Fernando Alcoforado*
This article aims to present the great inventions that contributed to the development of land and pipeline transport throughout history, as well as to show their probable future evolution. The means of land transport operate in the transport of people and cargo within cities and in the exchange between cities, states and surrounding countries, contributing to the economic and social development of a country or a region [3, 4. 5 and 6]. Land transport means are classified as rail, which use trains, electric trams and inclined planes, road transport, which use buses, cars, trucks, bicycles and motorcycles, subways that use the subway, as well as other means of transport such as urban elevators and cable cars. Pipeline or tubular means of transport are those made by means of tubes (gas pipelines, oil pipelines, alcohol pipelines, ore pipelines) to transport gases and fluids. This article presents in detail how the invention of the railway, the subway, the electric tram, the motor vehicle (internal combustion car, electric car and autonomous vehicle), the truck, the bicycle, the motorcycle, the elevator and ducts. In addition, it presents in detail what the land transport of the future will look like in urban centers, on railway lines and on highways
The invention of the railway
The railway is the means of transport based on the locomotion of trains on rails. The railways were created by the English engineer Richard Trevithick in the 19th century, whose the wagons were driven by horses. The first stretch of railway was created on September 27, 1825, in England. From there, this means of transport spread all over the world [1]. The railways only became viable with the steam engine, which is the device that uses water vapor to give movement to other machines. It had its origin in England and was a watershed in the life of the human being, who needed to rely on climatic conditions, such as the wind, to generate power in mills and thus generate work energy. The first idea of a steam engine in history occurred in the 1st century, in the year 120 B.C. The rudimentary engine was created by the mathematician and engineer Heron of Alexandria [36]. From this invention, others emerged that were perfected in the course of the evolution of technology.
The studies of Denis Papin, who built a device similar to a “pressure cooker”, were essential for, in 1698, the engineer and mechanic Thomas Savery to build the first steam engine of industrial interest [36]. The steam engine had a pump that was intended to extract the water that flooded many coal mines in England in the 17th century. This invention is considered one of the triggering inventions of the Industrial Revolution. In 1712, the English blacksmith Thomas Newcomen perfected Savery’s invention and devised a new heat engine, the “Newcomen engine”, which was the first type of engine widely used, as it had the same objective as the previous invention, but had the same differential of being able to carry loads. This machine was a real success during the 18th century.
All these inventions resulted in the creation of the engine that marked the history of steam engines. Improving the Newcomen engine, the engineer and mathematician James Watt created, in 1769, the steam engine based on burning coal [37]. It was the most important invention for the industrial revolution. The steam engine was decisive, not only for the construction of the first locomotives, but also for the construction of steam ships, since, in addition to pumping, the engine could also generate circular motion. Railways are widely used in Europe and in many developed countries, in addition to being widely used in heavily populated countries such as India and China. Latin American and African countries opted for highways instead of railways, a fact that was not a good choice since railways have a greater capacity for transporting cargo and passengers, in addition to having a much lower cost per km traveled than the highways [1].
The invention of the subway
Subways are high-capacity urban rail systems on exclusive lanes. Metro lines have trains with a minimum of two cars and a total capacity of at least 100 passengers per train. On January 10, 1863, the first subway in the world began to circulate in London, which was created out of sheer necessity because, at the beginning of the 19th century, the streets of the British capital were completely occupied by carts, carriages and double-decker buses horse drawn [8]. The creator of the underground train in London was Charles Pearson, who stated that the only solution to the constant traffic jams in the city would be to transfer public transport upwards with the implementation of viaducts or underground. The London public administration decided on the second option. The train would pass through a tunnel dug between rows of buildings. Engineer John Fowler headed the works. Under his orders, 3,500 workers began tearing up huts and shacks, leaving 12,000 people homeless, precisely from the poorest strata of the population. Another challenge was the form of traction. As there was still no electricity supply in the network, London’s underground trains began to be powered by steam engines. The gases were collected in a special car and only released outside the tunnel. Despite excellent ventilation, subway workers began to feel the negative effects of the contaminated air and had to be hospitalized. Passengers had to deal with great discomfort. For this reason, the first London Underground route was not entirely underground. In some places, the tracks were below ground level, but in the open.It was not until 1890, with the advent of electricity, that the subway was completely underground, as there were no more ventilation problems. It didn’t take long for the subway (or “tube”, as it is called in London) to become the preference of Londoners. The Pearson and Fowler system, inaugurated on January 10, 1863, proved so efficient that, two years later, the pedestrian crossing under the River Thames began to be used by the subway. From there, it didn’t take long for the network to expand within London and its metropolitan area. Other metropolises followed suit, such as Budapest, Paris and Berlin, among other large metropolises that applied the knowledge of British pioneers in underground transport. In the world, there are 171 subways in operation and 34 in progress.
