Light Rail Vehicles - LRT, ICTS, Monorail, and more

[KevinL]

Yes, you could build an elevated LRT with bus-bar pickup at ground level.  But why would you do that?  Now I get to play the game.  What advantage would LRT with a ground-based pickup have over, say, ICTS, VAL, Monorail, etc.?  I see only negatives.  You'd have a massive overhead structure, can't run it like a tram at ground level, and don't get good acceleration, and you get wheel-rail noise.

One advantage I can think of is if you want to have a surface section - or if you're expanding a system with surface routes - this vehicle can have a pantograph and a ground pickup, and be able to use either.

I think some tram-trains in Europe do this, in fact.