In 2014 Liseberg will launch a new roller coaster - longer and faster than the any other coaster in the park. It’s the parks biggest investment ever. The working title of the project is Projekt Helix.
- It has extra of everything! The ambition is to build a ride which is two minutes of pure fun. When we built Balder, we built the world’s best wooden roller coaster, so we have a high standard to live up to, says Andreas Andersen, president and CEO of Liseberg.
The track is almost 1,4 km (4500 feet) long and the ride lasts for almost two minutes. Along the track are two launches where the coaster is accelerated using Linear Synchronous Motors (LSM). It will be the first multi-launch coaster in Europe. The ride will include six inversions, four airtime hills and plenty of drops, turns and twists.
With speeds up to 100 km/h (62 mph) this new coaster will be the fastest one in the park. It will also be the most technologically advanced coaster in the park. It’s manufactured by the German company Mack Rides Gmb.
- With Mack Rides’s Blue Fire technology we can offer a ride that has comfort, smoothness and freedom. You can do almost anything with the track system and we have tried to use that advantage to the limit, says Andreas Andersen.
The construction work will start as soon as the park closes this fall and continue over next year. The 3D-cinema Maxxima will close for good in order to make room for the new coaster station building. And the new roller coaster will premiere in spring 2014.
Projekt Helix - facts:
Investment: 200 million SEK (€ 23 million)
Total length: app. 1 355 m (4 445 feet)
Max velocity: 100 km/h (62 mph)
Max height: 41 m (135 feet)
Max acceleration: 4,2 g
Total ride cycle time: 110 seconds
Capacity: app. 1 310 passengers per hour
Appendix:
The new roller coaster will use lap bars as restraints for the passengers and it has special, so called, “Big boys”-seats on row 10 of each train.
Projekt Helix will have its own website:
http://www.projekthelix.se.
Liseberg currently has three major roller coasters: Lisebergbanan (1987), Balder (2003) and Kanonen (2005). Over the years Liseberg has also hosted coasters such as: Berg- och dalbanan (1923-1987), Super 8 (1966-1979), Lisebergsloopen (1980-1995) and HangOver (1996-2002).
Furthermore, Liseberg has had a number of roller coasters for children. The first one was called Lilla Bergbanan and opened in 1977. It was commonly called Lady Bug because if the trains design being modeled after a Lady bug. In 1986 the attraction was redesigned and it’s name was changed to Cirkusexpressen, until 2008 when it was replaced by a new roller coaster called Rabalder, which is still in the park. In 2013 Liseberg will launch another coaster for even smaller children - Stampbanan.
