I love public transportation. Every day, millions of people can move more easily and more economically. Thanks to advances in trains and buses around the world. But I sometimes wish that mass transit could be a little better—for example, powered by jet planes and straight out of a science fiction comic.
Well, that's exactly the type of mass transit. A system tried by France It pioneered in the 1960s with amazing airplane/train hybrids like the one seen here. The work was called Aerotrain and was first patented in 1962 by engineer Jean Bertin. British newspaper Metro report. The site describes it as follows:
In early plans, the Aerotrain seemed fanciful. When lead engineer and designer Jean Bertin conceptualized this product, it looked like something half-remembered from his old science fiction comics. After all, it was a wheelless train that could float off the tracks and travel at speeds of up to 270 miles per hour. It's just a fanciful idea. But Bertin knew it was entirely possible.
The idea is very simple, a purpose-built vehicle Speed along specially designed tracks. However, instead of running on diesel power or electricity, it will be powered by a huge turbine engine mounted at the rear.
Bertin and his team began prototyping the AeroTrain to prove its ease of use, and were also successful in securing a 2 million grant. french franc, about $3.5 million in today's money. They used it to build a half-size working prototype and exhibited it outside Paris.
The prototype looked great, all polished silver bodywork and flashes of bright red. There is a 260 horsepower aircraft engine in the rear, which proved to be enough to propel the model to speeds of 360 miles per hour, Metro reports. Everything started looking very promising for Aerotrain, and the developer even won a contract to build a line connecting Paris' La Défense business district to the town of Cergy-Pontoise.
However, new president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing took office and the funds What is called high-speed rail. Therefore, this project was canceled in 1974. Instead, the funds were used to develop his TGV high-speed rail network in France.
The TGV network currently covers more than 1,675 miles nationwide. Ride a train at a speed of over 180 miles per hour. So while the money ended up going towards something better than Aerotrain, it's a shame the project never really got off the ground.
