The electrically powered “pod cabs” will allow users to key in their destination and be carried there automatically along special roadways at speeds of up to 25mph.
The cabs are designed to take four passengers along with their luggage. They will also be big enough for a bicycle or a pushchair.
If it is successful, BAA, Heathrow’s operator, plans to spend £200m expanding the system, with at least 400 vehicles replacing the current fleet of shuttle buses.
The “personal rapid transit system” is already being built and has completed trials. Each pod resembles a small car with two “fronts” and sliding doors. It has conventional tyres.
The pods will be guided by infrared sensors along 7ft-wide concrete roadways. For the 2.6-mile-long terminal 5 section, they will be raised above existing roads, swooping down as they near their destinations. In later phases the taxis will travel along ground-level routes separated from other traffic by 8ft walls.
Passengers will choose their destination from a list of options on a touch-sensitive screen beside the rank of waiting pods, climb in, press the “door close” button, followed by “go”. The manufacturers claim that average waiting times will be under 15 seconds.
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