https://spectrum.ieee.org/cargo-sous-terrain
After half a decade of study, Cargo Sous Terrain is ready to start on its first tunnel
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Freight tunnels can be smaller and can operate at slower speeds than would be demanded by passengers, and since the entire system is autonomous, comfort (and to some extent safety) can be less of a focus.
Hyperloop sounded like a pipe dream to me. This Cargo Sous Terrain sounds much more practical. Not having to accommodate passengers makes it much cheaper and easier to build, maintain, and run.
Good call.
Once a high-profile startup, Hyperloop One raised more than $450 million since its founding in 2014…
It built a small test track near Las Vegas to develop its transportation technology, and for a time took the name Virgin Hyperloop One after Richard Branson’s Virgin invested. Virgin removed its branding after the startup decided last year to focus on cargo rather than people.
DB2
Everything old is new again.
Chicago had a network of freight tunnels for years, eventually closed it off, then one day an errant construction project pierced one under the Chicago River and hundreds of buildings (including the one I worked it) ended up flooded. Not so bad above ground, but engineers had thoughtfully put all the electrical infrastructure in the basements, so…
Underground mail systems, some mini-rail, some pneumatic tubes were in operation in London, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and elsewhere, as were autonomous coal delivery rail and freight delivery systems. They were so successful that it was often predicted that they would be commonly used to move goods to homes throughout the country.
The automobile and easy transport intervened, and the systems were superseded by above-ground systems.
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Yup, the entire Loop was shut down. The insurance losses (from loss of business claims) were higher than the 1992 Los Angeles riots which occurred the same year.
DB2
Subway, Tube…for human beings we have that now. It is less expensive than automobiles.
Much less flexible than automobiles.
DB2
This never occurs to Americans but it is more flexible if you use your legs. Or at least you live longer.
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Because it happened in the Loop, which is the heart of the business district, and Chicago does a lot of business. LA is far more horizontal, with business spread over a very wide geography, and the riots, at least in some part, were not in the most business-y parts of town.
As Steven Wright said, “Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.”
DB2
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Always a ‘thumbs up’ for a Steven Wright reference!!!
JimA