Hovertrain

An air track or air cushion suspension railway is a track-guided air cushion vehicle that can be used as a mass means of transport like a train or a tram.

Technology

The air track does not run on wheels and rails, but on a cushion of air under the car like a hovercraft. The pressure of the air apron thereby lifts the track off the ground, and a rigid cable like a chair lift pulls the car on its air cushion over a guide rail along the route. Similarly, only with magnetic repulsion, magnetic levitation trains work, but they can use their magnets for the buoyancy to generate propulsion. The air track, however, requires an additional source of propulsion, usually cables or driven rubber wheels, which is mounted horizontally leave the concrete rail. The air track is very quiet and moves very little vibration, since no contact is made with the ground. This increases the comfort for passengers.

The energy consumption for operation is much lower than with conventional railway systems, since the contact friction is eliminated. This also results in a significantly lower wear of components. However, due to the construction of the railway is only suitable for flat, that is, straight lines without striking inclines and declines. Besides cable driven railways, there are also recoil -driven or motor-driven linear systems.

As a forefather of today's air track systems, the French Aerotrain would be mentioned, which was powered by two Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines and supplied with air for the air cushion. Because of the high noise levels and other problems, the project was terminated after 1969.

History

The first known air cushion suspension railway is the French Aérotrain, which was tested in 1965. There was a run on an inverted T- shaped concrete rail track with recoil drive (initially by propeller, test, by rocket engines, later by jet engines ). After the oil crisis of this system should be equipped with linear motor drive ( about the same time were at that time numerous concepts for gas turbine-driven high-speed trains abandoned ), the development was abandoned in favor of the TGV.

As part of the development of the German Transrapid maglev also a test vehicle ( Transrapid 03), in which it was a linear motor driven air cushion suspension railway was built. After the failed negative comparison tests with the Transrapid 02, the concept was not pursued further.

A 1.28 km long air cushion suspension railway in 1985 implemented in Serfaus in Tyrol. Up to the village of Serfaus is driven by a laterally extending rope. Another air cushion suspension railway is the Skymetro at Zurich Airport, which is also driven by cables and there the old airport building with the new apron - terminal E ( Midfield) connects to 1138 m in length.