The Swarm (roller coaster)
| The Swarm | |
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The entrance and first drop of The Swarm at Thorpe Park
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| Thorpe Park Resort | |
| Park section | Swarm Island |
| Coordinates | 51°24′20″N 0°30′55.5″W / 51.40556°N 0.515417°WCoordinates: 51°24′20″N 0°30′55.5″W / 51.40556°N 0.515417°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Opening date | 15 March 2012 |
| Cost | £20,000,000 |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Steel – Wing Coaster |
| Manufacturer | Bolliger & Mabillard |
| Designer | John Wardley |
| Model | Custom |
| Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
| Height | 38.7096 m (127.000 ft) |
| Length | 775 m (2,543 ft) |
| Speed | 57 mph (92 km/h) |
| Inversions | 4 |
| Duration | 1:25 |
| Capacity | 1,300 riders per hour |
| G-force | 4.5 |
| Height restriction | 140–195 cm (4 ft 7 in–6 ft 5 in) |
| Trains | 2 trains with a single car. Riders are arranged 4 across in 7 rows for a total of 28 riders per train. |
| Official website | www |
| The SWARM POV - | Full HD POV |
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The Swarm at RCDB Pictures of The Swarm at RCDB |
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The Swarm is a steel Wing Coaster at Thorpe Park, a theme park in the United Kingdom. The Swarm was the world's second Wing Coaster designed by Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard and the United Kingdom's first Wing Coaster. Construction commenced in May 2011, and the coaster opened on 15 March 2012. Starting in 2013, the last two rows of each train face backwards, while the first five rows face forward. This was removed in 2016, with all riders facing forward once again.
The 2,543-foot-long (775 m) ride stands 127 feet (39 m) tall and features four inversions and heavily banked left-hand turn. On the one-minute twenty-five second ride, riders experience speeds of up to 59 miles per hour (95 km/h) and 4.5 times the force of gravity. A marketing campaign for the ride began 11 months before The Swarm was opened to the public. The ride has generally been well received, ranking highly amongst other roller coasters of its type.
In 2010, planning for The Swarm began behind closed doors. The ride was codenamed Project LC12 in the early process of its planning and construction. On 31 January 2011, Thorpe Park submitted a planning application for their 2012 ride to the Runnymede Borough Council. The website gave further information about the new ride's theme, that of an apocalyptic battle.
At the time of the ride's announcement construction was already underway. The track for The Swarm was complete by 18 November 2011. Clearance testing started almost immediately; the first operational test run was completed on 17 January 2012.
On 15 March 2012, The Swarm officially opened to the public. In January 2013, Thorpe Park announced that the last two rows on The Swarm would be rotated to face backwards for 2013, a first for a Wing Coaster. The park's tag line for this experience is 'THE SWARM- Brave It Backwards'. The park additionally announced that they were adding a damaged, mangled billboard, which the train travels through. In 2016 the seats were returned to all facing forwards.
The Swarm is located on a reclaimed island adjacent to the Stealth roller coaster, with parts of the ride being built over water. A bridge links the core of Thorpe Park to an island which hosts the roller coaster station, merchandise outlet, a games zone and toilet buildings.
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Wikipedia