When people talk about using high speed rail in the US and talk about how it doesn't work, I think the problem is exemplified by how any rail system seems to get implemented in the US. Basically what I have seen in virtually all cities around the US that I've traveled, the train goes close to downtown or close to the airport, but not actually into the actual terminal in the airport. Or you have a fast train that drops you in some place where you have to transfer to something else like a taxi or bus or another train. For example as I understand it, the new high speed train in California in the SF area will not realistically be any better than riding Caltrain. So since it likely will cost more than Caltrain a big base of people who could be riding it everyday to get between SF and San Jose would not be using it. And I think it stops in like a far flung spot in San Jose probably far away from many people's jobs. So it's like, well may as well just keep taking Caltrain!
Hyperloop Freight is a Joke
21–30 of 177 posts
Re: Hyperloop Freight is a Joke
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
The best legitimate criticisms I've seen are here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RNFesa01llk Basically expansion and contraction as well as just plain vulnerability of running a vacuum make it extremely difficult to do practically. The phrase he uses, "all the problems of space travel except in a gun barrel" is a pretty accurate description of the issue. Any loss of vacuum will almost guarantee loss of life. No reali…
Why would loss of vacuum necessarily result in loss of life? I would expect loss of vacuum to result in sudden deceleration, but not with a deadly level of force.
1) Because the pods are not designed to go that fast through the air.
2) Because in the case of an explosive recompression there might not be a tube anymore.
Re: Hyperloop Freight is a Joke
#23I always come to these hyperloop criticisms expecting to find some sort of fatal flaw in the physics of energy efficient supersonic travel. But to my surprise, they instead tend to be pessimists saying things like, "You'll never get past my friends: the regulators, the government bureaucrats, and especially the lawyers!. We will drive up your costs and make you look foolish". First, no one said that designing this th…
Maybe there is no single fatal flaw. The point is, though, that there are many, many issues that need to be addressed and it is very clear already now that the hyperloop will be uneconomical. In other words: It might be possible to force it into existence, but it won't be worth it.
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Re: Hyperloop Freight is a Joke
#24What's a joke is "journalists" making blaming comments about a company they'd unlikely be fit to work at.
Re: Hyperloop Freight is a Joke
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would loss of vacuum necessarily result in loss of life? I would expect loss of vacuum to result in sudden deceleration, but not with a deadly level of force.
Air being drawn in results in pressure on the capsule, propelling it. Check the video out for a demo.
That demo is unrealistic. The entire end of the tube isn't going to open all at once. Instead, any realistic leak would be pretty small in comparison.
Re: Hyperloop Freight is a Joke
#26I always come to these hyperloop criticisms expecting to find some sort of fatal flaw in the physics of energy efficient supersonic travel. But to my surprise, they instead tend to be pessimists saying things like, "You'll never get past my friends: the regulators, the government bureaucrats, and especially the lawyers!. We will drive up your costs and make you look foolish". First, no one said that designing this th…
I dunno... I'd feel much more comfortable if all humanities smartest technical people were trying to make the next whatsapp clone /s
Contrarily, I'd feel more comfortable if "idea guys" like Musk would leave the engineering to actual engineers.
Re: Hyperloop Freight is a Joke
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Air being drawn in results in pressure on the capsule, propelling it. Check the video out for a demo.
That demo is unrealistic. The entire end of the tube isn't going to open all at once. Instead, any realistic leak would be pretty small in comparison.
I don't understand why a tube section couldn't come away? What if a bomb went off, a truck hit a support beam, or an earthquake caused a section to topple over...
I don't think it is unrealistic at all.
Re: Hyperloop Freight is a Joke
#28At this point Hyperloop would have to support Intermodal freight transport to even have a chance. The technical limitations of container ships or the containers themselves would need to be considered. Hard to be beat taking a container off a ship and dropping it right onto a train car.
Re: Hyperloop Freight is a Joke
#29I always come to these hyperloop criticisms expecting to find some sort of fatal flaw in the physics of energy efficient supersonic travel. But to my surprise, they instead tend to be pessimists saying things like, "You'll never get past my friends: the regulators, the government bureaucrats, and especially the lawyers!. We will drive up your costs and make you look foolish". First, no one said that designing this th…
Pessimism seems to be the default for the HN hivemind. Would be cool if we all just encouraged everyone working on moonshots.
Nobody here is trying to crush dreams. The author, and many others, are simply trying to point out that there are much better uses of time and money.
The factors (i.e. physics) underpinning the economics of freight shipping in all forms are well understood. Can a hyperloop be built? Sure. Is it better than existing intermodal cargo shipment infrastructure? Yes and no. It certainly offers speed, but doomedly at the expense of economies of scale: https://www.usmma.edu/sites/usmma.edu/files/docs/CMA%20Paper...
Here's a thoughtful assessment by Olaf Merk posted last month that draws the same conclusion as the author: http://shippingtoday.eu/musk_maritime/
Bottom line, if you can find enough high value bulk cargo that benefits significantly from high speed transit to only two or three "ports", then hyperloop is your answer. However, that's a very (perhaps nonexistent) niche in the industry.
What we (transport engineering community) need to be expending resources on is: a.) eliminating greenhouse gas emissions, b.) designing a system of transport that scales with global trade demand (vice building 20K+ TEU megaships that can only be served by a few ports and promote trucking congestion in ports). Autonomous shipping, AI implementations in both freight forwarding (the logistics side) and transport control systems themselves, and applications of H2 fuel cells are technologies with great promise.
Re: Hyperloop Freight is a Joke
#30When people talk about using high speed rail in the US and talk about how it doesn't work, I think the problem is exemplified by how any rail system seems to get implemented in the US. Basically what I have seen in virtually all cities around the US that I've traveled, the train goes close to downtown or close to the airport, but not actually into the actual terminal in the airport. Or you have a fast train that drop…
the goal of high speed rail project in California is not taking you from SF to SJ. it's the bay area to LA area. this is not a train for within Bay Area commuters
Caltrain with express trains works very well. sfo and oak have trains that go into the airport. caltrains goal of electrification if it ever happens should make SF to SJ a lot faster. trains in the Bay Area are not as bad as you make them out to be.
personally I think high speed rail should go from Santa Clarita to gilroy or south San Jose. once you pass up the Central Valley you can take bart or Caltrain to your final destination