By Loz
Blain
July 13, 2022
Facebook
Twitter
Flipboard
LinkedIn
Cargo Sous Terrain is beginning work on the first 70-km
stretch of an autonomous underground cargo logistics system Photo credit: Cargo Sous Terrain
VIEW 8 IMAGES
The idea is to develop a fully autonomous, zero-emissions
transport system for small cargo loads that can take some strain off a road
system that's projected to be smashed with nearly 40 percent more traffic in 30
years' time. But where Hyperloop-TT's project aims to fire entire shipping
containers around Europe at transonic 1,220-km/h (760-mph) speeds in ultra-low-drag
vacuum tubes, Cargo Sous Terrain (CST) is taking a much more humble and
achievable approach.
Each tunnel will have a diameter around 6 m (20 ft), and a
flat floor divided into three lanes. Along these lanes, platoons of small cargo
pods will travel at speeds around 30 km/h (18.6 mph). These pods will be big
enough to hold a pallet or two, and there'll be refrigerated ones available for
fresh produce and the like. They'll drive themselves with electric motors, and
they'll receive power through induction rails.
Elevators will lift and lower the pods between above-ground
logistics hubs and the underground tunnels Cargo Sous Terrain
Pods will be loaded up at above-ground logistics facilities,
then lowered down to on/off-ramp sections of
the tunnel system on elevators. The outside lanes of the tunnels will be
one-way, while the inside lanes can be dynamically configured to prevent traffic
jams if a high number of pods are waiting for a single elevator.
CST estimates that three billion Swiss francs (~US$3.056
billion) will get the first bit built and operational, between Zurich and
Härkingen/Niederbipp, and claims "no subsidies are being used in building
the infrastructure and operating the tunnel." Indeed, it seems it'll be
fully privately funded; Switzerland's Federal Council has ruled out
co-financing CST with public funds – but the Swiss government has put new legislation in place to pave the way for the
project to happen, and as a result the company now has access to some US$100
million worth of pre-sourced private investment money to get going.
The company is yet to break ground, but has entered the
planning permission phase and begun investigating and surveying locations for
the first 10 hubs, prioritizing locations that'll take the maximum traffic off
the roads. If all goes to plan, the CST tunnel network will spread out for some
500 km (311 miles) across the country, From Geneva to St. Gallen, with short
secondary lines shooting off to Basel, Lucerne and Thun.
The entire project aims to use renewable energy Cargo Sous
Terrain
Apart from the drop in surface traffic, the CST is designed
to make a minimal impact on the daily lives of citizens. It'll be more or less
invisible to the eye, nearly silent, and totally run on renewable energy. The
company appears to have no plans for passenger services, a decision which
simplifies things greatly. Indeed, it all looks rather sensible and doable.
Check out a short video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htTo-_5X8gA
Cargo sous terrain – The Future of Freight Transport
Source: Cargo Sous Terrain