The Smiler

The Smiler is a Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster located at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, United Kingdom. It has 14 inversions. The Smiler holds the world record for the roller coaster with the most inversions. The riders must be tall to ride the smiler. The top speed is about . Riders experience about the same G-Force as a drag car driver (about 4.5 Gs). The Smiler had multiple delays before opening to the public including unforseen teething problems on the 23rd which delayed the opening by another 8 days. The Smiler finally opened to the public on the 31 May 2013. The ride's trains are arranged in 4 individual ride cars in which seat four people, leading to a capacity of 16 riders per train. Five trains can run on the track at once, leading to a capacity of 1,000 riders per hour. On June 2nd 2015, an accident occurred where 5 people were seriously injured when the train crashed into a stalled test train in the batwing element.. After rigorous safety checks, the ride reopened in March 2016, and is still operating to this day with no further problems. It is perfectly safe today.