Hyperloop, HeliRail, Transrapid and high-speed rail systems. Technical characteristics and cost-benefit analyses

Abstract

During recent years several innovative technology systems have been conceived with the purpose to produce ever faster and more efficient transportation systems (TS) such as the Transrapid, Hyperloop and HeliRail that could provide numerous potential benefits over the traditional railways including the High-Speed Railway (HSR) system. These TS are examined from a technical point of view and are compared to each other by cost-benefits analysis. Benefits (B) and Costs (C) taken into consideration both in Financial and Economic analysis are those of each unconventional transportation system (i.e. Transrapid, Hyperloop and HeliRail) with respect to the HSR system. A case study has been considered (line length: 500 km, traffic demand: 15 million passengers for direction). The results demonstrate that from a financial point of view all the innovative TS are worse in comparison with the HSR system. The economic indicators show that the most advantageous system is the HSR because the other ones give rise to values of the Economic Net Present Value (ENPV) < 0. Alternative types of TS in comparison with HSR system are unsustainable since, for each of these, it results ENPV <0 and benefit-cost ratio B/C < 1. Sensitivity analyses of Financial and Economic indicators in function of the traffic demand levels (range 1–21 million passengers/year) and line lengths (range 100–800 km) have been carried out to identify the most appropriate transportation system for given boundary conditions. The outcomes prove that the best mass public transport system is still today the HSR, except in special cases.