The train that never stops

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Taiwanese inventor Peng Yu-Lun has an innovative idea to make train transportation even more efficient: get rid of the stops. No, he's not proposing that passengers are thrown on and off of fast-moving trains or that passengers are eliminated from the equation altogether. Instead, Yu-Lun envisions a small separated car perched atop the train. When the train enters a station, this car slides along on elevated rails that smoothly and gradually remove the car from the rest of the train and bring it to a stop.

Another identical car travels from these elevated tracks and gradually slides along the top of the train to pick up speed for boarding passengers. The end result: a train with no need to stop at stations.

Check out the video demonstration below, in Taiwanese, of what such a train would look like:

Sure, regenerative braking – the process that converts the energy typically wasted as heat when slowing down and storing it as electrical power in batteries – is a terrific energy saving solution. Many hybrid cars, such as the Prius, use regenerative braking and it's starting to appear aboard hybrid diesel/electric trains as well. But more efficient still is to maintain your momentum and dispense with a train's need to make stops.

Huge amounts of power go into bringing an entire train's mass to a halt at stations and then reaccelerating it back up to speed. By keeping the main portion of the train on the move, the energy savings could be huge.

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1817/

[Niels Bohr 72]

This guy is a freaking genius.

[scandal 951]

Cool!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

This guy is a freaking genius.

I wonder if it'll work.

[SMOKE 1,426]

I wonder if it'll work.

niels is on it now. it will work.

Edited April 19, 2010 by SMOKE

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

niels is on it now. it will work.

I wonder if VJ posters will get free passes.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

So the car is a temporary lobby? I assume you then enter through the roof of the train?

[mawilson 2,133]

No, he's not proposing that passengers are thrown on and off of fast-moving trains

That's too bad. What could be more entertaining than watching Chinese people thrown off fast-moving trains?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Now that's thinking outside the box! Very cool!

[Ali G. 37]

Now that's thinking outside the box! Very cool!

Can you imagine trying to implement something ground-breaking like this here? The tea-party would have a nervous breakdown. As long as they get to keep all of their income, they prefer America and its infrastructure stay in the stone ages.

[Nikita2Charles 32]

I wonder how would that work during Rush hour when there are a lot of people exiting and trying to board.

Anybody who has been in Tokyo during Rush hour would know what I am talking about, One time in the morning, basically the outside conductor has to push people inside to close the door, talking about Sardine, but nobody seems to be bother by it.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I imagine during rush hour they'd stop the train still at major stops. The lobby car would be used for the lighter stops.

[JohnSmith2007 353]

What would happen if there were a delay and the car wasn't ready to leave the station when the train passed by?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

What would happen if there were a delay and the car wasn't ready to leave the station when the train passed by?

The world comes to an end.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I imagine during rush hour they'd stop the train still at major stops. The lobby car would be used for the lighter stops.