The Train That Does Not Stop At Stations: A Chinese Innovation

[6Foot2]

No time is wasted. The bullet train is moving all the time. If there are 30 stations between Beijing and Guangzhou , just stopping and accelerating again at each station will waste both energy and time.

 

A mere 5 min stop per station (elderly passengers cannot be hurried) will result in a total loss of 5 min x 30 stations or 2.5 hours of train journey time!

 

1. For those who are boarding the train : The passengers at a station embarks onto to a connector cabin way before the train even arrives at the station. When the train arrives, it will not stop at all. It just slows down to pick up the connector cabin which will move with the train on the roof of the train.

 

While the train is still moving away from the station, those passengers will board the train from the connector cabin mounted on the train's roof. After fully unloading all its passengers, the cabin connector cabin will be moved to the back of the train so that the next batch of outgoing passengers who want to alight at the next station will board the connector cabin at the rear of the train roof.

 

2. For those who are getting off: As stated after fully unloading all its passengers, the cabin connector cabin will be moved to the back of the train so that the next batch of outgoing passengers who want to alight at the next station will board the connector cabin at the rear of the train roof. When the train arrives at the next station, it will simply drop the whole connector cabin at the station itself and leave it behind at the station. The outgoing passengers can take their own time to disembark at the station while the train had already left. At the same time, the train will pick up the incoming embarking passengers on another connector cabin in the front part of the train's roof. So the train will always drop one connector cabin at the rear of its roof and pick up a new connector cabin in the front part of the train's roof at each station.

 

Audio for the video is in Mandarin:

 

[Flakes]

by the sounds of it, it would never give you time to have a proper sit down if you have to keep walking to the connector cabin to offload/load.

[localzuk]

by the sounds of it, it would never give you time to have a proper sit down if you have to keep walking to the connector cabin to offload/load.

 

What would that matter? You'd get to your destination a lot quicker, and have to spend a lot less time on the train in the first place. Also, imagine you're going the full 30 stops they talk of, this system would give you back 2.5 hours of time!

[webman]

It's a great idea.

 

It would just mean altering every existing train station and their platforms. I would imagine bridges would also have to be considered.

[localzuk]

It's a great idea.

 

It would just mean altering every existing train station and their platforms. I would imagine bridges would also have to be considered.

 

I think this wouldn't be a retrofit job, more of something to build into new lines - such as our new high-speed line that's being built, with new stations.

[synaesthesia]

on an engineering level, I can't see how that would work properly. Too many ifs and buts, and a nightmare from a safety point of view. Even with all the failsafes you can put in place I'd say it'll only take a small something on top to cause a SERIOUS accident.

Innovation? Maybe. Likely to ever happen? Only in China, and that's exactly where it'll stay for good reason.

[localzuk]

on an engineering level, I can't see how that would work properly. Too many ifs and buts, and a nightmare from a safety point of view. Even with all the failsafes you can put in place I'd say it'll only take a small something on top to cause a SERIOUS accident.

Innovation? Maybe. Likely to ever happen? Only in China, and that's exactly where it'll stay for good reason.

 

Can the same not be said of many technologies? For example, large metal tubes with wings flying through the air? Or metal boxes containing explosive liquids which propel them at 70mph?

[Halfmad]

on an engineering level, I can't see how that would work properly. Too many ifs and buts, and a nightmare from a safety point of view. Even with all the failsafes you can put in place I'd say it'll only take a small something on top to cause a SERIOUS accident.

Innovation? Maybe. Likely to ever happen? Only in China, and that's exactly where it'll stay for good reason.

 

With proper engineering it'd be far safer than flying or even driving. You're only picking up a cabin and dropping one off, they can easily put in safety measures that mean the train won't pick up if it's going too fast or drop off if it's doing so too late. I have a feeling it won't be anywhere near as simple as the animation indicates, wouldn't be surprised if they use sets of magnets to aid in the deceleration.

[synaesthesia]

That's what I mean - of course the examples you used can be very dangerous indeed - opening your cutlery drawer can be fatal, so can walking down the road. But sometimes you have to look at things from a common sense point of view instead of marvelling at the sales pitch. Sales pitches, as anyone familiar with Apple will know, are 95% rubbish. Actually putting it into practice is something else. Yeah, airliners, large boats, combustion engines etc all had people scoffing at the very idea. However at the time of conception all of those were created in times where people did not actually fully understand the mechanics behind them and the laws of physics.

 

I'm just very cynical. But look at how much chaos a leaf can cause to a trainline in the UK. OK so we're not exactly "up there" with train engineering when compared with, as an example Japan, but this sounds too much like it will compound any problems they might face.

[Halfmad]

I disagree slightly, the problem with trains is the older technology that they rely on which in our case is the track. With these cabins they can use the most up to date materials and methods and in some ways control any problems they may encounter.

[localzuk]

I'm just very cynical. But look at how much chaos a leaf can cause to a trainline in the UK. OK so we're not exactly "up there" with train engineering when compared with, as an example Japan, but this sounds too much like it will compound any problems they might face.

 

Indeed, small things can cause major problems with old technologies. This is why we invent new ones, to overcome those problems. Things like Maglev, for example...