maglev train
FluxJet – Canada builds train with over 1000 km/h
The train is intended to make the route from Calgary to Edmonton faster and significantly cheaper than a plane.
© PR
Faster than a passenger jet, the FluxJet is supposed to bring passengers through Canada. The project is not a fantasy, the company is about to start construction.
The Canadian company TransPod has presented its high-speed maglev train. The FluxJet will be far faster than a passenger plane – it should reach 1000 km/h. The technically possible maximum speed should even be 1200 km/h. These speeds are only possible if the technology of a magnetic levitation train is combined with a vacuum tube.
The conditions in the tube are almost airless, which reduces friction. Without such a tube, magnetic levitation trains can also achieve high speeds of over 600 km/h, but such a train could not be operated economically. The train consists of 25 meter long wagons. All with a capacity of up to 54 passengers or ten tons of payload. They are moved in the tube by four suspension units. This idea is not new, Elon Musk’s Hyperloop is the most reported in the West. In fact, a full-size prototype has already been brought to 1000 km/h on a test track in South Korea (Faster than an airplane – South Korea’s hyper train reaches over 1000 km/h). The People’s Republic of China is the first country in the world to start building a network of high-speed magnetic levitation trains – albeit without magnet tubes. The construction of the trains has already started there (The 600 km/h magnetic levitation train from CRRC).
Newcomers to the railway business
TransPod has no experience in building railway networks, but already builds successful small transport systems. Nevertheless, the whole thing is far more than a rendering fantasy. The Calgary to Edmonton vacuum tube project is estimated to cost about $18 billion. The company has already raised $550 million in initial funding. FluxJet is already in the construction and permitting phase, putting the Canadians at the forefront of the world.
Their FluxJet also works a little differently than the competition. The train is supposed to run in the vicinity of cities without a tube, then it only reaches 90 km/h. If he drives into a tube, he first gets into a lock in which the air is pumped out. A scaled-down FluxJet was shown at a TransPod event in Toronto, demonstrating its capabilities. The vehicle, which weighed almost 1000 kilograms, showed a take-off, travel and landing process.
Just before the start of construction
“This is a huge step forward,” said Ryan Janzen, co-founder and CTO of TransPod. “The FluxJet sits at the intersection of scientific research, industrial development and massive infrastructure to meet passenger needs and reduce our dependence on fossil fuel airplanes and highways.”
“TransPod is an entirely new concept for zero-emission, high-speed passenger and freight transportation between major cities,” added Yung Wu, CEO of MaRS Discovery District. “It’s time for our policymakers, investors and operators to take bold action to support the commercialization of Canadian-developed innovations like TransPod so we can win in the multi-trillion-dollar global innovation economy.”
replacement of aviation
Since such a system is tied to the ground, it can be powered much more easily than airplanes with CO2-free electricity. The cruising speed of such trains is far faster than that of airplanes, especially since there are no procedures for take-off and landing. The construction of the tubes is expensive and complex, but the trains don’t make any noise at all. In principle, the tube can even be laid underground. The potential is therefore infinite, such trains could make a large part of air traffic superfluous. The company does not reveal exactly what the innovations in propulsion and magnetic levitation technology look like. One of the main problems of such constructions is the power supply of the magnetic field along the long distance. Only resistance-free superconductivity makes it possible to operate something like this cost-effectively.
With the Transrapid, Germany was once the leader in magnetic levitation trains. One can say that the Transrapid 1970 was far ahead of its time and its technical possibilities and commercial operation was ultimately not possible at the time. Nevertheless, it is sad that the Federal Republic of Germany does not play a role in the race for the train technology of the future.
Also read:
Faster than an airplane – South Korea’s hyper train reaches over 1000 km/h
The 600 km/h magnetic levitation train from CRRC
Floating bridges and tubes in the open sea – the most expensive highway in the world
Harvard study shows: In ten years, China has left the USA behind in cutting-edge technology