Trains

From dream-green.org Wiki

Dream Green Train

The Big Island is ripe for a bullit train in rural areas allowing high speeds without a carbon print and zero emissions and monorail trains in densely populated areas. Trains using renewable energy sources such as hydrogen or electricity could be built linking Kona and Hilo and circling the entire island linking all the towns. These trains could not only haul people and cargo but be an affordable transit system for Big Island residents. Tourists could be charged more for using the trains and would increase the economy.

A bullit train could link Kona and Hilo going over Saddle Road or directly using tunnels or over ground using monorails. The bullet train has helped out the economy of Japan and made the lives easier for the Japan population because of the trains faster travel time and power efficiency. Bullit trains in Europe travel 300 to 320 MPH.

Regular or slower trains with zero emissions could haul not only people but also goods using space on some cars so items could be moved from various locations to other places on the island. Using renewable energy would provide a cheap transportation system for the island to supplement and reduce the heavy traffic in Kona and Hilo. The Big Island could set the lead in using renewable energy to power these trains and the rest of the Hawaiian Islands could follow this lead. JR-Maglev is a magnetic levitation train system developed by the Central Japan Railway Company and Railway Technical Research Institute (association of Japan Railways Group). JR-Maglev MLX01 (X means experimental) is one of the latest designs of a series of Maglev trains in development in Japan since the 1970s. The Japanese may be interested in developing a high speed train connecting Hilo and Kona. The entire island could be connected serving all the communities around the Big Island.The TGV (train à grande vitesse, French for "high-speed train") is France's high-speed rail service developed by GEC-Alsthom (now Alstom) and SNCF, the French national rail operator, and operated primarily by SNCF. The TGV uses LGV track construction which is the process by which the land on which TGV trains are to run is prepared for their use, involving carving the trackbed and laying the track. It is similar to the building of standard railway lines, but there are differences. The TGV uses large amounts of electricity which the Big Island could produce for such a project with renewable resources making the Big Island ideal for a railway service. The JR-Maglev levitation train uses an Electro-dynamic Suspension (EDS) system. Moving magnetic fields create a reactive force in a conductor because of the magnetic field induction effect. This force holds up the train. The maglev-trains have superconducting magnetic coils, and the guide ways contain levitation coils. MAGLEV, or magnetic levitation, is a system of transportation that suspends, guides and (usually) propels vehicles, predominantly trains, using magnetic forces. This method has the potential to be faster, quieter and smoother than wheeled mass transit systems, potentially reaching velocities comparable to turboprop and jet aircraft (900 km/h, 600 mph). Transrapid is a German high-speed monorail train using magnetic levitation. The system is developed and marketed by Transrapid International, a joint venture of Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp AG. Shanghai Magnetic Levitation Demonstration Operation Line is the first commercial high-speed maglev line in the world. The line is operated by Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co., Ltd. The train can reach 350 km/h (220 mph) in 2 minutes, with a maximum speed in normal operation of 431 km/h (268 mph). Progress of world interest have been made in Maglev transport not merely in Germany and Japan. Since the seventies of the 20 century, developed countries like Japan, USA, Canada, France, UK etc have in succession carried out development of maglev transport system. For more information click here.In Japan research of a high-speed transportaton system of zero emission by using ground effect, Aero-Train, which exhausts neither carbon dioxide nor nitrogen oxide, is currently being carried out. It is the high efficient transportaton system that Aero-Train uses wings and ground effect. Aero-Train is aimed at beginning to service by 2020. The Japanese research currently being done should not be confused with the American Areotrain developed in 1970 by Rohr Industries. Rohr Industries decided to develop an aérotrain as part of a project by the Urban Mass Transit Administration to sponsor development of new mass transit technology to meet future transit requirements. The Rohr prototype aérotrain was propelled by linear motor and was designed to carry 60 passengers at 150 mph (240 km/h). It had a length of 94 ft (28 m) and an empty weight of 46,000 pounds (20.8 metric tons). A test track was built in Pueblo, Colorado, where the prototype reached speeds of 145 mph (constrained by the length of track). Funding from UMTA ceased and the Rohr Industries Aérotrain was never commercialized. The French Aérotrain that was a hovercraft train developed in France from 1965 to 1977 by Jean Bertin. The story about this train is interesting.The German Das französische Schwebebahnprojekt Aérotrain is another Aerotrain with an interesting history.

Monorails

Monrail transportation systems have been around for a long time and have a rich history. The Big Island could be connected by such a system in each village, town and city. These monorail tracks could be connected from small stations in densely populated areas to the larger train stations that could connect to other parts of the island using faster trains. The Disney Monorail has been around since 1959 and continues to operate in many Disney Parks throughout the world. There are other monorails operating throughout the world. There are many in [Europe]. There are just about as many in Japan. Asia has the highest number of monorails. There are a significant number of monorails in North America. There are a few in Australia. And last but not least is Hawaii's only monorail at the Pearlridge. Developers grappled with what to do about the sugar cane field barrier between the two buildings of the Pearlridge Mall in Honolulu. A short monorail shuttle by Rohr was installed to carry visitors between the two facilities. Tourists and residents use this monorail. Honolulu is spending a huge amount of taxpayers money for a new elevated commuter rail line. According to Honolulu Rail Transit, "Honolulu Rail Transit is a proposed 20-mile elevated rail line being developed that will connect West O‘ahu with downtown Honolulu and Ala Moana and, one day, will extend even further to Honolulu International Airport, Waikiki, UH Manoa and Kalaeloa. The system features 200-foot-long electric, steel-wheel trains capable of carrying more than 300 passengers each. Trains can carry more than 6,000 riders per hour. By 2030, up to 90,000 riders per day are expected to use rail transit." This rail system has brought about much criticism mainly due to the cost. The Big Island could learn from what has happened with this rail system and try to make improvements on a better train for the Big Island run by a non profit organization rather than city and state government.

ROMAG Maglev GRT Technology

Another interesting technology that may be used in towns on the Big Island is the ROMAG Maglev GRT Technology. Since it is very costly to build underground trains on the Big Island due to the hard lava rock, rails could be used either above or on top the ground and the vehicle using Maglev. These rails would connect to train stations from outlying areas and into the towns and villages of the Big Island. This would reduce carbon emissions since they would be run on renewable energy source.