The invention of the electric tram
A tram is an electrically operated urban vehicle that travels on rails and serves to transport passengers or cargo [25]. The first version of the electric tram was powered by horses. The first electrically powered electric tram was opened in Berlin in 1881. It was Werner Von Siemens, who developed the dynamo, who paved the way for electric traction. The energy was generated at a fixed point and distributed by a suspended cable. In 1884, Frankfurt opened its network and today the oldest tram system in the world operates in this German city. The first commercial electric tramway facility in the United States was built in 1884 in Cleveland, Ohio, operated for a period of one year by the Cleveland East Street Railway Company. Electric trams were widely used throughout Europe, and also in the United States in the 20th century. Currently, urban rail transport, also known as VLT (Light Rail Vehicle), an evolution of the tram, is expanding in several cities around the world. Many large European cities use electric trams. Electric trams have great advantages over buses, among which are lower pollution (both noise and atmospheric) and priority in traffic [25] because they operate on an exclusive lane. However, the popularity of automobiles, coupled with the Great Depression of 1929 in the United States, which had repercussions around the world, led to a decline in electric trams. But the glut of cars currently in cities eventually led to the renaissance of the electric tram, with Federal Germany taking the lead.
The invention of the motor vehicle (internal combustion car, electric car and autonomous vehicle)
The automobile is a vehicle that travels on roads or highways, has four tires and transports mainly people rather than goods, accommodating one to eight people. The first attempt at invention of the automobile took place in 1769 when Frenchman Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot created the steam carriage, a glimpse of what would become the automobile [38]. The automobile as we know it required a new technological leap, which would be given with the invention of the internal explosion engine and the discovery that oil could be used as fuel, which took place in 1850. Nikolaus August Otto, German engineer and inventor, was the one who invented and built the first four-stroke internal combustion engine and determined the theoretical cycle under which the internal combustion engine works (1876), the well-known Otto cycle [41].
The first automobile produced in history was a car with only three wheels. This automobile was produced in the German city of Mannheim, in 1885, by the German engineer Karl Benz and had a gasoline engine invented by Gottlied Daimler that was of internal combustion [39]. With a crank starting system, this first car had a power of 0.8 hp and could reach 18 km/h. Karl Benz registered his automobile in 1886, and this year has gone down in history as the year of the invention of the modern car. Another German engineer was of extreme importance in these early automobile history. In Stuttgart, Gottlieb Daimler invented, in 1886, the first four-wheel vehicle with an internal combustion engine. His invention reached the top speed of 16 km / h. In 1892, a French company, called Panhard et Levassor, started its own production and sale of vehicles and Henry Ford produced his first Ford in the United States [39].
The first car tire was launched in 1895 by the French company Michelin [42]. In 1904, the first Rolls Royce with a radiator appeared [40]. Europe followed with its fleet of cars, in France (De Dion Bouton, Berliet, Rapid), in Italy (Fiat, Alfa-Romeo), in Germany (Mercedes-Benz) and Switzerland and Spain left for a more powerful line and luxurious, the Hispano-Suiza. In the early years of the 20th century, most automobiles produced were powered by electricity or steam. It wasn’t until the 1920s that gasoline-powered automobiles gained consumer preference. After World War I, manufacturers moved to a cheaper production line with more compact, series-built cars. This production system became known as Fordism.
The electric car is a means of transport that uses propulsion through electric motors. It consists of a primary power system with one or more electrical machines and a speed or torque drive and control system. The electric car is part of the group of vehicles with zero greenhouse gas emissions, nor does it emit considerable noise, since electric motors are quieter than internal combustion engines [43]. The first electric car was built by Thomas Davenport in 1835. From then on and for the rest of the 19th century, electric vehicles began to be adapted to run on rails. In the year 1900, 28% of vehicles produced in the United States were electric. The decline of electric vehicles mainly came after the start of mass production by Henry Ford of internal combustion vehicles, which caused the cost of producing these types of vehicles to drop dramatically.
Today, the electric car is returning to the competition with internal combustion cars [44]. With the threat of global warming and demanding environmental legislation around the world, technology is on the target of automotive manufacturers. The advantages of electric vehicles over ordinary automobiles are many [45]. The first of these is its energy efficiency. The efficiency of a diesel engine is at most 43% against 96.4% of an electric motor with power above 370 kW, which clearly shows the benefit of an electric motor compared to the internal combustion engine, especially when we think about the environment, as it does not emit gases and noise, and uses clean and renewable energy. The economy of electric vehicles is three times that of gasoline vehicles. In addition to not emitting pollutants, it still occupies a smaller volume, which makes the vehicle more compact and with fewer moving parts. The cost per km traveled is the lowest on the market.
The autonomous vehicle, also known as a driverless vehicle, designates any land vehicle capable of transporting people or goods without the use of a human driver. First autonomous car project dates from 1920 [10]. It is not new to think about autonomous cars. Since the 1920s, engineers and researchers have sought to develop a car that can drive itself. Throughout history, radar, artificial intelligence and even war strategies have been used to try to create this revolutionary vehicle. In 1925, retired military engineer Francis P. Houdina introduced the first driverless car in history. Using radio wave technology, the vehicle dubbed the “American Wonder” paraded through New York. But the demonstration didn’t go very well because the car collided with another car carrying photographers. Already in the 1950s, the big news were sensors capable of detecting the speed and location of cars and moving them. This technology was positioned along the roads and provided guiding information for cars equipped with receivers. The exponent of this model was the 1956 GM Firebird II. Sensors were improved throughout the 1950s and 1960s, but equipped roads did not gain in popularity, and engineers looked for another way to continue the dream of driverless cars.
In the 1970s and 1980s, programming and data processing technology advanced, allowing the first truly autonomous cars to emerge [10]. These new vehicles were equipped with sensors, processors and cameras capable of detecting, for example, the existence of a car ahead and avoiding possible collisions. This time, the car was not dependent on external factors such as another guide vehicle or sensors on the roads. For the first time, a car drove the roads without any human interference. One of the last major milestones in the history of self-driving cars was the DARPA Grand Challenge. In 2005 the winner was Stanley, a car developed by Stanford University alumni that managed to complete the 212 kilometer journey in 6 hours and 53 minutes without a crash. The big news that Stanley brought was the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Developers changed history by programming the software with an AI that learned to drive the car. Since then, software has become increasingly sophisticated and self-driving cars have become increasingly safe. In addition to Uber, Ford, Google and Tesla want to make history and test their cars that move without a driver.
The invention of the truck
The truck is a vehicle intended for the transport of heavy loads, with four or more wheels, usually with bodywork. A long time ago, the transport of loads was done by men, animals and carts, until in the 18th century, with the Industrial Revolution, everything changed. But after the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century and the development of steam technology, the first self-propelled vehicle emerged, that is, one that did not need the strength of men or horses. The first known truck was created in France in 1770 and was called the fardier à vapeur [46]. In front of the vehicle there was a boiler that generated steam to move it, the model had only 3 wheels and weighed about 2.5 tons, being able to carry another 1.5 tons. It was created to reach a speed of 7.8 km/h. This vehicle was also known for participating in the first known car accident, when one of these lost control and crashed into a wall.
The first modern truck appeared in 1895, when the German Karl Benz designed and built the first truck in history with an internal combustion engine developed by Gottlieb Daimler, different from the steam engine [2]. He created the first motorized bus in history with a 4 to 10 HP engine and ran around 3 to 12 km/h, carrying up to 6 tons. In the same year, he modified the design and created the first motorized bus in history [30]. The invention of the truck changed cargo transportation worldwide and to this day this is one of the most used transport models. After the First World War, other models were developed with new technologies such as pneumatic tires, electric starters, electric locks, 6-cylinder engines and electric lighting. During this period, Ford and Renault started their activities in the heavy truck market. Although invented in 1890, diesel engines were not common in trucks in Europe until the 1920s.
