The Swarm (roller coaster) 4.47

The Swarm is a steel Wing Coaster at Thorpe Park, a theme park in the United Kingdom. The Swarm was the world's second Wing Coaster designed by Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard and the United Kingdom's first Wing Coaster. Construction commenced in May 2011, and the coaster opened on 15 March 2012. Starting in 2013, the last two rows of each train face backwards, while the first five rows face forward. This was removed in 2016, with all riders facing forward once again.The 775m ride stands tall and features four inversions and heavily banked left-hand turn. On the one-minute twenty-five second ride, riders experience speeds of up to and 4.5 times the force of gravity. A marketing campaign for the ride began 11 months before The Swarm was opened to the public. The ride has generally been well received, ranking highly amongst other roller coasters of its type.HistoryPlanning and announcementIn 2010, planning for The Swarm began behind closed doors. The ride was codenamed Project LC12 in the early process of its planning and construction. On 31 January 2011, Thorpe Park submitted a planning application for their 2012 ride to the Runnymede Borough Council. The website gave further information about the new ride's theme, that of an apocalyptic battle.Construction and openingAt the time of the ride's announcement construction was already underway. The track for The Swarm was complete by 18 November 2011. Clearance testing started almost immediately; the first operational test run was completed on 17 January 2012.