Waverail – Energy miser

Rail transport is a big ticket energy item and, with global warming looming, reducing the energy use of suburban transport becomes a must. Waverail’s saving in energy – about 90% acceleration energy saving compared to conventional rail - is one of its most stunning feature and due entirely to the non-stop mode of operation.

Costs correlated to energy use are cost of purchase, cost of processing (motor, drive train, rail wear), and cost of energy destruction (brakes, rail wear, brake pollution). This has to be kept in mind when trying to understand how Waverail, with its many drivers, is profitable.

Briton's elders mastered it - 151 years ago!

MECHANISM OF THE SLIP. The diagram shows the way in which the slip lever pulls back the bolt that keeps the slip hook closed, and the method of uniting the vacuum brake couplings.
Picture and caption courtesy of Mike's Railway history(2009)


Already in 19th century England small stations were serviced from non-stop express trains. This was achieved by a guard in a rear car uncoupling that car at a precise point from the travelling express. Without motor, the car had to be skillfully coasted into the station. This slip-coach called system, to the credit of our forefathers, operated for 67 years until 1939.

Railway Eye - the railway blog: Waverail promises the return of the slip-coach?

Railway Eye, a British railway site, recently included Waverail. It raised three casual questions pertaining mainly to in-car walking.

The Waverail team comments:
1

With Waverail it is generally not possible to do one station only. See video below. Exactly what is possible when, is shown in the Parramattalink pages and in FAQ. Particular cases have to be referred to our specialised Waverail calculation program.

2

For walking Waverail passenger it is normally not recommended to read while travelling. iPod seems ok. But it is also ok to just sit in Waverail and indeed this is what is recommended for the elderly or frail. Such passengers travel somewhat slower because they have stops every so often. See the various charts and figures as well as the video below.

3

Walking up the car is in fact always the lesser problem, requires less walking speed (see graph above) and only fairly exotic systems at capacity fill are expected cause any sort of problem.




Links: A British reaction to Waverail

Waverail introduces itself

Waverail(TM) is a tram style light rail operation which embodies the world's first truly sustainable road transport. It uses non-stop sling-swap technology resulting in transportation as fast and as high-capacity as a train at speeds suitable for on-road operation. Its high personnel costs - each railcar has adriver - are overcome by extraordinary savings in energy, capital and maintenance, giving it, especially in high volume application, a remarkable profitability.