The invention of the bicycle
Bicycle is a human-propelled vehicle with two wheels [9]. Some authors consider that the invention of the bicycle is attributed to the Chinese Lu Ban, who was born more than 2,500 years ago, while others argue that Leonardo da Vinci conceived a project very similar to the bicycle as we know it in 1493 [47]. The bicycle of the German Baron Karl von Drais, from 1817, is considered the pioneer to be manufactured [9]. It was made of wood and operated with the push of the feet. The invention of the pedal bicycle is attributed to the Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan, in 1839, although his model began to be manufactured by the Englishman Thomas McCall, 30 years later. In the 1860s, the model sold as a bicycle became popular. The pedals were on the front wheel. In 1870, James Starley’s high wheel bicycle began to be produced. This is the first bike made entirely of metal, thanks to advances in metallurgy to produce lightweight, small parts. The wheels were getting bigger and bigger because they allowed people to go further with each pedal stroke. Some models reached 40 kilometers per hour. As safety was an issue, models with three or four wheels were also made.
From the 1880s, the so-called “safety bicycles” appeared, precisely because they reduced the risk of falls compared to previous models. The first of these was the Rover, the work of engineer J. K. Starkley. They are very similar bikes to the current ones, with two wheels of the same size. In 1888, John Dunlop added wheels with tires, making commuting more comfortable. And in 1889, American Isaac R. Johnson patents the first folding bicycle. From the 1890s, the bicycle is a vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, moved by the effort of the user (cyclist) through pedals, thus being a two-wheeled velocipede [47]. The pedals started to work at the base of the frame, attached to a toothed gear in which a chain connected to the axle of the rear wheel through another gear with a smaller number of teeth (an online transmission system), thus ensuring the multiplication variable according to the relative dimensions of the two gears. Currently, the bicycle is considered the most used means of transport in the world. As no polluting gases are emitted during its locomotion, the bicycle is thus considered a vehicle with zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The invention of the motorcycle
A motorcycle is a two-wheeled self-propelled vehicle driven by a rider in a mounted position [26]. The German Gottlieb Daimler was the inventor of the first motorcycle powered by a gasoline engine in 1885 who, helped by Wilhelm Maybach, installed a light and fast one-cylinder gasoline engine in an adapted wooden bicycle, in order to test the practicality of the new propellant. The curious thing about this story is that Daimler, one of the fathers of the automobile, had no intention of manufacturing motor vehicles on two wheels. The fact is that, after this pioneering machine, he never built another one, dedicating himself exclusively to the automobile. The internal combustion engine made it possible to manufacture motorcycles on an industrial scale, but the Daimler and Maybach engine, which ran on the Otto cycle and had four strokes, shared preference with the two stroke engines, which were smaller, lighter and cheaper. The first motorcycle factory appeared in 1894, in Germany, and was called Hildebrandt & Wolfmüller. The following year they built the Stern factory and in 1896 Bougery, in France, and Excelsior, in England, appeared. At the beginning of the 20th century there were already about 43 factories spread across Europe.
Many small motorcycle industries have sprung up since then, and by 1910 there were 394 motorcycle companies in the world, 208 of them in England. Most closed for not resisting the competition. In the United States the first factories – Columbia, Orient and Minneapolis – appeared in 1900, reaching 20 companies in 1910. Such was the competition that manufacturers from all over the world began to introduce innovations and improvements, each one of them trying to be more original [48] . Engines from one to five cylinders, from two to four strokes were available. The suspensions have been improved to offer greater comfort and safety. In 1923 the English motorcycle Douglas was already using disc brakes in speed tests. However, it was in the engines that the greatest evolution was observed, with technology reaching levels never imagined. After the Second World War, the progressive invasion of Japanese motorcycles into the world market was observed. Making motorcycles with high technology, modern design, powerful and light engine, comfortable and cheap, Japan caused the closure of motorcycle factories all over the world. In the United States, only the traditional Harley-Davidson remained.
The invention of the elevator
The elevator can be defined as a platform that can move people and objects vertically up and down [11, 15, 29]. According to historical records, in 1500 BC, the Egyptians already used rudimentary elevators to raise the waters of the Nile River, through animal and human traction. However, the first elevator was built in Rome in the 1st century BC by an engineer named Vitrubia. It was he who created equipment that went up and down from a set of pulleys, also moved by human and animal power. Rudimentary elevators had been in use in ancient Rome since 336 B.C. The first elevators were open rather than closed carriages, and consisted of a platform with windlasses that could allow the cabin to move vertically. These windlasses were usually moved manually, by people or animals, although water wheels were sometimes used. The Romans used these simple elevators for many years, typically to move water, building materials, or other heavy materials from one place to another.
