Same concept for elevators http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternoster Hint: they are dangerous Also like the old busses which had no doors so you could just jump on
Never mind trams/trolleys.
The experimental railway in London that never stopped
21–26 of 26 posts
Re: The experimental railway in London that never stopped
#22There is also this Chinese concept train that never stops at a station: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Ig19gYP9o
And a European concept that is similar: https://vimeo.com/25403519 Side-by-side instead of on-top. The Chinese concept has the benefit of using less space. I don't know if either could be engineered to be practical or safe. At any rate, the most important question is... Did you NUGGET your boots this morning?
European one seems really over-engineered.
Re: The experimental railway in London that never stopped
#23There is also this Chinese concept train that never stops at a station: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Ig19gYP9o
And a European concept that is similar: https://vimeo.com/25403519 Side-by-side instead of on-top. The Chinese concept has the benefit of using less space. I don't know if either could be engineered to be practical or safe. At any rate, the most important question is... Did you NUGGET your boots this morning?
Practical or safe? Probably. Practical and safe? I doubt it. On a standard railway platform, leaving late because some passengers hold up the train is a nuisance. With systems such as these, it is lethal.
For the EU one, the critical timing is in detaching from the fast train. It _has_ to happen before the two tracks split up.
For the Chinese one, detaching can be postponed indefinitely, if slow cars in front know it soon enough, and can pull up fast enough. I think that makes this system slightly safer. Worst-case, an emergency command 'all trains to full speed' will 'just' move most passengers to stations a few hundred miles from where they wanted to go.
In either case, I would expect that, to guarantee proper timing of detachment, the doors between fast and slow trains would have to close at least a minute, probably more, before separation. For the EU design, that means long side-by-side tracks. For the Chinese one, it limits the distance between stops of the docking train. One could solve that by allowing two slower trains to dock at the same time, but that increases the risk of collisions tremendously (two half-width trains docking side by side might be the best solution here)
Re: The experimental railway in London that never stopped
#24Isn't that similar to how skiing lifts work?
Re: The experimental railway in London that never stopped
#25Same concept for elevators http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternoster Hint: they are dangerous Also like the old busses which had no doors so you could just jump on
Those buses are back in London:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Routemaster
" is notable for featuring a "hop-on hop-off" rear open platform similar to the original Routemaster bus design, but updated to meet requirements for modern buses to be fully accessible. The first bus entered service on 27 February 2012."
Re: The experimental railway in London that never stopped
#26What about using some type of pod system that you get into, and then get picked up by the train while moving. Then when you arrive at your destination your pod jumps on a different track and comes to a halt at the exit from the station. This would also allow for a inter-train exchange point, so you stay in your pod from start to end of your trip. The pods could be individual, or multi person, and hook on to different train wagons. The entire system could be close to 100% automated, and inter passenger crime could probably be lowered.
I think it could be done relatively easy, if the train slows in the stations etc. We have the advantage that it could be speedup in the future when the tech allows it.