The Amoeba Train

This isn’t so much a new engineering idea, but one that simply takes advantage of a train’s ability to connect and disconnect from other train cars in order to facilitate fewer stops for passengers.

Quite simply it would work like this: a train of 3 cars would detach the rear-most car to stop at a platform. The remaining 2 cars continue forward. The train would continue moving forward, shedding the rear car for stops and also picking up individual cars from ahead. The train would continue a cycle of detaching and attaching cars along the line.

For a passenger, it would mean making 1/3 as many stops. This increases the travel time dramatically. If you take a look at this Skytrain map (courtesy Wikipedia), you’ll see someone from Surrey has to make as many as 18 stops to get to downtown Vancouver. With an Amoeba-style setup, that is reduced to 6.

To help passengers, each train would display the destination points, and the platform would also show where to board and where that train is stopping.

The system would be staggered to serve the busiest stations. At worst, a passenger may have to wait for the next train to travel to the neighboring station, a small trade-off for going a short distance.

As for the trains connecting and disconnecting, all trains are able to operate independently, so it’s a matter of installing a safe and efficient way to connect and disconnect trains quickly.