Saving energy on HSR... by not stopping

Can it go faster?

The high-speed rail system in China has been a complete success, but despite the train from Beijing and Guangzhou only taking two and a half hours (when it used to take nine), many believe it can still go faster.

In-between Beijing and Guangzhou, there are a total of 30 train stations. By stopping and starting over and over again, the train wastes time (approximately two and half hours if it stops at every station for five minutes) and energy. However an idea on how to prevent this has been put forward - don't stop the train!

Non-stop service

Completing re-defining the idea of a non-stop service, the concept would see passengers at a station, instead of boarding the train, board a connector cabin way before the train even arrives at the station. This cabin is situated above the main train line.

When the arrive arrives, instead of stopping, it merely slows long enough to pick up the connector cabin and continue on its journey, with the cabin strapped to the roof of the train.

Once the train is at full speed, passengers will then board the train from the connector cabin mounted on the train's roof. Once they are unloaded, the cabin connector cabin will be moved to the back of the train so that outgoing passengers who want to disembark at the next station will be able to do so via the rear of the train... albeit from the roof.

Once the train pulls into the station, the cabin connector is simply disconnected allowing it to stop at the station while the train continues on its journey. As such, outgoing passengers can take their own time to disembark at the station while the train is already several more miles down the track (after picking up a new connector cabin further down the track).

So with its picking up-dropping off policy, could China's HSR become even faster?

Relevant articles:

China's high-speed rail hurting air travel? | What makes China's trains so fast? | The fastest train in the world

Timon Singh

Timon Singh is a graduate of Liverpool University where he received a degree in Social and Economic History. He has previously worked for BBC Magazines on BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the publication for the popular genealogy show.

Like this article? Get the RSS feed: