The Heathrow pod, created by Bristol’s Ultra Global PRT, will take a prime starring role in the Make it in Great Britain exhibition at London’s Science Museum.
Ultra Global PRT beat off competition from hundreds of UK companies to a place at the exhibition, which aims to dispel the myth that Britain ‘doesn’t make anything anymore’ and educate visitors about the value of manufacturing to the UK economy.
The exhibition is the culmination of the Make it in Great Britain campaign; an initiative launched by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills last year which aims to challenge outdated opinions of the UK manufacturing industry, worth approximately £137bn to the UK economy each year and employing 2.5 million people.
Ultra pod at the Make it in Great Britain exhibition.
Ultra Global began life in 1995 as a research project at Bristol University to find a mass transit system that actually gave passengers what they wanted – namely, no waiting and going exactly where they wanted to go.
Today, that research project is the highly successful Heathrow pod transportation system at Heathrow Airport, carrying over 500,000 passengers per annum.
A new and revolutionary environmentally friendly mass transport system, it features 21 electric powered, driverless, emissions free, on-demand 4 person vehicles, programmable by you to go directly where/when you want, without waiting, on a specially designed, raised 3.8km guideway, serving three passenger stations.
An Ultra pod system 10x larger (240 vehicles, 8km guideway, seven stations) is currently
being installing at Amristar, India, which is due to go live in early 2015.
Ultra Global MD Fraser Brown commented:
“It’s fantastic to see our exhibit representing the British manufacturing industry in the Science Museum. We’re a comparatively small company, although admittedly with big ideas, and here we are alongside iconic companies like McLaren, Airbus, The Royal Mint and Sunseeker, representing what’s so great about British manufacturing.
We’re passionate about UK research, creativity and manufacturing, and can’t wait to show people what a vibrant industry it really is and of course, our pods.
The exhibition is free and we’d really encourage people from the South West when visiting
London to come along and see us here at the Science Museum.”
Business Secretary Vince Cable said:
“The future of manufacturing in the UK is bright. The Make it in Great Britain exhibition showcases a mix of forward-thinking businesses from a range of sectors including aerospace, automotive and food and drink, which will give the public a real flavour of what modern manufacturing is all about, and demonstrate first-hand the exciting and rewarding career opportunities available today.”
The exhibition was opened this morning (24.07.2012) by Business Secretary Vince Cable and Business Minister Mark Prisk. The exhibition runs from 24 July until 9 September and will demonstrate the very best of British manufacturing.
For more information on the Make it in Great Britain exhibition click here.
A BBC Click video on the exhibition can be seen here.