I do have to admit the idea is pretty cool though. Not sure how they could be used practically for anything that would justify the cost though. Like cargo transit? At least then you can cut more safety requirements compared to human passengers. But then you have the question of why go to that effort to move cargo faster than a train anyway
Yeah, although as with most things Musky, the concept was already musty by that point. His particular talent seems to be getting other people to spend their own time and money on his pet projects.
I think you hit the nail on the head, and I would guess that cheap, ubiquitous access to high-bandwith telecom, and improved air transit probably displaced a lot of the potential demand for long-disrance, passenger rail transport. Standard rail is already cheap for cargo.
I don’t think we’ll see a serious revisitation of the concept until population density and environmental damage make air travel less appealing and economical.
Having said that, and despite it’s many problems, maglev vactrains come with a bunch of cool stuff and could be potentially cheaper per mile traveled than current rail (obviously the upfront, per-mile cost of track is orders of magnitude higher).
NYC to LA in about an hour (if they’re still above sea level by that point).
Underground, so cooling is cheaper, and it leaves more space on the surface, fewer traffic crossings, etc.
Electric power, which will probably be even cheaper by that time, if it ever comes.
Massive utility conduits. You already built a big-ass tunnel spanning a continent. Why not add water, power, and data conduits for a relatively small additional cost?
Very few moving parts. Potentially less maintenance that standard rail, albeit more than surface maglev. This also makes it more amenable to automation, allowing for individual cars/carriages to travel. This means being able to offer several trips per hour rather than per day with a similar or even better occupancy.
Anyway, that’s just my fantasy, but at this point, I might as well wish for a flying unicorn.
The vast majority of a long distance railway goes through land with fuck all value. Some cows might be annoyed by the rails taking space from their field but that is about it. It’s only the end part in a city where you may want to save space by putting it underground.
Can’t argue with that. I would happily support conventional, surface, high-speed, passenger rail. If some cows get annoyed in the process, that’s just a nice little bonus. They know what they did.
Wasn’t that Musks failed hyperloop thing?
I do have to admit the idea is pretty cool though. Not sure how they could be used practically for anything that would justify the cost though. Like cargo transit? At least then you can cut more safety requirements compared to human passengers. But then you have the question of why go to that effort to move cargo faster than a train anyway
Yeah, although as with most things Musky, the concept was already musty by that point. His particular talent seems to be getting other people to spend their own time and money on his pet projects.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vactrain
I think you hit the nail on the head, and I would guess that cheap, ubiquitous access to high-bandwith telecom, and improved air transit probably displaced a lot of the potential demand for long-disrance, passenger rail transport. Standard rail is already cheap for cargo.
I don’t think we’ll see a serious revisitation of the concept until population density and environmental damage make air travel less appealing and economical.
Having said that, and despite it’s many problems, maglev vactrains come with a bunch of cool stuff and could be potentially cheaper per mile traveled than current rail (obviously the upfront, per-mile cost of track is orders of magnitude higher).
NYC to LA in about an hour (if they’re still above sea level by that point).
Underground, so cooling is cheaper, and it leaves more space on the surface, fewer traffic crossings, etc.
Electric power, which will probably be even cheaper by that time, if it ever comes.
Massive utility conduits. You already built a big-ass tunnel spanning a continent. Why not add water, power, and data conduits for a relatively small additional cost?
Very few moving parts. Potentially less maintenance that standard rail, albeit more than surface maglev. This also makes it more amenable to automation, allowing for individual cars/carriages to travel. This means being able to offer several trips per hour rather than per day with a similar or even better occupancy.
Anyway, that’s just my fantasy, but at this point, I might as well wish for a flying unicorn.
The vast majority of a long distance railway goes through land with fuck all value. Some cows might be annoyed by the rails taking space from their field but that is about it. It’s only the end part in a city where you may want to save space by putting it underground.
Can’t argue with that. I would happily support conventional, surface, high-speed, passenger rail. If some cows get annoyed in the process, that’s just a nice little bonus. They know what they did.