The idea is that Eco-Ride will use its own inertia to get up most slopes but may on occasion need to be winched up steeper inclines. And imagine all the work you'll get done on your laptop! Will they serve coffee on-board? 'Speed controlled by aerodynamics' … 'vertical curves' … Sounds like the perfect commute experience after a long day's work when all you really want to do is see your partner/children/dog/bed/dinner. The Eco-Ride is set in motion and slowed at stations via rotating wheels between the rails that catch a fin underneath the train.
The train's speed is controlled by aerodynamics and by 'vertical curves', sections of track that form the transition between two sloping segments.
By turning potential energy into kinetic energy, it coasts along its tubular tracks without an engine. In a few years' time, this cheap and energy-efficient train could be ferrying passengers around areas of Japan devastated by last year's tsunami.ĭeveloped at Tokyo University's Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), with the help of amusement ride firm Senyo Kogyo, Eco-Ride works in the exactly the same way as a theme park roller coaster. The Eco-Ride train feels like a ride on a roller coaster – and that's pretty much what it is.
Wouldn't your life be better if you commuted every day by roller coaster? From the technophile annals of New Scientist:
