There are on an average 30 stations between Beijing and Guangzhou and stopping and accelerating at each station leads to loss of time and energy. On an average stop time of 5 minutes, the train incurs a loss of 2 and half hours of running time. The Chinese have developed a new concept to avoid this problem. A train that never stops at any station.
The new technology which is still in the conceptual stage involves the train to have an overhead connecter cabin that can be picked up and dropped off at any station. For those who are boarding the train from the station gets on to the connector cabin at the station which will be picked up by the arriving train. The train does not stop but just slows down and the connector cabin slides on to the roof of the train.
Simultaneously another cabin at the rear end of the train will have all the passengers who wish to get out at that particular station. This cabin is dropped off at the station in a similar manner. The cabin that was picked up earlier now moves towards the back of the train for passengers to alight at the next station. This also allows the passengers to disembark the cabin at their own time at the station after the train has left the cabin behind.
In this way the train leaves behind a cabin which will be picked up by the next train and the cycle goes on.
- Nikhil Mukundakumar for YourStory
