Name: The Problem With Fast Trains: What Happened to Hovertrains?
Uploaded: 2021-05-28T09:55:46.000Z
Duration: 10 min 50 s
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In 1974, a French train smashes through a speed record, exceeding 250 miles per hour.

But this train is unlike any other before it.

It hovers on a cushion of air, and because of that, it can travel efficiently at very

Maybe, you've never heard of hovertains, but by the 1970's, they were seriously being

considered as the solution to slow, antiquated railways

which, in many countries were in decline.

In developed countries, ridership was plummeting and railways were in decline.

In Britain, some routes were still served by steam locomotives.

And the public was beginning to view rail as slow and outdated.

Trains now had to compete with newly built superhighways and intercity air travel.

And even Japan's newly introduced Bullet Train, a technical marvel for 1964, was initially

only running at speeds of up to 130 miles an hour.

Part of the problem was most rail lines in the developed world, were built a half century

earlier, with their sharp twists and curves, they just weren't built for speed.

And it had to do with the shape of their wheels.

Train wheels are not perfectly cylindrical, they're cone-like in shape.

And this is what keeps them on their track, especially around curves.

While the wheels also have flanges, these are really just a backup in case limits of

The conical shape of train wheels is a brilliant innovation.

But there's a problem, and it's called Hunting Oscillation.

At higher speeds, the cone-like shape causes a train to increasingly rock from side to side.

The flanges start hitting the track, which increases resistance, making higher speeds

Given enough speed, Hunting Oscillation can even cause a train to derail itself, on a

This meant that trains essentially had a speed limit built right into their basic design.

So in the 1960's, the thinking was that maybe it was time to get rid of wheels all together.

The French have already built the Aerotrain. Designed to reduce the running

friction problems of wheeled trains by doing away with the wheels.

By feeding high pressure air through lifting pads, the train would float on a cushion of

The track would act merely as a guideway.

Without the rolling resistance of wheels, a hovertrain promised efficiency and much

And leading the way for this promising technology was a French engineer named Jean Bertin.

By 1973, Bertin and his team had built a hovertrain that could carry 80 passengers.

French officials and the media marveled at its combination of speed and smooth ride.

Over the years, he had worked tirelessly to develop several prototypes, proving the viability

With each success, he secured a healthy dose of government funding.

The most advanced Aerotrain was powered by a turbofan.

It produced over twelve thousand pounds of thrust.

At the front, a 400 horse power gas-turbine supplied high-pressure air to hover this twenty

tonne loaded train a quarter of an inch off its guideway.

And the guideway, was essentially poured concrete.

An Aerotrain could easily hover over imperfections.

That meant that hovertrain lines were potentially easier to build than conventional rail and

On March 5, 1974, an Aerotrain proved it could travel at nearly two hundred and sixty miles

And it might have gone even faster, had its test track had been longer.

The success of Bertin's prototypes led to plans for Aerotrain links throughout France.

And just a couple months after the record breaking speed-run, a contract was signed

to begin construction of the very first line.

Outside of France, the world was also taking note.

The British, who had invented the hovercraft, could see the enormous potential of hovertrain

They constructed their own hovertrain test track in 1970.

And in some ways, Britain's research into hovertrains was even more advanced.

Their prototype, the RTV-31 Tracked Hovercraft was designed around another important innovation.

Although Bertin also experimented with Linear Induction Motors, most of his Aerotrains were

But a Linear Induction Motor is more efficient.

Instead of the rotary movement of a conventional motor, it provides a linear force for forward

Without any of the noise or pollution of a turbofan running at ground level.

The British were aiming to build a transportation system that could travel at two hundred and

The Americans, not ones to be outdone were also researching hovertrain technologies.

In 1965, the High Speed Ground Transportation Act was passed.

It was an effort to introduce faster rail to America.

Funding was put towards developing new technologies and even licensing Bertin's Aerotrain designs.

Various hovertrain prototypes were developed, some powered by Linear Induction Motors, others

But the most developed prototype was the Urban Tracked Air Cushion Vehicle.

With its sleek windowless cockpit and Blade Runner styling, it certainly looks fast.

It was designed to operate in heavily travelled urban areas and had a top speed of about 150

The Tracked Air Cushion Vehicle was a fully developed prototype that underwent regular

testing on its track in Pueblo, Colorado.

At the start of the 1970's, hovertrains looked poised to revolutionize rail.

But just a few years later, not a single country was pursuing the technology.

Ambitious plans for Aerotrain links throughout France never materialized.

All that's left today are the abandoned test tracks.

A global recession in the 1970's pressured governments to cut funding for ambitious transportation

And some critical technical challenges were never really worked out.

At high speeds, hovertrains could travel more efficiently than conventional trains but at

low speeds, they wouldn't stand a chance.

In the 1970's, the first maglev train were already in development.

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The Problem With Fast Trains: What Happened to Hovertrains?

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