"the train that never stops"

I had thoughts of Thomas the train engine when I first read the link (h/t Tyler Cowen). Instead, it's a Chinese train system concept that seems pretty elegant.


This is how the video is described:

1. For those who are boarding the train : The passengers at a station embarks onto to a connector cabin way before the train even arrives at the station. When the train arrives, it will not stop at all. It just slows down to pick up the connector cabin which will move with the train on the roof of the train.

While the train is still moving away from the station, those passengers will board the train from the connector cabin mounted on the train's roof. After fully unloading all its passengers, the cabin connector cabin will be moved to the back of the train so that the next batch of outgoing passengers who want to alight at the next station will board the connector cabin at the rear of the train roof.

2. For those who are getting off: As stated after fully unloading all its passengers, the cabin connector cabin will be moved to the back of the train so that the next batch of outgoing passengers who want to alight at the next station will board the connector cabin at the rear of the train roof. When the train arrives at the next station, it will simply drop the whole connector cabin at the station itself and leave it behind at the station. The outgoing passengers can take their own time to disembark at the station while the train had already left. At the same time, the train will pick up the incoming embarking passengers on another connector cabin in the front part of the train's roof. So the train will always drop one connector cabin at the rear of its roof and pick up a new connector cabin in the front part of the train's roof at each station.

This will probably work better for long distance travel where the stations are further apart rather than densely populated areas with relatively shorter distances between stations like New York City.

I can also see some constraints based on the time it takes to reach the next station from the previous one. That is, to give people time to board and disembark the shuttles to prepare for the next station.

Otherwise, it's a pretty neat concept.