Cross-over Switch for a Monorail

A cross-over switch system for switching a monorail vehicle between two spaced fixed guideway beams, each one of the two fixed guideway beams having a discontinuity, the discontinuities being longitudinally staggered with respect to each other, the cross-over switch system comprising:

• two articulated beams, each one of said two articulated beams being made of a chain of pivotably interconnected segments, each one of said two articulated beams being adapted to be pivotably connected to a different one of the two fixed guideways at an end of one respective discontinuity that is distal a median pivot point;
• and
• a median beam, said median beam being located between the two fixed guideway beams, said median beam being pivotable at said median pivot point;
• wherein in a non-switching mode said median beam is in a first orientation between the two fixed guideway beams and said two articulated beams are aligned with the respective fixed guideway beam to which they are connected so as to each form a straight beam, and in a switching mode said median beam is pivoted to a second orientation and each segment of each articulated beam is pivoted so that each one of said articulated beam abuts an opposed end of said median beam, thereby forming a continuous segmented beam interconnecting the two fixed guideway beams.