Speed of Sound (roller coaster)

Speed of Sound is a steel Boomerang roller coaster in Walibi Holland. It was manufactured by Vekoma and opened on April 22, 2000 as La Via Volta.[1] It was open until 2007 when the park announced it would be shut down. That year, the train was sold to Pleasurewood Hills in England and now operates on Wipeout and the track remained in place at Walibi World. On 30 January, Walibi Holland announced that the La Via Volta will reopen in 2011, with a new style train from Vekoma under the name of Speed of Sound. P&P Projects was responsible for the design and build of this new attraction.[2] Walibi Holland announced that it held a competition to win tickets for the opening of the roller coaster on April 6, 2011 [3]

Speed of Sound
Previously known as La Via Volta
Walibi Holland
LocationWalibi Holland
Park sectionW.A.B Plaza
Coordinates52.440630°N 5.768123°E / 52.440630; 5.768123
StatusOperating
Opening dateApril 22, 2000 (2000-04-22)
General statistics
TypeSteel Shuttle Boomerang
ManufacturerVekoma
DesignerVekoma
ModelBoomerang
Lift/launch systemChain Lift Hill
Height116.5 ft (35.5 m)
Length935 ft (285 m)
Speed47 mph (76 km/h)
Inversions3 inversions. Each completed both forwards and backwards.
Duration1:48
Max vertical angle56°
Capacity760 riders per hour
G-force5.2
Height restriction48 in (122 cm)
TrainsSingle train with 7 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 28 riders per train.
Fast Lane available
Single rider line available
Speed of Sound at RCDB

The ride

Once riders have boarded and the train cleared for dispatch, it is dragged backwards out of the station by a catch car to the top of a hill in an enclosed tube, before being released and passing back through the station and through the three inversion elements. At the other end, it is raised up a lift hill before being released to travel backwards along the same track. Block brakes in the station reduce its speed, with the train passing through and rising slightly up the first hill, before rolling back to the station where it is brought to a full stop before being driven to the dispatch position and unloaded.

A synchronized on-board music track plays through speakers in the cars.

References

  1. Marden, Duane. "Speed of Sound  (Walibi Holland)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  2. "Our Projects". P&P Projects. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  3. (in Dutch) Competition to win tickets for the first ride, Walibi.com, 2011
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