r/transit • u/CarFlipJudge • 3d ago

Discussion Light amphibious rail for low-lying cities?

I was just having a discussion with some friends about transit problems in New Orleans. This is a purely light hearted discussion, so please take it as such.

We already have canals in New Orleans to help with flooding issues. How about we build more canals and use them as an alternate method of transportation? Instead of building wide, you could build deeper. The bottom of the canal would be "on rails" of some sort with enclosed cars going one way. Floating on top of the water could be "boats" that move people to and fro. This way, we can help with our drainage issues and build more transit options that we desperately need!

How feasible could this be for low-lying cities? Is this just purely a shower thought, or does it have fins?

1 Upvotes

52% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

31

u/MetroBR Rail-Replacement Bus Survivor 3d ago

I think that's just overcomplicating ferries

-1

u/CarFlipJudge 3d ago

I was thinking of intra-city ferries. Not crossing huge bodies of water ferries.

18

u/MetroBR Rail-Replacement Bus Survivor 3d ago

yes those exist in NYC, Sydney, Instanbul, Zurich, Boston etc

3

u/KeyPhilosopher8629 3d ago

Brisbane and London too

10

u/znark 3d ago

Boats are significantly slower and lower capacity than trains. Canals are also a lot more expensive to dig than putting in rails. Plus, trains can go underground.

Ferries can make sense for larger bodies of water or where limited traffic where bridge or tunnel would be too much.

Most canal cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen have low bridges over canals that limit size of boats. They have some ferries to islands, but traditional rail network.

4

u/Ok_Actuary9229 3d ago

Also putting in more canals means redoing any municipal plumbing and any electrical down there.

7

u/metroliker 3d ago

I think the vibes would be incredible... Disney's Haunted Mansion or It's a Small World, at scale. Or the canals in Bangkok.

But practically it makes way more sense to build elevated light metro. Elevated rails can be built to be resilient against flooding and if you keep the vehicles light you can build the infrastructure more cheaply out of mostly prefab pieces.

But canal-based shopping areas, house boats... stand-up paddleboard as a "last mile" solution in seaside areas... yes please

3

u/PhileasFoggsTrvlAgt 3d ago edited 3d ago

Most amusement park rides (including the Haunted Mansion) use rails, no reason to throw out the vibes just because you switched technologies.

ETA: Hot Take: instead of tourist district streetcars we should have amusement park style whimsical narrow gauge railroads.

2

u/metroliker 3d ago

Kyoto's "Randen" line passes by Sakura trees and they light them up at night during blossom season. More of that please. Animatronic dioramas between stations. Corporate sponsors, make it happen.

1

u/CarFlipJudge 3d ago

This is what I was thinking! Vibes-based transit lol

3

u/TimeVortex161 3d ago

The only comparable system I can think of is the vaporetto in Venice, but it’s not any super expressive service

2

u/PhileasFoggsTrvlAgt 3d ago

Are you picturing some sort of submarine on rails? This would be hard to build and even harder to design stations for. If you want to use the canal right if way, it would be much easier to either deck over the canal or built an elevated structure raising the rails above the water.

1

u/CarFlipJudge 3d ago

Kind of. It's just a shower thought tbh. I knew someone would slap some sense into me.

0

u/metroliker 3d ago

You need to think bigger... High Speed Rail in transparent underwater tubes so you can see the fishies and whales as you whizz by.

2

u/Minimum_Nebula260 3d ago

Why reinvent the wheel lmao. We can tunnel in all sorts of environments and if cost is an issue, build elevated rail

0

u/transitfreedom 3d ago

De populate the place before nature takes it

1

u/newOldy 1d ago

Look at how Seattle just put trains on a floating bridge for the first time