Swissmetro is an innovative magnetic transportation concept of high speed trains running inside partially evacuated underground tubes with speeds between 300 and 500 kilometres per hour. Some experts see Swissmetro as a promising alternative to both air and ground high-speed transportation.
According to Swissmetro Company SA, the industrial development phase on the electro-mechanical and mechanical systems will start soon and a pilot line of about 15 kilometres will be developed "as soon as possible".
Provide an environmentally and economically sustainable means of high speed transport between metropolitan centres.
Benefits (other than environmental): big
Service
Short travel times with stations in the city centres (as opposed to airports
being usually located outside cities)
Barriers: high
From present perspective, barriers for the Swissmetro are still very high, ranging from technological uncertainties to enormous investment costs.
Success factors:
(no details available)
Applicability for railway segments: medium
Type of traction: not applicable
Type of transportation: passenger - high speed
High-speed passenger transportation.
Grade of diffusion into railway markets:
Diffusion into relevant segment of fleet: 0 %
Share of newly purchased stock: 0 %
(no details available)
Market potential (railways): highly uncertain
Being still a concept rather than a product it is too early to assess the market potential of the technology.
Example:
(no details available)
Environmental criteria
Economic criteria
Application outside railway sector (this technology is railway specific)
Overall rating
Overall potential: interesting
Time horizon: long-term
Swissmetro is a highly innovative concept for future high speed passenger transport worth considering. As such it is still affected by many uncertainties. Environmental performance could be convincing if one takes into account that such a system could gain back some market share from air transport. Major obstacle will be high initial investment.