After falling silent in 2022, the UK's most iconic roller coaster is preparing to return for the 2024 season sporting new track and various upgrades to future-proof the ride for years to come. When Nemesis first opened in 1994, it was the first inverted coaster in Europe - a pioneering ride that pushed the boundaries of roller coaster technology. It quickly built a long lasting repuation as the one of the world's most intense roller coaster experiences, but this wasn't without its drawbacks. Although it was perfectly safe and smooth until the very end, after 28 years of continous exposure to forces up to 5G, the track and supports reached the end of their service life in 2022, giving the park no choice but to remove or replace it. This is a very similar situation to that of the Incredible Hulk at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Florida, which opened in 1999, closed in 2015 and reopened in 2016. Something similar is expected to happen soon to Vampire, Chessington's 33-year old Arrow Suspended coaster.
As the parks' best and most widely known roller coaster, Alton Towers thankfully made the choice to extensively refurbish and retrack this historic attraction over the 2023 season. Although there will be no changes to the ride's exhilirating layout, 89 of Nemesis' support columns and all the ride's track from the top of the lift hill to the start of the brake run are in the process of being replaced. However there will undoubtedly be changes to the ride's design; as only the fourth Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) invert to open, there have been copious improvements to the model and general roller coaster design since it opened. The forces exerted on the structrure over the years have exposed deficiencies in the ride's design particuarly the problematic downward helix, the most intense part of the ride, which was heavily modified over the years and will receive extra supports this year. There are likely to be some small profiling changes, along with strenghtening of the supports and footers but fortunately the ride experience should remain as fun and forceful as ever. The ride will also be receiving new trains too.
As part of the refurbishment Nemesis seems to be undergoing a massive thematic facelift to upgrade the ride's story for the 21st century. The new track colour, all black with a red accent, is the most striking change so far, but changes are also happening to the Nemesis creature that serves as the ride's station. A retelling of the Nemesis story is also underway featuring the Phalnx, the mysterious organisation tasked with guarding and restraining the Nemesis creature. This is the subject of Nemesis Sub-Terra, a neighbouring actor-led dark ride and drop tower that finally reopened this year after 8 years of closure.
How excited are you to ride Nemesis again? And what do you think of the new track colour?
