The Swarm opened at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England on 15 March 2012, becoming the United Kingdom’s first wing coaster and only the second of its kind built anywhere in the world by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard. Construction began in May 2011, and the finished ride carried a reported price tag of around £20 million, making it one of the park’s biggest investments at the time.
Unlike a traditional coaster, the wing coaster design seats riders in cars mounted on either side of the track with nothing above or below them, leaving the track itself fully exposed. The Swarm leans into this open-air layout with a post-apocalyptic theme, sending trains through an abandoned church, past a crashed billboard and plane, and underneath the spinning blades of a downed helicopter, all set within a story of an alien invasion.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Thorpe Park, Surrey, England
- Manufacturer: Bolliger & Mabillard
- Opened: March 15, 2012
- Height: About 127 ft (38.6 m)
- Top speed: About 59 mph (95 km/h)
- Length: About 2,543 ft (775 m)
- Inversions: 4
The Ride Experience
The Swarm’s signature moment comes right at the start: a 127-foot lift hill leads into a steep first drop that sends trains into a dive-style descent, one of the tallest and most intense openings of any coaster in the UK at the time it opened. From there, riders face four inversions, including a zero-G roll, a corkscrew, and an in-line twist, all while seated with an unobstructed view of the ground below thanks to the wing-style trains.
Each train holds 28 riders across seven rows, four seats wide, with no floor beneath the cars. Between 2013 and 2015, the two rearmost rows in every train were reversed to face backwards, giving those seats a different perspective on the same drops and inversions while the front five rows continued facing forward.
A First for British Theme Parks
When it debuted, The Swarm was the first wing coaster built in the United Kingdom and only the second built by B&M anywhere, following Raptor at Gardaland in Italy. Its arrival gave Thorpe Park a distinct type of coaster not found elsewhere in the country, paired with a heavily themed queue and storyline about a swarm of alien creatures attacking the area.
The ride’s £20 million construction cost reflected both the custom trackwork and the elaborate theming built around it, including the wrecked plane and helicopter props that riders pass beneath during the course of the ride.
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The Swarm FAQs
What type of roller coaster is The Swarm?
The Swarm is a B&M wing coaster, a design where riders sit in cars mounted on either side of the track with an open view above and below, rather than inside an enclosed train.
When did The Swarm open?
The Swarm opened at Thorpe Park on March 15, 2012, after construction began in May 2011.
How many inversions does The Swarm have?
The Swarm has four inversions, including a zero-G roll, a corkscrew, and an in-line twist.
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Photo: Mitchellh1234 / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.