Artist's rendering of the Universal Freight System loading a standard shipping container on to a train.
(Credit: Texas Transportation Institute)A group of Texas researchers would like to resurrect the train as chief freight mover in the U.S.
The Universal Freight Shuttle is the brainchild of Stephen Roop, assistant director Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), a branch of Texas A&M University's system chain.
The automated train, which is designed to accommodate standard shipping containers and trailers, would move forward along a track by linear induction motors powered with electricity.
Roop and others at TTI have been working on the concept and design for eight years, keeping in mind not just the technology, but how such an infrastructure would impact federal and state transportation departments, freight companies, shippers, and border security.
In addition to providing a cleaner option for shipping freight, the UFS includes a conveyor-like system to screen standard shipping containers at ports and borders while they're in motion, and automatically divert suspect containers to an area for further human inspection.
"It's moving into a commercial phase with prototyping and proposals for application in both Texas and California. This system is designed to offer an alternative to over-the-road trucking for heavily congested corridors. It is of course an electric, zero-emission solution," Roop said in an e-mail.
Shifting a fourth of U.S. freight from trucks to railroads by 2026 would spare each American an average of 41 hours of travel time, 79 gallons of fuel, and $985 in gas expenses each year, according to the seventh annual Congestion Relief Index on Tuesday.
"Freeing up space on our highways increases the flow of traffic and saves commuters' time, money, and gasoline," said Wendell Cox, who wrote the study, backed by the Association of American Railroads, and is the principal of market research firm Demographia.
Soaring fuel costs are triggering new interest in both freight and commuter trains, which remain relatively underdeveloped in the Americas. This illustration shows how high-speed trains might appear in California.
(Credit: California High-Speed Rail Authority)In addition, the report estimated that more reliance on rail transport would prevent the release of 920,500 tons of air pollution, including nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide.
The cities of Chicago and New York would enjoy the greatest U.S. reduction in emissions, according to the report. And residents of Las Vegas and of the California cities of Riverside and San Bernardino would reap more than $2,100 each in fuel savings, the greatest in the nation.
"Railroads last year were able to move a ton of freight an average of 436 miles on a gallon of diesel fuel," said railroad association president and CEO Edward R. Hamberger, speaking before the U.S. Senate last week. "It's like moving a ton from Boston to Baltimore or Eugene, Ore., to San Francisco on a gallon of fuel."
He called for the government to support bills that would expand tax credits to help railways expand capacity. His group also backs public-private partnerships to fund railroads.
Meanwhile, the cry is growing louder to fix deteriorating roadways and other infrastructure. Next year, the fund that backs federal transportation projects will be $4 billion or more in debt, according to The Economist.
Rising fuel costs are causing those in the transportation industry, as well as commuters, to see trains as an increasingly attractive alternative to freeway travel.
Some Americans are rethinking long commutes that largely shape workday suburban lifestyles.
Many environmental groups and urban planners hope that high-speed trains, which have long zipped people around in Europe and Japan, will alleviate congestion and reduce pollution in the United States.
Californians will have the option to vote in November to back 220 mph high-speed railway projects, which have been proposed in the state for several decades and have the backing of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Others would like to see personal aircraft develop as an alternative to land-bound transport.
Vacationing in Japan this week I accidentally rode on the world's first diesel-electric hybrid train in commercial service: The Kiha E200 running on the East Japan Railway's Koumi Line. Aside from being a new train, introduced in 2007, it seemed like any other, but the photographers camped out for a shot along the mountainous route told otherwise.
JR East's Kiha E200 hybrid train
(Credit: Sinobyte)The train is a working prototype in use since July 2007 with the aim of gathering data for eventual mass production. Like a hybrid car, the diesel-powered engine is used during acceleration and the electric motor kicks in to maintain speed while collecting energy during braking.
As you can see in this YouTube video, the ride is smooth and quiet, and each train also includes a data screen near the bathrooms (that I didn't notice, since I'd gone at the station). The Koumi Line, according to the video caption (and Wikipedia Japan), is Japan's highest altitude train line at 1,375 meters, and it has spectacular views of the southern mountain range on the main Japanese island of Honshu, including Mt. Fuji. Developing highly efficient train transport will turn green mass transit even greener. Let's hope the test runs work out and other train companies get on board. Now, for the globally mobile, can I get a hybrid jumbo jet over here?
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