Dedicated passenger elevators were created in the 18th century, with one of the first being used by King Louis XV in 1743. He built an elevator in Versailles that could carry him from his first-floor quarters to the second floor. This elevator was not much more technologically advanced than those used in Rome. To make it work, men stationed at a chimney pulled the ropes. They called it the “flying chair”. In 1823, two British architects, Burton and Hormer, built a steam-powered “rising room” to take tourists up to a platform for a view of London. Many years later, the invention was expanded upon by architects Frost and Stutt, who added a belt and counterweight to the steamer engine. Soon, hydraulic systems began to be created as well, using water pressure to raise and lower the elevator cabin. However, this was not practical in some cases because pits had to be dug below the elevator shaft, to allow the piston to pull back. The higher the elevator was, the deeper the pit must be. So this was not a viable option for tall buildings in big cities.
Despite hydraulic systems being somewhat safer than those powered by steam engines and cables, elevators powered by steam engines with cables and counterweights continued to be used. They had only one major flaw: the cables could, and sometimes did, break, causing the elevator to fall to the bottom of the shaft, killing passengers and damaging building materials or other items being transported. Needless to say, no one was eager to take these dangerous elevators because at that time passenger elevators were still a novelty. From then on, with the Industrial Revolution, mainly, these forms of traction were replaced by steam energy and soon after, by electricity. The man who solved the problem of elevator safety by making skyscrapers possible was Elisha Otis, who is known as the inventor of the modern elevator. In 1853, American businessman Elis Graves Otis invented the first passenger elevator opening the first elevator in a 5-story building in New York. The first elevators were very slow because for a passenger to reach the eighth floor of a building it took an average of 2 minutes. Currently, some elevators are capable of reaching a speed of 550 m/min, which is to say that they are more than 45 times faster than their predecessors.
Otis came up with a design that had a safety “brake”. If the cables broke, the elevator car would stop with a device. Otis himself demonstrated the device, which he called a “safety windlass”, at the New York World’s Fair in 1854, when he climbed into a makeshift elevator and asked to have the ropes cut. Instead of plummeting to his death, as the audience believed he would, his safety reel came out, holding the elevator down in a split second. Needless to say, the crowd was impressed. Otis founded his own elevator company, which installed the first public elevator in a New York building in 1874. The Otis Elevator Company is known to this day as the largest elevator manufacturer in the world. While the cable elevator design remained, many other advances were made, the most obvious being that elevators now use electricity in place of steam, a change that began to happen in the 1880s. The electric elevator was patented by Alexander Miles in 1887, although it was built by the German inventor Werner von Siemens in 1880.
Otis’ safety reel wasn’t the end of safety innovations either. Today, it is virtually impossible for an elevator to collapse and kill its passengers. There are now multiple steel cables to hold the weight of the elevator, as well as different brake systems that prevent the elevator from falling over if the cables somehow break. If, in spite of all this, the elevator falls, there are shock absorbers at the bottom of the shaft, making it unlikely that anyone will die and reducing the chances of any serious injury. When we talk about urbanization and the city has a complex topography with great unevenness, urban elevators appear as a solution and an articulating element for the upper and lower parts of the city. With many meters high, the elevators become urban and tourist landmarks by creating a new point of view through walkways and viewpoints, while respecting the historical heritage of the surroundings.
The Elevador Lacerda in Salvador in Bahia (Brazil) was the world’s first urban elevator. On December 8, 1873, when the first tower opened, it was the tallest elevator in the world at 63 meters [29]. The current structure, from 1930, is 72 meters high. It transports people between Praça Cairu in Cidade Baixa and Praça Tomé de Souza in Cidade Alta. In addition to the elevator that vertically transports people from a lower to a higher level and vice versa, the inclined plane [29] and the cable car [14] were also invented, which play a similar role to the elevator and have been alternative transport implemented in some cities of the world to facilitate the mobility of the residents, both connecting the low part of a place to the high part. The inclined plane uses electric traction to drive vehicles that run on rails on the ground surface, as in Salvador, connecting Cidade Alta to Cidade Baixa, and the cable car that connects the lowest to the highest points of a topography through cables, and may have intermediate stops. as in the path from Urca to Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro.
The invention of pipelines
A pipeline is an installation made up of pipes connected together for the transport of certain products in order to carry products or materials over long distances. Transport by ducts and pipes is a type of transport by which the product, usually liquid or gas, moves from one place to another through pipes [7 and 28]. The infrastructure of this system is fixed and can be installed on the ground, underground and underwater. The most transported products in this segment are ores, oil and natural gas. The ducts are made with metallic tubes of 76 cm in diameter for the displacement of the products, being necessary pumps, one installed in the place of departure and another one in the middle of the route (if the distance is long). A particularity of this type of transport in relation to the others (water, rail, road and air) is that there is no displacement of people, only products. The first oil pipelines appeared in the United States, around 1885, whose increase in this technology intensified from the 20th century onwards. This means of transport has spread, as this system allows products to be transported over enormous distances. In many cases, what happens is the transport of products that leave a producing area towards another consuming or exporting area (such as ports).
The land transport of the future
What will the ground transportation of the future look like [16, 17, 19, 20]? In urban centers, local governments will encourage the use of means of transport that follow the trend of smart and sustainable cities, interconnected by access routes controlled by various devices that use artificial intelligence and the internet of things to maintain agile traffic. it’s safe. The priority modes of transport will be subways, trains, bicycles, scooters, walking and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT’s). Transport systems will rely on technologies such as robotics, internet of things (IOT), applications and more modern collection systems. ITS (Intelligent transportation Systems) solutions will monitor in real time everything that happens in the bus system and will create an interface with other modes of urban mobility. Conventional bus lines will have the main function of connecting the most distant neighborhoods articulated with the subway lines.
Drones and flying vehicles will fly over city streets, ensuring more safety, mobility and speed in the delivery of products and people, respectively [20]. The streets will have extensive bike lanes, in addition to numerous exclusive lanes for BRTs powered by hydrogen, which is considered by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as the fuel of the future whose great challenge is the production of clean hydrogen on a large scale. Widely used, subways and trains will be fundamental in metropolises. Cities in metropolitan regions will no longer be isolated from capitals, taking into account that high-speed rail lines will cross through several municipalities [20]. Real-time monitoring will allow the control of traffic light intervals, according to the traffic flow, to avoid congestion. The information will be displayed at train and bus stops, public parking lots, displays scattered in various locations. People will be able to program, even at home, the use of different modes of transport, thanks to the evolution of apps, including the famous Global Positioning System (GPS) [20].
The subway will be the main means of public transport in the big cities that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of the technologies used by this means of transport will be the Hyperloop, which will allow the displacement of many people a great distance in a short space of time. Trains will magnetically levitate in airless tubes, reaching speeds from 240 mph to 720 mph, and will interconnect diverse metropolis neighborhoods, often attending cities in metropolitan regions. Comfortable, fast-speed trains will be common and will avoid congestion on highways. Most railways in the main world capitals will be powered by renewable energies such as solar photovoltaics and hydrogen [20].
The driverless system, that is, without a driver, will be in full operation [20]. Subways and trains (and, maybe, buses) will be driven remotely through software, providing more safety, speed and comfort to passengers, since it will be possible to control the speed, the interval between them, and even the time of opening the doors. Using the driverless system, there will be the possibility for the subway to reduce the intervals between one train and another and obtain an increase in passenger capacity. In addition, the perfect synchronization of the trains will avoid sudden stops and contribute to the reduction of energy consumption. Trains will be powered by solar and hydrogen energy with the abandonment of diesel from the rail network [31]. Carriers and suppliers will use resources such as artificial intelligence, internet of things, network speed and big data in order to enable more effective payment systems and the integration of modalities so that subways and buses can be used more widely by the population [ 20].
