Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

New Concept Train Doesn't Stop to Pick Up Passengers

by Terrence O'Brien on June 23, 2008 at 07:14 AM


Traveling by train would be a whole lot faster and more energy efficient if it weren't for that whole pesky having to stop to pick up and drop off passengers thing. Thankfully, a Japanese inventor, Peng Yu-Lun, has developed a concept vehicle that allows passengers to board and disembark the train without it slowing down... and, most impressively, without sustaining any bodily harm.

The system involves shuttles that passengers board before the train passes through the station and scoops it up. Passengers would then enter the train's main compartment so that passengers getting off at the next "stop" could board the shuttle and wait to be deposited at the next station.

Peng's so called "non-stop MRT system" is a long way off, and Peng admits that his idea needs a lot of help from experts and stronger scientific and engineering minds than his. But by eliminating accelerating and decelerating trains would use less energy and require less maintenance, reducing costs for both rail companies and passengers. [Source: Boing Boing]

Tags: concepts, trains, transportation, travel

Comments

2

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular