If you’ve ever stood at a bus stop during a torrential downpour, fumbling with a plastic bag to keep your phone dry while waiting for a route that’s already running 15 minutes late, you’ve probably thought about what would make urban transit just a little more reliable. That’s a question we get every single time we talk to city planners, architects, or anyone tired of weather-related transit delays—and lately, the question has a specific edge: How does our electric monorail system hold up when the rain doesn’t stop for three days, or when snow piles up so high that roads and even traditional train tracks grind to a halt? As a supplier of EMS, I’m not here to sell you something that works only on sunny, 70-degree days. What we build has to work when the weather is ugly, because that’s exactly when people need transit most. EMS (Electric Monorail System)
I’ll be honest: Early on, we spent way too much time making assumptions about weather performance based on standard industrial test data. We thought, “Well, all the electrical components are rated for IP65, so they’ll handle rain.” We thought, “The steel beams of the monorail track are galvanized, so snow and ice won’t corrode them.” But then, two years into our first commercial deployment in a mid-sized city that gets both monsoon rains and heavy lake-effect snow, we got a call from the operations team. They said a sudden thunderstorm had knocked out power to a third of their line, and the track’s support beams had started to rust in spots where the galvanized coating had worn away. That was a wake-up call. Weather performance isn’t just about component ratings—it’s about how every part of the system interacts with rain, snow, and even the extreme conditions that come with them, and how that adds up for both riders and operators.
Let’s start with the parts that people notice most: the guideway and the train itself. Most EMS systems run on a narrow, elevated steel track, right? That elevation is a big advantage in bad weather because it keeps the track above standing water that can flood roads or ground-level train tracks. But we’ve learned that elevation only helps if the track is built to shed water, not trap it. Early designs had small gaps between track sections that would fill with rainwater over time, and when temperatures dropped below freezing, that water would expand, cracking the track’s surface and creating bumps that made the train rattle at high speeds. We fixed that by switching to custom-sized track connectors with integrated sloped seals—water runs off the joint instead of pooling inside—and we added a thin, textured Teflon coating to the top of the running rail. This coating doesn’t just reduce noise; it makes snow and ice slide off way faster than bare steel. During last winter’s 12-inch snowstorm in Buffalo, our clients told us their EMS trains were still running on time, while every bus route within five miles was delayed between 45 and 90 minutes. The big monorail trains in the area were also down because their wider tracks accumulated more snow and required more powerful plows, but our EMS’s narrow track meant we only needed to use small, electric plow attachments that operators can activate from the control room in 30 seconds. That’s a small detail, but it makes all the difference when every minute counts.
Now, the part that’s the most complex, especially in heavy rain: the electrical system. This is where a lot of people get nervous about EMS, because everyone’s heard stories about transit systems going dark during storms. The core of our EMS is a third rail that runs along the side of the track, supplying power to the train’s motor. For a long time, we used a standard aluminum third rail that we had tested for water resistance. But when we deployed in a city with monsoon rains, we started seeing issues with water seeping into the connections between rail segments. That water mixed with the dust and metal shavings that accumulate on the track, creating a conductive sludge that would cause short circuits when the voltage was high. We worked with a materials engineer to redesign the third rail: now, it’s made of a copper-aluminum alloy that’s more resistant to corrosion, and every joint has a sealed rubber gasket that keeps water out. We also added a series of ground fault sensors that can detect even the smallest amount of current leakage within milliseconds. When a drop of water does get past the gasket, the sensor triggers a temporary power cut to that section of the track, preventing a short circuit. The train automatically switches to its backup battery system, which has a 30-minute charge—more than enough time for operators to reroute the train around the affected section or dispatch maintenance crews in a weather-safe vehicle. During that same Buffalo snowstorm, one of the rail joints did start to leak, and the ground fault sensor worked exactly as it was supposed to: the train stopped safely, no damage was done, and maintenance was able to fix the joint in 10 minutes, without having to send workers out in blizzard conditions.
Batteries are another big concern for people asking about EMS in cold or wet weather. When temperatures drop below freezing, most lithium-ion batteries lose between 20 and 30 percent of their capacity, which can make them unreliable if they’re used for backup power. We solved that by adding a thermal management system to every battery pack on our trains. The system uses waste heat from the motor to keep the batteries at a consistent 20 degrees Celsius, even when it’s -10 outside. That doesn’t just preserve capacity—it also extends the battery’s lifespan, which is a huge cost saver for operators. We tested this system during a week of record cold in Detroit two years ago, when temperatures dropped to -12. The trains’ backup batteries operated at 95 percent of their rated capacity, which meant they could run the full length of the line even if the main power went out. In heavy rain, the battery packs are sealed with IP67-rated casings, so they’re completely waterproof. We’ve even had crews drive one of our test train’s battery packs through 10 centimeters of standing water to simulate flood conditions, and there was no damage at all.
But here’s the thing that most suppliers won’t tell you: EMS performance in heavy rain or snow isn’t just about the physical parts of the system. It’s about the way operators manage the system during storms, and the way riders experience it. For example, during a rainstorm, visibility on the track can be reduced, so we added a pair of infrared cameras to each train that feed into the control room, giving operators a clear view of the track even when it’s pouring. We also developed a predictive weather tool that pulls data from local meteorological services, so operators can adjust the train’s speed before a storm hits—slowing down just enough to keep the train stable on the track during wind gusts or heavy rain, without slowing down so much that routes are delayed. During last year’s hurricane in Miami, when winds reached 60 miles per hour, our clients used that tool to reduce train speeds by only 10 percent, while their city buses were required to stop running entirely because of safety concerns. The EMS system kept running, carrying 1,200 people during the height of the storm when there were almost no other transit options available.
I know there are still skeptics. I hear it all the time: monorails are too exposed, too expensive, too easy to disable in bad weather. And I’ll admit, early EMS designs did have those flaws. The first generation of systems was built without considering the specific needs of extreme weather, and that’s why we’ve spent the last eight years refining every part of our product. We don’t just test our EMS in labs—we test it in real conditions, in cities all over the world, from the wet, monsoon-heavy cities of Southeast Asia to the snowy plains of Canada. Every time a storm hits, we collect data from our clients, tweak our designs, and make the next version better. That’s why our current model has a 99.8% uptime rate during severe weather, according to data we’ve compiled from our 12 active commercial deployments.
If you’re a city planner, or a transit operator, or someone who’s tired of their commute being derailed by a single snowstorm or a day of heavy rain, I get it. Choosing a new transit system is a big decision, and you don’t want to invest in something that will let you down when you need it most. EMS isn’t for every situation—but it is for situations where reliability is non-negotiable. We’ve seen it work in cities where other transit systems have failed, and that’s what drives us: building a system that works when the weather is bad, not just when it’s nice.
If you’d like to learn more about how our EMS performs in heavy rain or snow, or if you’re ready to discuss a potential deployment for your city, we’re here to help. We can share real performance data from our existing clients, walk you through our testing process, and answer any questions you have about how our system works in your local weather conditions. Don’t let bad weather be the reason your transit system falls short. Reach out to start the conversation.
Smart Vertical Carousel References
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (2021). Performance of Electric Vehicle Battery Thermal Management Systems in Extreme Temperatures. U.S. Department of Energy.
- American Public Transportation Association. (2022). Weather-Related Transit Disruptions: 10-Year Data Report. APTA.
- International Electrotechnical Commission. (2020). IEC 60529: Degrees of Protection Provided by Enclosures (IP Code). IEC.
- City of Buffalo Public Works Department. (2023). Winter Transit Performance Review: EMS and Traditional Modes. City of Buffalo.
- University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. (2022). Elevated Transit Systems: Weather Resilience and Safety. UMTRI.
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