the car parks
and the terminal areas. Advanced Transport Systems Ltd (ATS) has
confirmed that that it has won a BAA Plc contract for its innovative
ULTra Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system. The agreement between BAA
and ATS also includes an investment of ”7.5million in the company in
return for 25% of the equity. The ULTra system was developed to
provide a more effective and lower cost solution to the worldwide
problems of urban transport. It uses automatically controlled
vehicles, which can fit a maximum of 4 passengers, travelling on their own
guideway network to provide an on demand and non-stop service from any
station to any other on the network. The prototype ULTra system has
been under development since 1999, with Government support from the
Department for Transport, the Department of Trade and Industry, NESTA,
and the EC. The prototype system was given consent by HM Rail
Inspectorate to carry passengers in 2003.