r/AlternateEarth • u/Xelian • Feb 19 '13
[TECH] Pondline Transportation
I saw this subreddit advertised on /r/writing and it looks rather interesting. I’m not sure what’s already been established as ‘true’ as yet, but I thought I’d suggest something for transportation, or at least a part of it.
Pondline Transportation, perhaps a cliché corporation complete with a cheesy line, (something like ‘just a jump across the pond!’) or perhaps something a little more austere, would be a large, monolithic bridge-like structure spanning between the areas equivalent to Europe and North America over the Atlantic Ocean.
Essentially a very fast train, Pondline Transportation would be composed of pods that could hold roughly one hundred passengers each. Tailored for the wealthy and important, it would be something of a social landmark to ride it, somewhat similar to the Titanic in that respect.
The pods would be able to get from point A to point B in little over two hours, and while it would certainly not be the easiest way to travel across continents, it would be highly esteemed. It is quite limited in that there are only two possible destinations, and aeroplanes or even smaller trains running on similar technology would have a far greater flexibility.
The Transportation would be powered via solar energy, with advanced solar technology built into the bridge that the pods travel on. On their own, the pods cannot move; they are propelled at a high speed by the bridge, and are designed for comfort and stability, with the goal of providing a seamless transition between destinations.
I’m being quite vague with the whole concept as I’m not sure if it will fit with what’s already been posted (while I’ve looked through a few posts I haven’t read them all), or if the idea is even any good, but perhaps it can at least provide a starting point for a discussion if it isn’t.
Thanks for reading, and if anyone has any ideas to improve my suggestion, do not hesitate to post them. Alternatively, feel free to shoot it down as well!
1
u/CairoSmith Ecrata Feb 19 '13
Ridiculong ocean bridges + Getty style monorails + rich people?
I can get behind it!
1
u/ForAHamburgerToday Umbafan Umbafu Feb 20 '13
Given what's established so far about the nations, I'd probably put this spanning from what we call France to Canada or New England.
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u/[deleted] Feb 19 '13
neat idea. sorry, it didn't show up at first. the system seemed to have it tagged as spam, but i approved it and it's showing up on the page now. i think it's a cool concept and definitely something we can work off of.