Its going to take the record for tallest and fastest in the UK and its Thorpe’s first coaster since The Swarm in 2012, so its pretty exciting for us here in the UK. Hopefully, it’ll have plenty of airtime, which is something we’re sorely lacking right now! Also, I think much of the general public over here won’t have experienced airtime and inversions with lapbars before so it should be quite novel.

Quite a few people have complained about the short duration, but I’m hoping it’ll be a Nemesis-esque coaster which hits the brakes with lots of speed and leaves you wanting more, rather than petering out and overstaying it’s welcome.

Update: Looks like that aforementioned family coaster probably isn’t going to Towers after all… I can’t imagine this will be SW9 https://twitter.com/RockyMtnConst/status/1692582198623576414

And I’m sure Google definitely wouldn’t require your copy of Chrome to be free of any Ad-Blocking or Anti-Tracking extensions to get that “Human” flag /s

DLR trains have never been designed to be un-staffed. The members of staff on board are called PSAs (Passenger Service Agents) or when the system orginally opened: “Train Captains”.

During normal service they’re responsible for operating the doors, ensuring the train is safe to depart each station and assisting passengers. However they’re also required to drive the trains manually within the depots and also in the event of technical problems with the ATO (Automatic Train Operation) system. DLR trains can’t move under ATO without a PSA using the control panel by the doors.

Its also worth remembering that 8 tube lines are also fitted with ATO (Victoria, Jubilee, Central, Northern, District, Circle, Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan) and the drivers on these lines have a similar role during normal service (except they sit in the cab and they’re officially known as “Train Operators”).

If you’re interested in the role of the PSAs, heres an old training video showing how they’d rescue a failed train, things will have changed since 1988 but its still interesting to see.

If its any consolation, there are many entries on your list I wish I could ride! I’ve just started planning a US east coast trip for next year with some friends so we’re hoping to hit King’s Dominion, BGW and SFGAdv (and maybe Nick Universe and Coney Island) but it’s still early days so hopefully we can get a plan together.

Here’s mine:

1. Zadra - Energylandia
2. Ride to Happiness - Plopasland De Panne
3. Taron - Phantasialand
4. Hyperion - Energylandia
5. FLY - Phantasialand
6. ICON - Blackpool Pleasure Beach
7. Nemesis - Alton Towers
8. Black Mamba - Phantasialand
9. Oblivion - Alton Towers
10. The Smiler - Alton Towers

Total credits: 136 (according to CoasterCount’s ‘Real Coaster’ definition)

I must admit… as I’ve gotten out to more parks, watching the Alton Towers’ (my local park) coasters slide down the list has been slightly sad haha.