Trains are safe, reliable, cost-effective and energy efficient. They’re a great mode of transportation in almost every way, except for one problem: the gap between them.
To be safe, you need large gaps between trains – you can’t slam on the brakes and expect hundreds of tonnes of carriages to shudder to a halt.
There must be at least 1.5 km (about 1 mile) between trains A and B. This means that there can only be about 14 trains per hour on a particular section of line.
This means the capacity of the rail network is fixed — or at least that was the case until two Israeli Air Force veterans came up with a way to essentially double that capacity.
DirecTrainSystems CEO Alberto Mandler and CTO Moti Topf have applied their knowledge of in-flight refueling of airplanes in the air to trains on the ground.
Together they came up with something they call “dynamic coupling” (not to be confused with Paltrow and Pitt’s notion of conscious uncoupling), which means that separate rail cars can connect (and uncouple) while moving at any speed.
Passenger service to one destination can also be combined with freight service to another destination for part of its journey, which will count as one train and free up capacity for additional trains.
Railroad operators have previously been able to couple trains while they were stopped, but the breakthrough here is that the coupling can be done without the trains having to stop or slow down.
Save time and energy
Imagine two branches merging into one, each capable of accommodating up to 14 trains per hour, with the connecting line also having a certain capacity.
But we can’t handle 14 plus 14 trains from both branches – it would be overcrowded and unsafe. Dynamic coupling allows the 14 trains on each branch to be paired together, resulting in 7 trains on each line instead of 14.
Dynamic coupling also brings huge savings in terms of both time and energy: each train leaving a station consumes as much electricity as an average household uses in a year.
The patented system developed by Mandler and Topf could therefore revolutionise train travel.
Piggyback service squeezes the most profit out of expensive rail infrastructure that has never lived up to its potential in the two centuries since George Stephenson introduced his locomotive.
As network capacity effectively doubles, train frequency will increase significantly (and journey times will also be significantly reduced).
Mandler said the technology could cut travel times between Haifa and Tel Aviv from 55 minutes to just 35 minutes.
Secret Formula
So how do Mandler and Topf actually couple and uncouple trains at high speed?
“How we do it is a secret,” Mandler says, “but instead of trying to control the trains, we have other mechanisms in place to help connect the trains.” He’s reluctant to say much.
“We are experts in installing new systems on aircraft. In the Air Force we refuel planes and we’re putting aircraft technology into trains. There are some similarities in how it works.”
DirecTrain managers, from left: Ishay Erel (Business Development), Moti Topf (CTO) and Alberto Mandler (CEO). Photo courtesy of DirecTrain
He explains that the plane flies at 700 kilometres per hour and has six degrees of freedom – a measure of the ability to move and rotate freely in three-dimensional space.
The train will travel 40km with one degree of freedom, which sounds like a more attractive prospect to non-engineers, with its lower speeds and less shaking.
Still, the idea of positioning the front of train A so that it can reach the rear of train B and not collide is still a bit puzzling, especially when you consider that DirecTrains’ 40km/h connection technology will eventually also work for 120km/h connections.
What they developed is similar in some ways to the Instrument Landing System (ILS) that pilots use on their approach to a runway, which provides short-range horizontal and vertical guidance via radio signals even in poor visibility.
Testing scheduled for 2025
DirecTrains’ technology has been proven to work in simulations, but it has never been tested with real trains on real tracks.
The hardware for this is currently being built, and the system is due to be tested on a test track in France early next year.
The team, based in Zikhron Yaakov in northern Israel, now needs to work on integrating the technology: Mandler said the hardware will be installed on existing trains.
“It will be another year before we can test it on a real line with all the infrastructure and signals,” he told ISRAEL21c.
The first trains to be equipped with the technology will not be passenger trains but freight trains, specifically those carrying e-commerce parcels.
“That’s our first product target market. It’s called the middle mile, delivering to major hubs outside the city. At the moment it’s done exclusively by truck because the trains coming into the city are at 100% occupancy.”
DirecTrains’ technology will allow a single small train to haul freight to take up to 15 trucks off the road.
“Rail companies are very conservative, so I think it will take them a while to introduce this to passengers. They want to see it work first,” Mandler said.
“We have invested our own money in the startup and are now waiting for a full test environment so that the railway companies will believe in our idea. Until now they thought it was science fiction.”
For more information, click here.
