Hyperspeed Trains

"Welcome aboard Trans-Continental's line 4 - Yukon city to Edmonton. Current Time is: 1h:47 pm. Expected Departure time is: 1h55 pm. Expected Arrival time is: 5h05 pm."

— An announcement on board a Hyperspeed Train

Hyperspeed trains are a relatively new technology that was developed in the 2070s in order to accelerate the transport of people and merchandise over land.

Access and Availability

Only a few corporations in the world currently own and operate Hypertrains. In North-America, they are operated by Trans-Continental Corporation, or TCC. This local monopoly, combined with the high operating cost and the luxury aspect of this mode of transport, have allowed ticket prices for a trip on such a train to be well above what the general public can afford. Hyperspeed trains are thus mostly used by TCC themselves for merchandise, or by wealthy corporations and individuals.

Complexity

To achieve their famously high speeds, Hyperspeed trains all use electromagnetic suspension technology, also known as Maglev. This makes Hyperspeed trains complicated to implement, as they not only consumes a lot of energy used to overcome the large amount of drag the vehicles endure at such high speeds, but they also necessitate entirely new infrastructure to be set up, as the maglev technology is not compatible with conventional rail. Furthermore, because of their high speeds, these trains most also have very straight routes with a strict limit on curves and their radius.

Utility

Hyperspeed trains are used extensively for the transportation of merchandise, especially bulk goods, such as timber, marble, metal and even food, like grain and produce. However, in the last decade, the transportation of individuals has become somewhat more common, with wealthy individuals using the developing network for their personal travels.

Alternative names:

• Maglev trains

• Levi-Trains (Levitation Trains)

History

Maglev technology was well understood at the start of the century, and was even implemented in a few localized system, yet for many decades, its mass adoption remained elusive.
The circumstances around the World War 3 made sea based trade very complicated and dangerous and at times, impossible. Countries began relying more and more on rail and air transport, and global trade was further limited by continental landmasses.
By the 2060s, maglev train line were used extensively in Europe and Asia, and started to become more common in Africa and North-America. Maglev lines that allowed speeds over 800km, which is the minimum speed for a train to be considered "Hyperspeed" were developed in the 2070s, and quickly spread on all continents, including Antarctica.
Today, these lines are considered the backbone of fast land-based trade, especially in Asia and Africa, and compliment the slower and older freight train lines.