Trains operating at more than 200 kilometers per hour can be considered high-speed [23 and 24]. The first high-speed rail system began operations in Japan in 1964 and was known as the bullet train. Twenty-seven countries in the world currently have high-speed trains, with compositions that can reach more than 400 km/h. The continents of Asia and Europe concentrate the largest fast rail networks that transport passengers and cargo. In South Korea, there are a total of 1,104.5 km of track for fast trains, with another 425 km expected soon. The maximum speed for trains in regular service is currently 305 km/h. Turkey has a length of 621 km whose expansion will see the country exceed 2,000 km of track for rapid services with the train operating at speeds of up to 250 km/h or 300 km/h. Italy is 1,467 km long and trains are operated at a maximum speed of 300 km/h. In the UK, the high-speed rail has 1,527 km of track with four railway lines operating at maximum speeds of 200 km/h. In Sweden, many trains operate at 200 km/h with a total of 1,706 km of of track for quick services. Japan has 2,764 km of rapid train services that reach a maximum speed of 320 km/h. France has 2,647 km of track plus 670 km under construction. Germany has 3500 km of lines, between operational and under construction, with trains that reach speeds of up to 300 km/h. Spain has 3,240 km of tracks and trains that reach speeds of up to 310 km/h. China has 35,000 km of high-speed rail.
On the railway lines, preventive maintenance will be carried out by autonomous drones, there will be driverless trains traveling safely at high speeds, loads will be sent automatically to their destination, and intelligent technology will be designed to improve the passenger experience and enable ticketless travel. There will be the improvement and diffusion of automatic steering systems on trains, which will further optimize travel time and may eliminate delays. Smart robots will build new rail infrastructure and modernize old ones. Technological advances will also be vital to improving the user experience, providing accurate real-time commute information, and enabling uninterrupted access to work and entertainment while traveling via 5G wireless internet networks. The exceptionally quiet and efficient magnetic levitation technology employed in the fully automated Conveyor System will also allow the system to serve as a space-saving, low-emissions greenhouse gas alternative. The system will operate reaching speeds of up to 150 km per hour, being able to move up to 180 containers/hour individually and fully electric [21].
One of the problems of urban transport systems is the lack of coordination between the different modes of transport. People want to know how to get from A to B as easily as possible, whether it’s walking, cycling, motorcycle, subway, bus, train, Uber or taxi – or a mix of some or all of them. In the past, we didn’t have enough data. Now we have. And we will be able to count on our smartphones connected at all times to help us visualize it all. The app would tell people the fastest way to get to his destination by merging all the integrated means of transport be it tram, subway, bus or taxi. There will be a proliferation of electric vehicles. All-electric, progressively autonomous, shared flying vehicles with vertical take-off and landing capabilities will cut through city skies. For this, the tops of the buildings of partner companies of the air transport services will function as take-off, landing and supply points [20]. People will increasingly use fully sustainable shared and/or private electric scooters as an alternative to the subway or bus [20]. The car of the future will be increasingly autonomous, more electric, more connected and shared. Electric and autonomous vehicles appear to be the main drivers of the crucial transformation that will take place in urban transport [19]. Autonomous vehicles therefore already exist and this is not a futuristic project [17]. The idea is to strengthen public transport. So, in a smart city, people can get rid of their car, which poses a threat to the health of the population by congesting our cities and compromising air quality with the use of fossil fuels. In many countries, buses and other driverless transport systems are being tested as autonomous vehicles. Public or private autonomous vehicles will connect us from our home to a transport hub. There are already driverless buses in the canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, which run around the city of Neuhausen am Rheinfall picking up and dropping off passengers [17]. An employee inside the bus can take control of the vehicle from a remote control in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
In the future, highways will not be as unsafe as they are today. Vehicles will not have drivers and will not emit waste pollutants through the air. Highways will be controlled by sophisticated technologies that communicate with cars, extract energy from the Sun, integrate road infrastructure and GPS systems [22]. The highways of the future are already beginning to be designed. The highways of the future will feature advanced solar panels that will generate clean, renewable energy and wirelessly charge electric cars while moving or parked. The panels will also have LED lighting and heating elements to melt snow. Electric cars are set to become commonplace on the roads of the future, as scientific developments will greatly improve the performance of batteries and the potential for increased storage of electricity. Fully automated navigation systems will also allow roads to be populated by driverless cars that could change the design and operation of highways and provide safety and environmental benefits. Vehicles will become increasingly “smart”, which, with a combination of the connected vehicle and the Internet of Things, will enable cars to transmit and receive information about traffic, speed, weather and potential safety hazards.
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* Fernando Alcoforado, 82, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is author of the books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017), Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018), Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019) and A humanidade ameaçada e as estratégias para sua sobrevivência (Editora Dialética, São Paulo, 2021) .
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