 |
The train, is a split level Transrapid, essentially two types of carriages one above the other. The lower half is the always moving carriage, or the actual high speed train and the top of the roof has a key groove running the entire length. This groove accommodates the upper level carriage which transverses the length of the lower carriage as it pulls into and out of stations. The animation video is a little disconcerting with a superfluous promotion banner and in Mandarin. Be that as it may, the sliding traversal concept is pretty cool.
This proposed design is one whole new mega industrial infrastructure project, except perhaps for the already existing transrapid components in current use. The train running at around 500 kmh simply off loads and up loads commuters as it passes through stations, via the slower moving carriages on top.
I was so taken by the initial engineering sketches of the Transrapid when the whole idea of a linear motor powered locomotive emerged from German and Japanese engineering teams, that I penned a poem, (which I've been known to do from times ago) celebrating the arrival of a high speed train running on a cushion of air in the local newspapers. Some time after this there was a consortium of company's in Western Australia led by Janet Holmes A'Court proposing a national Transrapid infrastructure project. The naive or perhaps, somewhat simplistic poem is entitled Safety First
Planes fall out of the sky
Cars slide into fly
Trains skid off the track
Whereas Transrapid
Will always bring me back
