As I clearly didn’t have a car parked at the Heathrow Pod Parking, I headed back in to the station to continue my Heathrow Pod exploration, this time to Pod Parking Station B.
Touching the screen to start.
Heading to Pod Parking Station B this time.
Heading to board the Heathrow Pod.
Pressing the “close doors” button to close the doors.
Once done, I started my ride with the start button.
Taking the balloon loop around Pod Parking Station A.
Passing by the Heathrow Pod Depot.
Passing by Heathrow Airport.
Entering the Pod Parking junction again.
Turning right to Pod Parking Station B.
Heading down to Pod Parking Station B.
Taking the balloon loop to enter the station.
Approaching Pod Parking Station B.
Taking an empty berth.
Disembarking from the Heathrow Pod. Access is step-free with a minimal platform gap.
The short journey from Pod Parking Station A to Pod Parking Station B took 2 minutes due to the many curves and points the pod had to negotiate.
The distance from Pod Parking Station A to Pod Parking Station B on foot, all 173 meters of it, might also have taken 2 minutes.
So here’s an example of when the PRT system might not work out if stations are too close to each other and fares are collected – people may not ride this short route. However, if the intention is to link these nearby station with a further station such as Terminal 5 (or in Singapore’s context, perhaps an MRT station), and not between each other, it would make sense to have that convenience of small close-by stations.