The Minitram would have been a driverless, automated network, involving the use of small cars each carrying around 15 passengers.
In Sheffield, the monorail would have connected the city’s shopping areas, operating on two-and-a-half kilometres of track with nine stations.
Thousands went to look at the blueprints in a public exhibition at Cole Brothers, which is now John Lewis – but the scheme was abandoned in 1975.
Parts of the Minitram route re-emerged in Sheffield’s modern tramway. However, these artist’s impressions and photos show how the revolutionary Government-backed monorail would have looked.
1. Feasibility study
Artist's impressions were created after the Government's Transport and Road Research Laboratory commissioned a study into how and if the system could work in major British cities. This picture shows the guideway over Barker's Pool seen from the City Hall. Photo: Sheffield Newspapers Limited
2. A model of the proposed minitram/monorail in Sheffield in the 1970s.
A model of the proposed minitram/monorail in Sheffield in the 1970s. Photo: Hawker Siddeley
3. Ambitious figures
Developers claimed the system would eventually carry 10,000 passengers an hour and could be extended to Rotherham in one direction, Hillsborough in the other and London Road in a third. This drawing shows a guideway on The Moor. Photo: Sheffield Newspapers Limited
4. Scepticism grows
Doubts began to surface among the public - people questioned whether the city council would be left to foot the bill, rather than the Government. Photo: Sheffield Newspapers Limited