An efficient cost analysis of monorail in the middle east using statistics of existing monorail and metro models

Abstract

This paper discusses an efficient-cost analysis for the monorail system in developing countries focusing on Middle East cases. Most of the cities in the Middle East are using the metro system and have experience with it. A monorail system is quite new for these countries so the efficiency of the monorail as an important question that is always understood. A function to find payback duration for the monorail is generated, using available data for countries which have both systems in the world. Then a correlation between metro and monorail ticket prices is studied to apply it for the countries in the Middle East. The theory has been verified for UAE, USA and China as existing models for both metro and monorail. Then it has been applied for interpreting and predicting monorail system costs in Egypt and Iran as case studies in the Middle East. The results show that for those countries with a subsidies policy for public transportation, a monorail will not be an economic system for public transportation; private sectors will not show their interest for long term investment in it and it might be used for tourism and amusement purposes. © 2012 WIT Press.