Autoflow project in Japan

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bothar
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Autoflow project in Japan

Post by bothar »

I'm not sure if this is a road or a railway! In Japan, they want to build a 500km conveyor belt for small loads to reduce trucks and the need for truck drivers.
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economic ... ics-crisis
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jgharston
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Re: Autoflow project in Japan

Post by jgharston »

bothar wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2024 16:15 I'm not sure if this is a road or a railway! In Japan, they want to build a 500km conveyor belt for small loads to reduce trucks and the need for truck drivers.
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economic ... ics-crisis
Well done, they've invented the railway! :laugh:
jnty
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Re: Autoflow project in Japan

Post by jnty »

jgharston wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2024 20:16
bothar wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2024 16:15 I'm not sure if this is a road or a railway! In Japan, they want to build a 500km conveyor belt for small loads to reduce trucks and the need for truck drivers.
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economic ... ics-crisis
Well done, they've invented the railway! :laugh:
It's worse than that, they've taken the railway and flipped it round so that instead of having one moving part that drives itself along fixed infrastructure, they now have infrastructure made entirely of moving parts which drives fixed things along it.

It's a compelling idea in abstract and similar to a chair lift or a pneumatic tube delivery system. But I just can't see how a 500km system would ever be fully operative at one time, which would surely block up the whole thing. Perhaps there would be some kind of built in redundancy? But that just adds complexity and points of failure. It would be like if a single train breakdown could immediately halt the whole network.

I wonder what the longest existing conveyor belt system is? Perhaps there is genuinely some promising prior art. I suppose there are some pretty snazzy airport baggage systems these days, but in case of breakdowns, maintenance operatives will never be far away.
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roadtester
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Re: Autoflow project in Japan

Post by roadtester »

There was a report on this on Radio 4's PM programme today at 5.28pm.

One important piece of context - at the moment, Japan's railways are apparently almost exclusively passenger based with hardly any freight.
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Truvelo
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Re: Autoflow project in Japan

Post by Truvelo »

jnty wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2024 22:51
jgharston wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2024 20:16
bothar wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2024 16:15 I'm not sure if this is a road or a railway! In Japan, they want to build a 500km conveyor belt for small loads to reduce trucks and the need for truck drivers.
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economic ... ics-crisis
Well done, they've invented the railway! :laugh:
It's worse than that, they've taken the railway and flipped it round so that instead of having one moving part that drives itself along fixed infrastructure, they now have infrastructure made entirely of moving parts which drives fixed things along it.
Looks like a modern day version of the atmospheric railway.
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Re: Autoflow project in Japan

Post by swissferry »

In my early childhood I envisioned there being a conveyor belt motorway from Glasgow to England so we could get to holidays resorts like Paignton or Great Yarmouth quicker. I thought it would run at 70mph and you could drive on it at 70mph and get to your destination in half the time. Even if it was jammed up you would still be travelling at 70.
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