Train saves time, energy by not stopping at stations
So how do you make a bullet train even faster?
You don’t stop. Sounds silly, but wait until you see how it works. Even with Chinese audio, you’ll get the idea. This concept uses a pair of roof-mounted boarding cabins to eliminate the time lost for station transfers (and the energy used to get a fast train back up to speed).
Passengers wishing to board are seated at the station in an elevated compartment. As the train approaches, it picks up the boarding compartment on its roof-mounted track. Disembarking passengers are left behind in a similar module. Once newly arrived passengers are seated on the train, the boarding cabin is moved to the rear, ready to be loaded for the next station’s departures.
Brilliant. It’s just the kind of forward thinking we’ll need as energy prices rise — and air travel becomes unaffordable.
via kottke
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About the author
Chris Baskind writes about the environment and simpler living. He's also an advocate of carfree transportation, relying entirely on bicycles since June, 2009.Three years ago, Chris launched Lighter Footstep, a pioneering website focused on greener, healthier, more affordable living. It was recently acquired by the Mother Nature Network (MNN). Connect with Chris on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Wow that is a cool futuristic ideal alright. Nice way to save energy too.
This was a nice find Chris. Bye the way you're site is looking much better too.
Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the kind words on the site. It's literally not done yet, but I wanted to get writing. My goal is to make it a useful read.
Very clever! We are so far behind the curve in the US with regard to train trasport. I hope something successful comes of the plans in California.
Saw a similar concept for 19th/20th century locomotives a while back, but it was never implemented, I wish I still had that article/picture on me.
How much energy are we talking about, seeing that bullet trains run on electricity?
That’s brilliant!
Great concept, but if the train is going really fast, a person could end up with a whiplash injury from the sudden acceleration and deceleration. How are they dealing with that?
What if you want to go more than just one stop?
One problem is that this limits the number of passengers who can embark/disembark to the size of the satellite train. What if can take 40 passengers and 50 need to get off?
Future of the world..but they are already a few steps ahead!!!