Peep into this picture of the future

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 48, 22 June 1965, Page 4

Peep into this picture

of the future

"The passenger enters a train of long, . slim ears shaped like projectiles. In an atmosphere created by soft music and soft ; lighting, he sinks into a comfortable ehair, straps on a seat-belt, and tells an attractive hostess his destination — say 500 miles ( away. ( "With a slight. almost im- : perceptible lift the wheel- ■ less, trackless train takes off through a gleaming metal tube, swiftly gaining speed until it reaches a steady, smooth, softly whispering 400 miles per hour. At intermediate points, scarcely slackening its speed, the train spins off cars and picks up new ones from high-speed feeder loops. "Some where along the route the passenger orders a snack and a drink, and perhaps watches an up-to-the minute newscast. While still 50 miles or so from his destination, he picks up the phone and makes ^ arrangements to be met at the terminal. The trip, from one station to the other, has taken something under two hours. "This may well describe railroading a decade or so hence — except that since there are no "rails" and no "road," these far-from unlikely developments may by then have rendered the word itself all but obsolete. "But this is only one of many revolutionary projects for speeding up railroad transportat-ion now on the drawing boards. Employing ramjet engines or linear electric induction motors (in which the third rail is the stator and the vehicle itself is the rotor) and moving swiftly on rtibber-tyred wheels or cushions of air, or propelled through evacuated tubes — all have this common aim: to galvanise into new life an industry that has long been virtually dormant. "With but few exceptions, passenger train speeds have not changed substantially in 50 years, and in many countries the rjbeerless, cavjernous terminals have not been painted in nearly as long a period. "As the highways and airways of heavily industrialised countries have grown ever more congested, railroads have suffered a steady and steep decline in traffic. Now the time may be close at hand for the pendulum to swing the other way. "Much has been done, and is being done, by the more efficient application of today's technologies — improved track structure and maintenance, signaling, communications and terminal operatios, as well as improved cars and motive power. "There is nothing really new, for example, about Japan's crack new Tokaido train, which with conventional electric power

makes the run from Tokyo to Osaka at speeds of from 125 to 150 miles per hour. "Its speed is- attained by j the use of inile-long sections of weided steel rail, mounted on rubber blocks and prestressed concrete ties, and by the elimination of most curves. B>r similar methods another such train, during a short experimental run in France, actually attained a speed of over 200 miles per hour! "Most countries are as proud of their crack trains and the efficiency of their railroad servic.es as they are of their choicest manufactures for export. "Thus, travellers returning from Europe are more apt to remember the Simp-lon-Orient Express than the societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais, its operator; or the Coronation Scot than the British National Raiiways.

"Similarly, Italy has its Rapido, South Africa its Blue Train, Spain its Andalusia Express. # "Each has developed over the years a presence, a personal ity, that is as much a respected symbol^of .its country as the more colourfully portrayed tourist attractions which are often the primary enticements for^ visitors/' Oil Progress points out. I "It. may fairly be sai(} that the railroad, for any nation, is its single, most powerful integrating force. The tempo of economic life is in large part determined by the orderly, . scheduled I movement of people froip. home to business, and of goods from producing to consuming areas. • "The travelling public and world industry await the new developments that will' speed this process," tfie | magazine concludes.