Racing past modern high speed trains
Similar to maglev trains, the ET3 system features tubes powered by electricity and uses magnetic levitation to travel over 300 miles per hour.
ET3 will initially test its new system for cities that are spaced 200 to 600 miles apart. Traveling within an infrastructure that mirrors freeways, capsules will be designed to run automatically with capabilities of reaching speeds between 300 to 400 mph for domestic trips, which would match or even surpass the world's fastest high speed trains. The company said on its site that the tubes might be developed to race up to 4,000 mph while traveling internationally. At this speed, passengers could arrive in Beijing from New York in only two hours.
The capsules themselves weigh 400 pounds with the capacity to carry up to six people at a time. The advantage ET3 has over high speed rail systems is that it needs a fraction of the material to construct the tubes (1/20th) for 1/10th the cost of a high speed rail, according to the company.
Will Toor, transportation policy director for Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, said the U.S. will have to use a combination of energy efficiency, clean fuels and renewable energy sources to reduce GHG emissions 80 percent by 2050 as a goal.
"We need to have a much more entrepreneurial and innovative approach to transportation if we want to have success at making transportation sustainable on a large scale," Toor said, according to the Daily Camera. "It's important to be exploring a broader universe of alternatives than we have in the past."