"Things You Wouldn't Know If We Didn't Blog Intermittently."
03 September 2008
A train that doesn't stop at stations
A high-speed train - probably maglev or equivalent - travels long distance nonstop. Passengers can enter and exit through supplementary modules that attach and detach from the top of the train as it passes a station. Clever concept. Workable?
I think there are a lot of technological hurdles involved. The "arriving" pod will have to be moved forward on the train roof before the next station, otherwise the next pod wouldn't have sufficient room to accelerate and latch on. Additionally there would be little room for error. My biggest question is aerodynamics. Wouldn't such pods dramatically slow such hypersonic trains down?
I think there are a lot of technological hurdles involved. The "arriving" pod will have to be moved forward on the train roof before the next station, otherwise the next pod wouldn't have sufficient room to accelerate and latch on. Additionally there would be little room for error. My biggest question is aerodynamics. Wouldn't such pods dramatically slow such hypersonic trains down?
ReplyDeleteUnless the train slowed down considerably, wouldn't the force of sudden acceleration seriously harm the occupants of the boarding car?
ReplyDeleteThe math and the concept are discussed in this Reddit thread and in the link at the top of the page and the discussion below that..
ReplyDeletehttp://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/6nrzq/how_to_safely_board_a_train_that_wont_stop/
If the link I posted doesn't work, just go to Reddit and search for "train doesn't stop".